Spartan Wrestling Topples Central Michigan, 21-12
1/5/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 5, 2001
EAST LANSING, MICH. - The 11th ranked Michigan State Spartans pulled off a come from behind victory over the Central Michigan Chippewas, 21-12. The Spartans surprisingly found themselves down after the first five weight classes, 9-7, but made a strong run at the middle weights, including two major decisions at 157 pounds and 184 pounds to seal the nine point victory.
The dual began at 197 pounds with No. 20 Nik Fekete taking on CMU's Brett Faustman. Fekete started the match with a flurry of shots, but Faustman steadily defended off each attach. The first point of the match wasn't scored until 1:30 to go in the second, when Fekete scored on an escape to take the lead, 1-0. After a takedown by Faustman and an escape by Fekete, the match was knotted up at 2-2. With the match tied at 4-4 with 30 seconds to go, Fekete scored the match winning takedown, leading 6-4. Faustman scored with seconds to go in the match, but Fekete sealed the victory 6-5.
Central Michigan went on to take the next two matches, as heavyweight Jack Leffler defeated MSU's No. 9 Matt Lamb, 3-1 in overtime. The match-up at 125 pounds was a familiar one, pinning No. 10 Chris Williams against CMU's No. 18 Ahmad Sanders. Williams had won their previous meeting this year, 4-2. But Sanders got the best of Williams this meeting, defeating him 8-2.
The two straight victories gave the Chippewas a 6-3 leading into the 133-pound match-up. MSU's Pat McNamara entered into the match-up looking to win his 95th match and move into 12th on the MSU all-time victory list. McNamara faced off against CMU's Mark Rusz and dominated the match from the jump, winning 6-0 by the end of the second period. McNamara won the match handily, scoring a 12-0 major decision over Rusz. Nine of the points came via four takedowns and five near fall points.
The Spartans temporarily regained the lead, 7-6, but stumbled as the normally reliable 141-pounder No. 9 Mike Castillo dropped his match 7-5 to CMU's Jason Mester. The Chippewa victory put them up at the halfway point, 9-7.
State came back in winning the next three matches and upping their lead to 17-9. At 149 pounds, No. 18 Karl Nadolsky scored a 4-2 victory over CMU's Ty Morgan. No. 8 Gray Maynard remained undefeated at 157 pounds, recording five takedowns in his 14-3 major decision over Russell Clark.
"Going out there all I think about is me," said Maynard. "I know that sounds selfish, but I want to make sure that I am focused on scoring and winning my match. I wanted to dominate and score as much as I could in the match and that happened. I can be a cheerleader after I take care of business."
Cory Posey rallied the team with a 12-5 victory at 165 pounds. Posey dominated CMU's Mitch Hancock in the third period, scoring four takedowns in under one minute. A 1:21-second riding time advantage upped the 11-5 score at the end of the match.
"I just wanted to establish the pace," said Posey. " In the second period I could tell that I was breaking him down and instead of sitting on my lead, I kept trying to build off it."
CMU's Kevin Carr won a hard fought 9-6 decision over Nate Mesyn at 174 pounds. But the Spartan's night was capped off by an awesome 12-1 win by John Wechter at 184 pounds. Wechter used the foot carry to score nine near fall points in the second period, putting him on top 9-0. He continued wrestling hard, scoring a takedown and a point for riding time, accumulating 2:15 in the match.
The Spartans move to 1-1 in their dual season and will face off against Missouri tomorrow at Jenison Field House, 7:30 p.m.
