Six Wrestlers Off To NCAA Championships
3/11/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 11, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
UP NEXT FOR THE SPARTANS: Chris Williams (125), Pat McNamara (133), Mike Castillo (144), Karl Nadolsky (149), Gray Maynard (157) and Nik Fekete (197) travel to the NCAA Championships in Iowa City, Iowa, held March 15-17.
NCAA Experience: Senior Pat McNamara (133) advances to the NCAA Championships for a fourth-straight year. McNamara is a two-time All-American, taking sixth in 2000 and fifth in 1998. In 1999, he finished the NCAA Championships in the quarterfinals. Sophomore Gray Maynard (157), senior Mike Castillo (141) and sophomore Karl Nadolsky (149) are all making their second consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships. Junior Chris Williams (125) and sophomore Nik Fekete (197) are making their first appearances in the NCAA Championships.
NCAA Wins: Pat McNamara is currently tied for 14th on MSU's NCAA Tournament wins list with 10 in his three tournament appearances. One more win would put him in a tie for ninth place. The record is 18 wins, held by Pat Milkovich who appeared in four NCAA Tournaments from 1972-76.
Big Ten Team Recap: The Spartans finished seventh with 65.9 points. Minnesota was crowned as Big Ten Champion with 154 points, followed by Illinois (130.5), Iowa (129.5), Michigan (109) and Ohio State (104.5).
Two Thirds: Two Spartans finished with third-place performances at the Big Ten Championships. At 125 pounds, sixth-seeded Chris Williams decisioned #7 Ryan Escobar of Illinois 3-0 in the third-place bout. At 133 pounds, #2 seed Pat McNamara pinned #4 Evan Robinson of Purdue at 4:03 in the third-place matchup. Gray Maynard, the No. 3 seed at 157, took fourth in his first matches since returning from knee surgery, while 141-pounder Mike Castillo, seeded fifth, took fifth, and sixth-seeded Karl Nadolsky finished sixth at 157.
McNamara - CXI: Senior Pat McNamara (133) recorded his 111th career victory, pinning Purdue's Evan Robinson (4:03) to take third place in the Big Ten Championships. McNamara, ranked fourth in his weight class, has 30 wins on the season.
MOST WINS-CAREER AT MSU1. Erich Harvey 1992-97 1472. David Morgan 1995-98 1293. Dan Wirnsberger 1990-95 120 Mike Potts 1981-84 1205. Don Whipp 1990-93 1196. Emilio Collins 1990-95 1157. Pat McNamara 1997-2001 1118. Nick Muzashvili 1996-99 110
In the Rankings: Each of the six MSU wrestlers who qualified for the NCAA Championship meet are ranked in his respective weight class according to Amateur Wrestling News, Feb. 27.
Wt. Name AWN*125 Chris Williams 13th133 Pat McNamara 4th141 Mike Castillo 17th149 Karl Nadolsky 14th157 Gray Maynard 11th197 Nik Fekete 9th
Seventh Heaven: Nik Fekete (197) and Gray Maynard (157) lead the Spartans in wins via falls with seven. Despite missing a month of action with a knee injury, Maynard's seven falls is a career record. Karl Nadolsky is third on the team with five.
Fast Falls: Karl Nadolsky (149) recorded the team's fastest fall in the Midlands Championship. Nadolsky pinned first round opponent, San Francisco State's Waylon Miller in 28 seconds. The fall was only three seconds off making the tournament's fastest fall list.
Weeks in the Top 15: Spartan wrestling has not been ranked out of the top 15 since the beginning of the 2000-2001 season. The Spartans were ranked as high as seventh and finish the season at No. 13.