Spartan Wrestling Hosts MSU Open This Weekend
11/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 10, 2005
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A LOOK AT THE WEEK AHEAD- The Spartans will once again host the Michigan State Open at Jenison Field House this weekend, Nov. 14-15. Nearly 400 wrestlers from as many as 30 teams have competed in this prestigious preseason tournament in recent years. No team scores are kept for the open, but medals are handed out to the top eight placewinners in each weight class. Twelve mats will be used for the first two sessions of the tournament.
SIMMONS BROTHERS LEAD THE WAY AT EMU OPEN- Both Nick and Andy Simmons won tournament titles at the Eastern Michigan Open in Ypsilanti on Saturday, Nov. 5, registering 5-0 records on the day. Nick Simmons, ranked fourth at 125 pounds, dominated his first three matches of the tournament, recording falls against wrestlers from Edinboro and Michigan in less than a minute, and against Central Michigan's Josh Williams in 3:14. He defeated teammate Franklin Gomez in the finals, 3-0, to claim his second-straight EMU Open title.
No. 6 Andy Simmons dominated the 141-pound bracket, recording technical falls in both the opening round, 18-3, and in the finals, 15-0, against Navy's Dave Tippett. In his other three matches, Simmons surrendered just one point, winning by scores of 8-0, 4-0 and 4-1.
Besides Nick and Andy Simmons, six other Spartans earned medals at the tournament, including Franklin Gomez, who took second at 125 pounds in his first-ever collegiate tournament. Darren McKnight improved on last year's fourth-place finish, taking third at 149 pounds with a 5-1 record. This included a victory over Purdue's Doug Withstandley, who beat McKnight in a dual meet last season.
True freshman Nick Palmieri at 197 pounds, as well as redshirt freshmen Tim Hammer at 141 pounds, and John Murphy at 184 pounds, placed fourth, compiling 6-2 records for the tournament. Freshman Rocky Cozart also placed for MSU at 165 pounds, claiming sixth.
FABULOUS FRESHMEN CLASS- Out of the five freshmen who competed in their first collegiate tournament on Saturday, three of them earned spots in the top six of their respective weight classes. Franklin Gomez lost his lone match of the day to teammate Nick Simmons to take second at 125 pounds, while Nick Palmieri narrowly lost to former Mid-Athletic Conference champion J.J. Holmes of Eastern Michigan in the 197-pound consolation finals, 8-6, to take fourth. With an ailing back, Rocky Cozart was forced to injury default the fifth-place match at 165 pounds. Cozart fell narrowly to No. 15 Deonte Penn of Edinboro in his final match of the day.
THE FIRST OFFICIAL RANKINGS ARE OUT- The first official rankings by the NWCA and Intermat were released Oct. 27 and the biggest mover was Joe Williams. In the unofficial preseason poll, Williams was not ranked by Intermat at 174 pounds, but debuted at No. 12 this week. Nick Simmons stayed steady at No. 4, his finish at 125 pounds at last March's NCAA Championships, while All-American Andy Simmons is No. 5 at 141 pounds. Darren McKnight edged up from No. 18 to No. 15 at 149 pounds, while R.J. Boudro remained 12th at his new weight of 165 pounds. No publications, including W.I.N. Magazine and Amateur Wrestling News, released new rankings this week.
THE 2004 MSU OPEN- Michigan State saw nine of its wrestlers in eight different weight classes medal at the 2004 MSU Open. Darren McKnight at 149 pounds, R.J. Boudro at 174 pounds and Joe Williams at 184 pounds all made the tournament finals, claiming second, while Andy Simmons at 141 pounds took the tournament crown with a 5-0 record. Simmons registered three falls and a major decision on the weekend and improved his season record to 9-0. Freshman Jeff Wimberley took third at 125 pounds and Justin Mora at 165 pounds claimed fourth, while Matt Mccarty at 157 pounds and Bryan Harney at 165 pounds both took sixth. Max Lossen also claimed seventh at 285 pounds.
