Five Spartans Earn Berths to NCAA Wrestling Championships

March 11, 2009

EAST LANSING, Mich. - With the 52 at-large selections being announced on Wednesday (March 11), the field for the 2009 NCAA Wrestling Championships is set. Two spots in the NCAA Championships went to Michigan State wrestlers - senior Rex Kendle in the 165-pound weight class and redshirt freshman Ian Hinton at 174.

"We're very pleased to see them get in," said MSU head coach Tom Minkel. "Both Rex and Ian had very quality wins against tough opponents, so they were indeed deserving. It's good to see the (new NCAA qualifying) system working."

Kendle and Hinton will join Big Ten champion Franklin Gomez (133), redshirt freshman Eric Olanowski (125) and sophomore Anthony Jones Jr. (157), who all received automatic berths to the NCAA Championships after placing at the Big Ten Championships last weekend.

Gomez is coming off of a third-place finish at the 2008 NCAA Championships, earning him All-American status. The then-sophomore was the Spartans' only competitor.

"To go from one to five is a good reflection of where our program is headed," said Minkel.

Kendle, Olanowski, Jones and Hinton will all be making their first appearances at the NCAA Championships.

The 2009 NCAA Championships will take place March 19-21 (Thursday-Saturday) in St. Louis, Mo.