Spartan Grapplers Name Captains For 2004-05 Season
9/28/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Sept. 28, 2004
EAST LANSING, Mich. - MSU wrestling head coach Tom Minkel has named junior Darren McKnight and sophomore brothers Nick and Andy Simmons as captains for the 2004-05 year.
"These three are terrific leaders, on and off the mat," said Minkel. "We think they will provide leadership that this team needs for us to be successful this season."
McKnight finished last year strong, with an overall record of 25-11 at 149 pounds. He finished fifth in the Big Ten Tournament and earned his first trip to the NCAA Championships. McKnight lost only one dual match all season, going undefeated in Big Ten dual competition, and was champion of the North Carolina Open.
Andy Simmons, last year's most outstanding wrestler, will look to improve on his impressive 33 win season as a freshman. At the 2004 Big Ten Tournament, Simmons finished seventh en route to his first ever NCAA Tournament bid. At the NCAA Championships, he finished with a record of 3-2, falling short of gaining All-American honors by just one match. Simmons placed in the top five in each of the three tournaments in which he competed, and had just one loss in Big Ten dual clashes.
Nick Simmons, after taking an Olympic redshirt last year, returns to the MSU line-up. He finished fifth in the Olympic trials, falling just short of the squad, but finished among the top collegiate wrestlers. Earlier in the summer, he took home the United State's lone Pan-American freestyle gold medal. Simmons placed seventh at the NCAA Championships as a redshirt freshman in 2003, earning all-American honors. His 23 pins already places him in a tie for eighth in the Spartans' all-time list, with three years of eligibility remaining.
The MSU wrestling team kicks off official practices on Saturday, Oct. 2. It competes in its first tournament of the season on Nov. 6 at the Eastern Michigan Open.