HEADING BACK FOR A REMATCH- For the second consecutive year, Nick Simmons and Oklahoma's Sam Hazewinkel will clash in the prestigious Marines/NWCA All-Star Classic. Simmons hopes to change his fortune against Hazewinkel, who defeated Simmons 2-1 at last year's All-Star Classic, as well as two other times during the regular season. Hazewinkel topped Simmons at a dual meet on Feb. 25, 2-0, and in the consolation finals of the 2005 NCAA Championships, 6-3. This year, the event will be held at Gallagher-Iba Arena, on the campus of Oklahoma State University.
FORMER SPARTAN WECHTER SELECTED TO U.S. TEAM- Former Michigan State wrestler John Wechter was named to the United States men's roster for the Henri Deglane Challenge, taking place Nov. 24 in Nice, France. He will compete at 84 kg. Wechter, who wrestles for the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club, placed fourth at this year's U.S. World Team Trials, and fifth at the 2005 U.S. Greco-Roman National Championships. The Saginaw, Mich., native wrestled for the Spartans from 1998-2003, compiling 67 career victories, and placing sixth at the 2002 Big Ten Championships. Wechter's brother, Tom, is currently on the MSU wrestling team.
ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER TOUGH SCHEDULE- Michigan State will once again square off with some of the most formidable opponents in the nation during the 2005-06 campaign. MSU will wrestle six of the top seven finishers and 10 of the top 15 teams at the 2005 NCAA Championships. The ipreseason team rankings by W.I.N. Magazine have the Spartans wrestling all of the top six teams in the land, with 13 of their 14 opponents being ranked in the top 25.
CAPTAINS SET FOR THE 2005-06 CAMPAIGN- Seniors Darren McKnight and R.J. Boudro, along with junior All-Americans Nick and Andy Simmons, will serve as team captains for the Michigan State wrestling team for the 2005-06 season. The four upperclassmen had a combined record of 114-32 in 2004-05. "Seldom has MSU had more leadership than it does this year," head coach Tom Minkel said. "These four men have not only had great success on the mat, but they have demonstrated outstanding leadership skills as well."
Nick Simmons COMPLETES A BUSY SUMMER OF WRESTLING IN TURKEY- Nick Simmons completed a busy summer of wrestling by taking fifth at the 2005 World University Games in Izmir, Turkey on Aug. 13. Simmons defeated Aliaksandr Lasitsa of Belarus, registered a fall against Nam Song of North Korea in 1:59 before falling to Simonyan Vahan of Armenia in the semifinals. He then lost a tight match to Hgyun-Jin Yoo of Korea in the bronze-medal match. Simmons advanced to the Games by winning the University World Team Trials in May, and winning the University National Championships in April, where he was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler.
FORMER SPARTAN ALL-AMERICAN Chris Williams NAMED ASSISTANT COACH- Former Spartan All-American Chris Williams was named the new second assistant wrestling coach on July 13, taking the place of David Dean. Williams wrestled at 125 lbs. for MSU from 1997-2002, and was an NCAA All-American in 2001. His 102 career wins place him 14th on the MSU career victories board.
THE CREDENTIALS KEEP COMING...- Nick Simmons earned a spot on the U.S. National Team by claiming third at the World Team Trials this past June in Ames, Iowa. Simmons went 3-1 for the tournament, defeating Jesse Zobeck of Colorado, former NCAA Champion Jason Powell of Nebraska and California's Matt Azevedo. His lone loss came to four-time All-American Eric Akin. Simmons advanced to the tournament by taking third at the 2005 U.S. Senior National Championships. At the National Championships, he compiled a 5-1 record, pinning three opponents.
MCKNIGHT NAMED NWCA ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN- Boasting a 3.34 GPA in accounting, Darren McKnight was named to the 2005 National Wrestling Coaches Association Academic All-American Team. The two-time NCAA Qualifier and team captain did an internship in accounting at LaSalle Bank in Chicago this summer.
WELCOME THE 2005 FRESHMAN CLASS- MSU welcomes highly touted recruits Franklin Gomez, Rocky Cozart and Nick Palmieri to the program for the 2005-06 season. Gomez won the "triple crown" of high school wrestling in 2005, claiming national championships at the High School Nationals, the U.S. Greco Roman Junior Nationals and the U.S. Freestyle Junior Nationals. He was the top rated senior at 119 lbs. by Wrestling News and Wrestling USA magazines.
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