Wrestlers Defeated by #15 Purdue
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
February 12, 1999
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The #21 Michigan State wrestling squad fell to #15 Purdue, 24-7, on Friday night in West Lafayette, Ind. With the loss, the Spartans drop to 4-9, 1-6 in the Big Ten while the Boilermakers improve to 15-3-1, 3-1-1 in the conference.
Although the final team score suggests that Purdue dominated the dual, the individual scores tell a different story. The Spartans' Nick Muzashvili (Unadilla, N.Y.) scored the only major decision of the evening with a 10-2 victory at 197 pounds. Michigan State, however, would lose five matches by one point, including one overtime defeat.
With the dual beginning at 165, Purdue would take the first three matches, including 17th-ranked James Crnich's 4-2 upset victory of #14 Will Hill (Indianapolis, Ind.) at 174. Even after Muzashvili scored his victory the Spartans were already down 9-4.
The Boilermakers would take the next two matches, but when third-ranked Pat McNamara (Jordan, Minn.) scored an 11-4 victory at 133 the team score stood at 15-7. With three matches remaining the Spartans were still in contention. Unfortunately, Michigan State would lose all three by one point each to lose 24-7.
The Spartans will look to rebound on Valentine's Day as they travel to Bloomington, Ind. to take on the #23 Indiana Hoosiers at 1 p.m.
Michigan State 7 - Purdue 24 Results Match Score Meet Score 165 - Dan Rendell (PU) dec. Kevin Spiess (MSU) 8-3 0-3 174 - James Crnich (PU) dec. Will Hill (MSU) 4-2 0-6 184 - Phil Holmgren (PU) dec. Nik Fekete (MSU) 7-6 0-9 197 - Nick Muzashvili (MSU) m. dec. Jared Williams (PU) 10-2 4-9 285 - Jacob Vercelli (PU) dec. Matt Lamb (MSU) 2-1, OT 4-12 125 - Jason Silverstein (PU) dec. Chris Williams (MSU) 7-4 4-15 133 - Pat McNamara (MSU) dec. Evan Robinson (PU) 11-4 7-15 141 - Carlos Blanco (PU) dec. Issac Miller (MSU) 4-3 7-18 149 - Eric Kerkhof (PU) dec. Mike Castillo (MSU) 4-3 7-21 157 - Willie Weinberg (PU) dec. Cory Posey (MSU) 5-4 7-24