Spartan Wrestling Prepared for Tough 2003-04 Season
11/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 5, 2003
East Lansing, Mich. - With experience and leadership on his side, Michigan State head coach Tom Minkel is looking forward to a challenging season with a strong mix of ability and experience in the 2003-04 season.
"We have a lot of talent on the team," said Minkel. "The team is a bit younger than we have had the last few years, but at the same time I think we have the potential to be a very good team. The young kids are talented, accomplished wrestlers and the guys we have returning offer great leadership and experience."
Senior Ryan L'Amoreaux returns at 141 after finishing one match shy of All-America honors last season. Classmates Arsen Alexsanyan, Mike Keenan, Nate Mesyn and Anton Hall will help to lead the Spartans in 2003-04.
"We've got some pretty good senior leadership," said Minkel. "Our seniors - Mike Keenan, Nate Mesyn, Anton Hall, Arsen Alexsanyan, and Ryan L'Amoreaux - are very experienced. I think we have a pretty good group for senior leadership and a great group of young guys coming up."
125: The loss of All-American Nick Simmons to an Olympic redshirt year is not a concern for Minkel as he is confident that fourth-year junior Craig Trombly will fill Simmons' shoes. Simmons, an All-American in 2003 at 125 pounds, will spend the season training throughout the country in pursuit of Olympic glory.
Trombly was 6-5 last season, 0-1 in Big Ten competition, and placed eighth at the Michigan State Open. Redshirt freshman Zachary Frutiger will also compete for time at the 125 spot. He was 8-5 in unattached competition in 2002-03, and finished third at the Muskegon Community College Open.
"Craig Trombly is in his fourth year as a junior and I think he'll do an excellent job of filling in," said Minkel. "Nick is a pretty special wrestler and very accomplished, so we'll certainly miss having him on the team this year, but Craig can certainly do the job of filling those shoes."
133: At 133 pounds, redshirt freshman Tony Greathouse is expected to help push the Spartans higher on the conference and national stage. Last season, Greathouse compiled a 3-7 record in open competition at 125. The Mason, Mich., native has a high school record of 168-27, with 69 pins.
141: At 141 pounds, redshirt freshman Andy Simmons and senior Ryan L'Amoreaux will compete for time on the mat. Simmons enters the season after competing internationally over the summer in the Junior Freestyle World Championships at 66kg/145.5 lbs., leading the U.S. team to a sixth place finish.
L'Amoreaux is coming off his best season of collegiate wrestling as he was one win away from All-American honors in 2003. He made his first trip to the National Championships last season, where he lost to Indiana's Coyte Cooper in the second round of competition.
Simmons and L'Amoreaux are expected to compete for the starting spot at 141 pounds. InterMat ranks Simmons 14th in the preseason while themat.com ranks L'Amoreaux 13th in its preseason publication.
149: At 149 pounds, more tough competition awaits as Darren McKnight, a sophomore from Hixson, Tenn., and Shane Martin, a junior from DeWitt, Mich., will battle for the starting spot.
Martin competed at 133 pounds throughout the 2002-03 season, and won two Big Ten dual matches against Northwestern and Purdue, and dual meets against Kent State and Cornell. McKnight spent last season at a lower weight as well, wrestling at 141. He went 11-10 overall, with a seventh place finish at the MSU Open and saw dual meet action against Minnesota in the National Duals, Hofstra and Central Michigan.
157/165: Minkel expects another battle between the weights of 157 and 165. Alexsanyan, junior Matt McCarty and redshirt freshman Mike Escobedo are certified at 157 pounds, meaning any of them could wrestle at either weight.
Alexsanyan, a sixth-year senior from Santa Ana, Calif., was the starter at 165 in 2002-03, posting an overall record of 11-20. Prior to wrestling for Michigan State, he was a California Junior College National Champion at 165 in 2000.
McCarty wrestled in the 149-pound weight class last season, with a 3-5 overall record. He lost the only dual meet he competed in against Kent State. A four-year letterwinner at Clarksville High School in Clarksville, Tenn., McCarty has an overall collegiate record of 12-16 and is 2-8 in Big Ten competition.
