Spartan Wrestlers Fall To No. 1 Oklahoma State, 31-3
1/14/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 14, 2001
STILLWATER, OKLA. - The 11th ranked Michigan State Spartans fell to the second-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys, 31-3 in front of almost three thousand Cowboy crazed at the Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Cowboys scored additional points in the dual for two major decisions and a technical fall. Chris Williams was the Spartans lone win at 125 pounds.
The dual began at the 184-weight class, as John Wechter held tough against OSU's second-ranked Daniel Cormier. Down only 5-2 at the end of the second period, Wechter choose the down position and came up quick to score the escape, bringing him within two. But Wechter was unable to get the offense going, as Cormier went on to four takedowns to seal his victory, 13-6.
The 197 pound weight class pinned No. 20 Nik Fekete against No.2 Mark Munoz. While Fekete was only down 4-1 at the end of the first period, Munoz gained controlled the match, allowing Fekete to score on escapes only for the rest of the match. A two-minute riding time advantage, upped Munoz's win to 16-7.
No. 19 Matt Lamb wrestled tough at heavyweight losing a close decision, 7-4, to James Huml. With Huml contolling the offensive in the first two periods, Lamb bounced back in the third, scoring three consecutive points, one on an escape and then scored a takedown with a little over a minute left in the match. Lamb was awarded a penalty point after a Huml escape, knotting the score at 4-4. Huml attached and scored a takedown with two seconds left in the match, putting him up 6-4. He was awarded a riding point bringing the score to, 7-4.
After three matches, the Spartans found themselves down 10-0, but got on the board at the 125-weight class. No. 10 Chris Williams led from start to finish, scoring a 4-3 victory over No. 17 Matt Brown. Williams scored first, 1:20 into the match, off a takedown. Brown got the escape with 30 second left in the first, to close within one point. Brown chose down to start the second period and quickly got the ecaspe, tying the score at two all. Williams started in the down position in the third, came up with the escape, regaining the lead 3-2. Brown was awarded a penalty point with six seconds left in the match, but Williams's 1:05 riding time advantage allowed him to win the match, 4-3.
Down by only two matches, the Spartans were looking to continue their gained momentum through the lower weight classes, but the sixth-ranked Pat McNamara fell 11-9, in a hard-fought match against Johnny Thompson. McNamara found himself down early, as Thompson went on the offensive, scoring four takedowns in the first period. McNamara regrouped and came back within four by the end of the second. McNamara choose the down position to start the third period and quickly scored off the escape and scored a takedown with :22 seconds left in the match, bringing the score to 10-9. Thompson fought off McNamara's final attempts at scoring and received another point for his 1:28 riding time.
The 141-weight class squared-off two top ten wrestlers in No. 9 Mike Castillo and No. 7 Jerrod Sanders. Castillo and Sanders went toe-to-toe, with Castillo striking first, with a takedown 30 seconds into the match. Sanders scored an escape to bring the match to a 2-1 score at the end of the first period. The second period was all defense, with the only points scored by Sanders off an escape. With the score tied at two, Castillo started in the down position and came up with the escape point ten seconds into the third, taking the lead 3-2. However with under a minute left in the match, Sanders scored a takedown and the lead, 4-3, which is the way the match ended.
The Cowboys continued to win in the middle-weight classes, with No. 2 Reggie White taking a 10-5 decision over No. 18 Karl Nadolsky and No. 15 Shane Roller scoring a upset over No. 8 Gray Maynard. The match remained tight through the first period, with Roller and Maynard exchanging scores, Roller with a takedown and Maynard with the reverse. Rooler gained another point from an escape, but both wrestlers were hit with penalty points to close the first period, 4-3, in favor of Roller. Maynard had a tough time getting any offense in the second, falling behind, 10-3. Roller ended up taking the major decision, 11-3.
Corey Posey wrestled tough against No. 7 Ty Wilcox at 165 pounds. With no score at the end of the first, Wilcox choose down, scoring an escape early to take 1-0 lead, but Posey bounced back scoring a takedown. At the end of the second the score was tied at two. Posey choose neutral to begin the third period in attempts to go on the offense first, but Wilcox scored with a takedown and added near fall points to go up, 6-2. Posey scored on a reverse to come within two, but was unable to get the takedown to tie the match up. Wilcox got the decision, 7-4.
The dual rounded out at 174 pounds, with Nate Mesyn dropping a technical fall No. 11 Tyrone Lewis, 21-6.
"I was truly impressed by Oklahoma State. They have a lot of talent and are well coached," said MSU coach Tom Minkel. "It was a difficult dual for us. We are not at the same level as Oklahoma State. Hopefully, we will use this for motivation to get better."
The Spartans will return back to East Lansing for a double-header on Jan. 21 against No. 17 Findlay at 1 p.m. and Grand Valley State at 3:30 p.m.
MATCH RESULTSWt. Results OSU/MSU184 -- Daniel Cormier (OSU) dec. John Wechter (MSU), 13-6197 -- Mark Mu?oz (OSU) maj. dec. Nik Fekete (MSU), 16-7285 -- James Huml (OSU) dec. Matt Lamb (MSU), 7-4125 -- Chris Williams (MSU) dec. Matt Brown (OSU) , 4-3133 -- Johnny Thompson (OSU) dec. Pat McNamara (MSU) , 11-9141 -- Jerrod Sanders (OSU) dec. Mike Castillo (MSU) , 4-3149 -- Reggie Wright (OSU) dec. Karl Nadolsky (MSU), 10-5157 -- Shane Roller (OSU) maj. dec. Gary Maynard (MSU), 11-3165 -- Ty Wilcox (OSU) dec. Corey Posey (MSU), 7-4174 -- Tyrone Lewis (OSU) tech fall Nate Mesyn (MSU), 21-6 (7:00)