Michigan State University
Big Ten Championships
Wrestlers Finish Fourth At Big Ten Championships
3/5/2000 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 5, 2000
WEST LAFAYETTE, Mich - Buoyed by a conference champion and runner-up, and by strong contributions from a pair of freshmen, the Michigan State wrestling team scored 87.5 team points and finished fourth at the 2000 Big Ten Championships Sunday afternoon at Purdue University. Iowa won the team title, it's 26th Big Ten Championship in 27 years, with 139.5 points, while Minnesota finished second (132.5) and Illinois third (96.5).
Senior Nick Muzashvili (Unadilla, N.Y./Republic of Georgia) won the first 197-pound crown of his career Sunday, defeating Nick Preston of Ohio State, 8-3, in the final. Muzashvili controlled the match throughout and was never in danger. He is now a perfect 15-0 against Big Ten opponents this season, 30-2 overall, and has now won 30 or more matches in back-to-back seasons.
"He's a powerful wrestler with strong hips, so I had to come out in the first 30 seconds and get comfortable," said Muzashvili. "I followed my plan and the match went well for me."
"Nick has come a long way," said MSU Head Coach Tom Minkel. "He wrestled a great match and this is a tremendous reward for him."
Junior Pat McNamara (Jordan, Minn.) was the 133-pound runner-up, losing a 4-2 decision to No. 1-seed Eric Jeurgens of Iowa. McNamara entered the third period down 2-1 and chose the top position, riding Jeurgens for over 1:50 to gain one point advantage time and tie the score at 2-2. But Jeurgens managed a reversal with :02 remaining on the clock for the win.
Six other MSU wrestlers also qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Redshirt freshman Gray Maynard (Las Vegas, Nev.) finished third at 157, defeating Corey Wallman of Wisconsin, 5-4, in the consolation final. Maynard, the third seed at 157, never trailed in the match. Fellow redshirt freshman Karl Nadolsky (Holland, Mich.) placed fourth at 149 pounds and also earned a trip to the NCAAs.
Also finishing fourth was junior heavyweight Matt Lamb (East Lansing, Mich.), who will advance to his second NCAA Championships in as many years.
At 165, senior Greg DeGrand (Saline, Mich.) finished fifth in the final Big Ten Championships of his career and is headed to the national tournament for the second time.
Senior Will Hill (Commonwealth, Ind) at 174 and junior Mike Castillo (Rochester, Mich.) at 141 round out the Spartan qualifiers, both placing seventh. Hill will end his career with a third straight trip to the NCAA Championships, while Castillo will be making his inaugural trip to the NCAAs.
"All-in-all we had a good tournament," said Minkel. "It's great to get eight guys into the NCAAs, and I think we can have an impact in that tournament. Nick's match was big for us, but this was a total team effort. Gray Maynard and Karl Nadolsky had outstanding tournaments, and we got contributions from everyone. A lot of guys came through for us this weekend, and we can definitely do the same at the national tournament."
The 2000 NCAA Championships will be held Thursday-Saturday, March 16-18, at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Mo.
Final Big Ten Championships Results
Team Standings Individual Champions1. Iowa 139.5 pts. 125 - Jody Strittmatter, Iowa2. Minnesota 136.5 133 - Eric Jeurgens, Iowa3. Illinois 96.5 141 - Doug Schwab, Iowa4. Michigan State 87.5 149 - Adam Tirapelle, Illinois5. Michigan 73.0 157 - TJ Williams, Iowa6. Northwestern 51.0 165 - Don Pritzlaff, Wisconsin7. Wisconsin 48.0 174 - Mark Bybee, NorthwesternT8. Penn State 47.5 184 - Brandon Eggum, MinnesotaT8. Ohio State 47.5 197 - Nick Muzashvili, Michigan State10. Indiana 45.0 HWT - Brock Lesnar, Minnesota11. Purdue 23.0
Conference AwardsCoach of the Year - Jim Zalesky, IowaOutstanding Wrestler of the 1999-2000 Season - Jeremy Hunter, Penn StateOutstanding Wrestler of the 2000 Big Ten Championships - Jody Strittmatter, IowaBig Ten Freshman of the Year - Jared Lawrence, Minnesota
MSU Matches*Conference Championships133 - No. 1 Eric Jeurgens (Iowa) dec. No. 2 Pat McNamara (MSU), 4-2197 - No. 1 Nick Muzashvili (MSU) dec. No. 2 Nick Preston (OSU), 8-3
3rd Consolation Round149 - No. 5 Karl Nadolsky (MSU) dec. No. 7 Tim Myers (IU), 4-2157 - No. 3 Gray Maynard (MSU) dec. No. 4 Kevin Stanley (IU), 8-4165 - No. 3 Peter Rogers (OSU) dec. No. 5 Greg DeGrand (MSU), 2-0HWT - No. 5 Matt Lamb (MSU) dec. No. 7 Mark Janus (PSU)
3rd-Place Matches149 - No. 4 Mike Kulczycki (UM) dec. No. 5 Karl Nadolsky (MSU), 15-8157 - No.3 Gray Maynard (MSU) dec. No. 6 Corey Wallman (WIS), 5-4HWT - No. 5 Matt Lamb (MSU) No. 3 John Lockhart (ILL)
5th-Place Match165 - No. 4 Bill Zeman (ILL) dec. No. 5 Greg DeGrand (MSU), 5-1
7th-Place Matches141 - No. 6 Mike Castillo (MSU) dec. Luis Blanco (PU), 7-2174 - No. 5 Will Hill (MSU) dec. No. 7 Joel Walker (OSU), 9-6
*Number rankings indicate tournament seeding.