Escobedo is coming off a redshirt season where he went 9-6 in open competition, taking champion honors at the Muskegon Open. Hailing from Crown Point, Ind., and Lake Central High School, Escobedo posted a 159-14 record at Lake Central, and won two individual state championships. He was an undefeated 92-0 in his junior and senior prep seasons.
174: Hall, a senior, is the lone competitor at 174 pounds this season. A junior college national champion for Muskegon Community College in 2001, he has a 27-22 record in his two seasons for MSU. He has an 11-5 overall record and two pins in 2002-03. With the graduation of NCAA Qualifier Rashad Evans at 174, Hall is expected to lead the Spartans with his skill and experience this season.
184: Senior Nate Mesyn compiled a 3-6 overall record in 2002-03, sharing the starting spot with Jeff Clemens last year. Clemens started the season at 184 but Mesyn returned to dual competition against rival Michigan, and finished the season at 184, with Big Ten dual meet victories against Purdue and Illinois.
197: After spending last season at 184, Clemens moves up a weight class to 197 pounds where he and third-year sophomore Conan Williams will battle for the starting spot. Clemens finished with an 11-16 overall record in 2002-03, and was 1-3 in Big Ten dual meet competition. Williams wrestled at 174 pounds last season, with a 1-2 record in open competition. He has a 4-7 overall record at Michigan State.
HWT/285: Rounding out the lineup for Michigan State, three wrestlers will compete for the starting position at heavyweight. Senior Mike Keenan, sophomore Max Lossen and redshirt freshman Spencer Nadolsky will battle for the No. 1 spot.
Keenan, a fifth-year senior out of Columbus, Ohio, was 6-7 in 2002-03 with a 1-1 record in Big Ten duals. His record at Michigan State is 29-47 with four pins. Lossen was 8-5 last season, going 0-1 in dual meets after his redshirt season in 2001-02. He is 23-10 overall as a Spartan. Finally, Nadolsky will concentrate on wrestling this season after taking a redshirt season in both football and wrestling in 2002-03.
Schedule: Michigan State opens the season with the Eastern Michigan Open in Ypsilanti, Mich., giving the Spartans coaching staff the opportunity to evaluate the team and individual wrestlers. MSU then returns to Jenison Field House to host the MSU Open, Nov. 8-9. The Spartans host preseason No. 1 and defending national champion Oklahoma State to open the dual meet portion of the season on Nov. 15.
"Obviously, the defending national champion, Oklahoma State, will be tough," said Minkel. "We almost always have the nation's toughest schedule with Big Ten opponents, and of course this year, Oklahoma State."
The Spartans will travel to Mt. Pleasant, Mich., to face Central Michigan in dual competition before traveling to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the North Carolina Open on Dec. 6. The Midlands Championships again appear on the Michigan State schedule as the team travels to Evanston, Ill., for the two-day event Dec. 28-29.
After nearly a month of travel, State returns to Jenison Field House where it hosts Hofstra on Jan. 3 to start 2004. The Spartans face Kent State on the road and wrestle in the National Duals Jan. 17-18 in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Big Ten season opens Jan. 23 when MSU hosts 2003 Big Ten Champion Minnesota in East Lansing, Mich.
"The Big Ten is always tough, there's no question about it," said Minkel. "Minnesota won the Big Ten Championship last year and was second in the country. Iowa is always near the top. Illinois has a very good team this year, and Penn State is much improved. Up and down, the conference is tough. I don't think there is any sport in any conference that is as tough as the Big Ten is in wrestling. It is the premier conference in wrestling and all 11 schools have great traditions."
The Spartans host Illinois, Purdue and Indiana, while traveling to Michigan, Iowa, Penn State and Ohio State.
MSU also faces Oklahoma in a non-conference dual in the middle of the Spartans' Big Ten schedule as it travels to Norman, Okla., to face the Sooners on Feb. 6.
Ohio State plays host to the 2004 Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio, from March 6-7, while Spartans set their sights on March 18-20 and St. Louis, the site of this year's NCAA Championships.
With one of its top wrestlers taking the season off from collegiate wrestling to pursue Olympic realities, Minkel is confident that this season will prove to be exciting and challenging with the right mix of talent and experience along with a demanding schedule.
Players Mentioned
