MSU Wrestling Trounces Missouri, 29-3
1/6/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 6, 2001
EAST LANSING, MICH. - The No. 11 ranked Michigan State Spartans dominated the Missouri Tiger team from start to finish, taking nine of the ten weight classes to win, 29-3 at Jenison Field House Saturday night. The Spartans got two major decisions again, this time at 197 and 149 pounds. Gray Maynard remained unbeaten at 157 pounds (14-0) and Pat McNamara (133 lbs.) solely took over 12th place on the Spartan all-time win list. He is only three away from 11th.
The match began with the 157 weight class featuring the unbeaten and eighth-ranked Gray Maynard against Missouri's Jesse Jordan. The match was knotted up at eight all, until Maynard scored a takedown with :28 seconds to go in the second period, putting him up 10-8. Maynard wrestled an awesome third period, outscoring Jordan, 5-2, and sealing the victory, 16-10, with an extra point for his almost two minutes of riding time.
Cory Posey made another strong showing in his match at 165 pounds against Missouri's Mark Vollmar, 9-4. Posey never trailed in the match and allowed Vollmar to score his four points via escape. Posey scored four takedowns in the match.
Nate Mesyn wrestled tough against No. 10 ranked Jon Kopnisky at 174 pounds, only to come up short, losing the bout, 8-3.
With the team score now 6-3, John Wechter came out to again dominate at 184. Wechter was down early to Ry Stone, trailing 5-1 after the second period, but came out firing in the third, scoring on three takedowns and a near fall with 20 seconds to go in the match. Wechter used what has become his signature move, the foot carry, to turn Stone over to get the back points. Wechter won the match, 11-7.
"You have to realize that you need to go out there with almost a "kill" mentality," said Wechter. "You have to forget about being tired and focus on beating the guy. And that's all I thought about doing."
At 197 pounds, No. 20 Nik Fekete blew open what was a tight match with Dante Stone in the third period, outscoring Stone 11-3 in the third. Fekete scored four takedowns in the last period to win the match by major decision, 17-9.
The ninth-ranked heavyweight Matt Lamb won his match over Scott Barker, 7-5. Barker scored only three of his five points, as he was awarded two points for un-sportsmanlike conduct by Lamb.
"I was more frustrated with myself and kind of just took it out on that kid," explained Lamb. "I have to wake up and get back to where I was before. There is a lot of work to be done, but I am going to get back there."
The Spartans now sat on a 16-3 lead entering into the lower weight-classes. The light-weights were kicked off by the marquee match-up of the night, as No. 10 Chris Williams faced off against No. 8 Justin Spates. There was a flurry of action in the first, but no scoring as the first period ended tied at zero. Williams struck first with a near fall at 1:35 in the second to go ahead 2-0. With the score the same at the beginning of the third, the wrestlers exchanged points with Williams scoring on two escapes and Spates scoring on a takedown to keep the score at 4-2, but Williams scored a takedown with eight seconds remaining in the match to seal the victory.
No. 6 Pat McNamara looked solid at 133 pounds defeating Jesse West, 6-2. McNamara dominated the match, allowing West to score only one takedown at 2:20 in the first. McNamara went on to score six unanswered points in the remainder of the match.
At 141, No. 9 Mike Castillo followed up his close loss last night, with an exciting victory over J.P. Reese, 4-2. The match was tied up at the end of the second 2-2 and was looking to be headed for over time, until Castillo hit a reversal with 17 seconds to go in the match to seal the win.
In the evening nightcap, No. 18 Karl Nadolsky scored a major decision over Kenny Burleson, 13-4. Nadolsky had wrestled tough scoring six takedowns in the match. His riding time exceeded two minutes, adding the bonus point to up the win to 13-4.
The Spartans up their dual record to 2-1 and will head to Stillwater, Oklahoma next weekend to take on the No. 2 Oklahoma State Cowboys. The dual feature 15 nationally ranked wrestlers, seven from MSU and eight from OSU.
MATCH RESULTS157 Gray Maynard (MSU) dec. Jesse Jordan (Mizzou), 16-10165 Cory Posey (MSU) dec. Mark Vollmar (Mizzou), 10-4174 John Kopnisky (Mizzou) dec. Nate Mesyn (MSU), 8-3184 John Wechter (MSU) dec. Ry Stone (Mizzou), 11-7197 Nik Fekete (MSU) maj.dec. Dante Stone (Mizzou), 17-9Hwt. Matt Lamb (MSU) dec. Scott Barker (Mizzou), 7-5125 Chris Williams (MSU) dec. Justin Spates (Mizzou), 6-2133 Pat McNamara (MSU) dec. Jesse West (Mizzou), 6-2141 MIke Castillo (MSU) dec. J.P Reese (Mizzou), 4-2149 Karl Nadolsky (MSU) maj. dec. Kenny Burleson (Mizzou), 13-4
FINAL SCOREMSU 29MIZZOU 3