Wrestling Finishes Action at Midlands Championships

Dec. 30, 2010

2010 Midlands Championships - Final Brackets

EVANSTON, Ill. - The Michigan State wrestling team finished action at the Midlands Championships Thursday at Welsh-Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern University.

Four Spartans advanced to the second day of competition in the 48th annual tournament, which is one of the largest and most prestigious during the regular season.

As a team, Michigan State finished in 23rd place with 22 points.

Individually, Tyler Dickenson was the top finisher for MSU, placing eighth at 197 pounds. Dickenson compiled a 2-1 record yesterday and opened Thursday's competition with a 7-6 upset over fifth-seeded Riley Orozco of Cal State Bakersfield. By defeating Orozco, Dickenson assured himself of at least an eight-place showing, and that is where he would finish after falling to sixth-seeded Brent Haynes of Missouri by technical fall, 16-0 in 4:16, and to second-seeded Luke Lofthouse of Iowa, 10-3, in the seventh-place match.

At 174 pounds, Curran Jacobs lost to second-seeded Nick Amuchastegui of Stanford, 4-2, ending Jacobs' shot at placing in the top eight.

In the heavyweight division, both Mike McClure and Joe Rizqallah lost their first matches of the day and were eliminated. McClure fell to third-seeded D.J. Russo of Rutgers, 5-1, while Rizqallah lost to Michael McMullan of Northwestern, 9-2.

The Spartan wrestling team returns to action for the Spartan Duals Jan. 8 at Jenison Field House.