No. 8 Wrestlers Upset No. 5 Illinois, 16-15
1/26/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 26, 2001
EAST LANSING, MICH. - In a classic clash of the Big Ten titans, the No. 8 ranked Michigan State wrestling squad upset the No. 5 Illinois squad, 16-15, Friday night at Jenison Field House. The Spartans performance was highlighted at the 149-weight class, with No. 17 Karl Nadolsky defeated top-ranked Adam Tirapelle, 3-2, handing Tirapelle his first loss of the season. While the Spartans and Illini both won five matches, it was Pat McNamara's major decision at 133 that gave the Spartans the one point edge.
Starting the dual meet at 174 pounds, the Spartan's Nate Mesyn wrestled tough against Ben King, but dropped the match's first decision, 13-6. Carrying their 3-0 lead in the meet, the Illini's second-ranked Nate Patrick claimed a win at 184 pounds. MSU's John Wechter hung tough with Patrick, only down 4-2 after the first period. Wechter kept it close continually battling back Patrick's shots, but was unable to get his offense started, dropping the decision, 9-3.
The match entered into the 197-weight class with the Illini holding a 6-0 advantage. The match featured No. 11 Nik Fekete against No. 8 Pat Quirk. Perhaps one of the marquee match-ups of the night, Fekete and Quirk wrestled tough and after three minutes, Quirk held a slim, 2-0 advantage. After repetitively being warned for stalling, Quirk was hit for a point, making the match 4-3, but still in Quirk's favor. The third period had a flurry of action as Fekete scored early with an escape to tie the match at four. A takedown with just under a minute in the match put Fekete up 6-4, while Quirk scored an escape, making the match 6-5. Fekete sealed the victory with one second remaining, scoring on a takedown and defeating Quirk, 8-5.
"I felt good the whole match," said Fekete. "I had worked all week on improving my offense and felt I made huge strides with this win."
Getting the Spartans on the board, the match moved to the heavyweight class, which featured Matt Lamb against No. 6 John Lockhart. Lamb and Lockhart exchanged offensive attacks but neither were able to get much going, as Lockhart took the decision, 3-2.
The match-up of No. 12 Chris Williams against No. 19 Ryan Escobar at 125 pounds proved to be more of a defensive stand-off, with Williams scoring the only points of the match via a takedown and then received the additional point for his four minutes plus riding time, making the final 3-0.
At 133 pounds, the sixth-ranked Spartan Pat McNamara dominated his match with Chad Hay, scoring four takedowns and giving up only two escapes to, one which he let go of with nine seconds left to score an additional takedown and get the major decision with riding time, 10-2.
No. 16 Mike Castillo of Michigan State faced off against Mike Castillo of Illinois, in a match for namesake. The two Castillos exchanged offensive attacks and took the match into double overtime, where Castillo of Illinois scored the decision, 8-5.
The 149-pound match had No. 17 Karl Nadolsky pitted against No. 1 and unbeaten Adam Tirapelle. Nadolsky wrestled Tirapelle tough and kept the score low, as with only 1:25 left in the match, the score was knotted up at 1-1. Nadolsky scored on a takedown with 30 seconds left to go up by two and while Tirapelle made a last ditch effort to score, Nadolsky fended off the shot with time expiring, winning 3-2.
"That was a huge win for him," said coach Tom Minkel. "Showed great discipline in the match, wrestling tough against a really tough opponent."
No. 13 Gray Maynard pulled out a 5-4 victory at 157 over Griff Powell, putting the Spartans up 16-12 and putting them up for good.
Corey Posey dropped a tough decision at 165 to No. 10 Mat Lackey, 7-2, but the decision wasn't enough to top the Spartans.
"What was most satisfying about this win is that everyone contributed," said Minkel. "It was a team win. Everyone wrestled hard and helped in this victory."
The Spartan will look to keep their momentum as they face the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines on Sunday, Jan 28, at 1 p.m. at Jenison Field House.
MATCH174 Ben King (UI) dec. Nate Mesyn (MSU) 13-6184 Nate Patrick (UI) dec. John Wechter (MSU) 9-3197 Nik Fekete (MSU) dec. Pat Quirk (UI) 8-5Hwt John Lockhart (UI) dec. Matt Lamb (MSU) 3-2125 Chris Williams (MSU) dec. Ryan Escobar (UI) 3-0133 Pat McNamara (MSU) maj.dec. Chad Hay (UI) 10-2141 Mike Castillo (UI) dec. Mike Castillo (MSU) 8-5 in 2OT149 Karl Nadolsky (MSU) dec. Adam Tirapelle (UI) 3-2157 Gray Maynard (MSU) dec. Griff Powell (UI) 5-4165 Matt Lackey (UI) dec. Corey Posey (MSU) 7-2
FINAL SCOREMSU 16UI 15