Spartan Wrestling Moves Into 14th Place At NCAA Championships
3/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 16, 2001
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Michigan State wrestling team moved into 14th place with 38 points after day two of the 2001 NCAA Wrestling Championships. The 2001 Championships are being held at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on the campus of the University of Iowa. Host-school Iowa leads the Championships with 112 points, while Minnesota is second with 109.50.
Senior Pat McNamara, who entered as the fourth seed at 133 pounds, lost in the quarterfinals to Hofstra's Roman Flesza in a 10-4 decision. As a result, McNamara was eliminated from the championship bracket where he had won his first two matches. McNamara moved into the fourth round of the wrestle-back bracket where he defeated No. 6 seed Rob Loper of Pittsburgh, 4-4 in a tiebreak and beat No.10 seed Brett Lawrence (Minnesota), 9-0. On Saturday morning (March 17), McNamara faces No. 3 seed Todd Beckerman of Nebraska in one semifinal of the wrestle-back bracket, while Oklahoma's Will Durden and Hofstra's Roman Fleszar will meet in the other. The two winners will meet in the wrestle-back championship match also on Saturday morning.
Junior Chris Williams, the seventh seed in the 125-pound bracket, began the day with a win over Tommy Hoang of Duke by scoring a 10-8 decision. With the win, Williams advanced in the wrestle-back bracket to take on the fifth-seed Matt Ridings of Oklahoma. Williams went on to defeat Ridings for a 4-3 decision. In the fourth-round of the wrestle-back, Williams defeated No. 11 seed Ryan Escobar of Illinois, 4-1, before bowing out with a 4-0 loss to A.J. Grant of Michigan.
Senior Mike Castillo, 141 pounds, found himself in a wrestle-back match against UNC Greensboro's Corey Williams. The unseeded Castillo defeated Williams in an 8-4 decision. Next, Castillo faced fifth-seeded Donnie DeFlippis of George Mason, where he took a 6-4 decision. Castillo lost in the fourth-round wrestle-back to Arizona's State's Eric Larkin by an 11-2 count.
Gray Maynard, a 157-pound sophomore, began Friday with an 8-2 decision over Air Force's Timothy Huxel to advance to face Ohio State's Josh Jansen in the third round of wrestle-backs. Maynard dominated the match as he pinned Jansen at the 4:20 mark. Maynard bowed out the championships, falling to No. 4 seed Eric Jorgensen (Oregon State) in a 6-2 decision.
Sophomore Nik Fekete got off to a strong start Friday by defeating Craig Rumsey of Wyoming in the 197-pound wrestle-back bracket. Fekete's victory resulted in a 9-4 decision. He then defeated Purdue's Joe Bush in an 11-8 decision in the third round. In the Friday evening session, Fekete defeated Cal State-Fullerton's Babak Nejadmaghaddam in a close 3-2 decision. No. 4 seed Rusty Cook (Boise State) eliminated Fekete from the championships with an 11-4 victory.
In the 149-pound wrestle-back bracket, sophomore Karl Nadolsky was eliminated by a 12-5 decision to Collin Robertson of Boise State University.
On Saturday (March 17), action will conclude at the 2001 NCAA Wrestling Championships. ESPN2 will air the 2001 NCAA Wrestling Championships on a tape delay basis, starting at 6 p.m.
2001 NCAA Wrestling Championships - Top 10 Teams (after Day Two)
1. Iowa, 112 points2. Minnesota, 109.5 points3. Oklahoma State, 106 points4. Illinois, 76.5 points5. Oklahoma, 74 points6. Iowa State, 62.5 points7. Michigan, 50 points8. Nebraska, 48 points9. Boise State, 43.5 points10. Edinboro, 42 points14. Michigan State, 38 points