Wrestlers Set To Compete In NCAA Championships

March 17, 2009

2009 NCAA Championships Brackets

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State wrestling team will travel to St. Louis, Mo., to compete in the 2009 NCAA Championships on March 19-21.

The Spartans will send five wrestlers to the Scottrade Center - redshirt freshman Eric Olanowski (125 pounds), Big Ten champion and returning All-American Franklin Gomez (133), sophomore Anthony Jones Jr. (157), senior Rex Kendle (165) and redshirt freshman Ian Hinton (174).

MSU improves on sending one wrestler in 2008 (Gomez) to sending five this year.

LAST TIME OUT
Franklin Gomez won his second-consecutive Big Ten Championship at 133 pounds on March 8, defeating four Big Ten foes, two ranked in the top 10 nationally.

Gomez pinned Indiana's Matt Ortega in 1:43 in the opening round, followed by a 19-4 technical fall victory over Michigan's Zac Stevens in the quarterfinals. He then defeated No. 6 seed Jake Strayer of Penn State to advance to the finals, where he would defeat fifth-seeded Reece Humphrey of Ohio State, 7-4, in double overtime.

Eric Olanowski, David Cheza and Anthony Jones Jr. picked up seventh-place finishes in the 125, 149 and 157-pound classes, respectively. Ian Hinton finished eighth at 184 to round out the Spartan placewinners.

Although the Spartans finished in 11th, three automatic bids to the NCAA Championships resulted from the tournament. Hinton and Kendle were also awarded at-large berths to the NCAA Championships.

HE'S NUMBER ONE
Franklin Gomez enters the NCAA Championships as the top seed in the 133-pound bracket for the second-straight year. Gomez earned the top spot after winning the Big Ten Championships in 2008 and 2009.

Gomez is also ranked No. 1 in the country at 133 pounds for the eighth week this season. He held the top spot for seven-straight weeks last fall and reclaimed it after earning the Big Ten crown.

2008 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS REWIND
Then-sophomore Franklin Gomez rounded out his season with a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Gomez entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed at 133 pounds.

After winning his first three matches, Gomez fell in the semifinal to Iowa's Joey Slaton, the No. 4 seed. He then defeated Cornell's Mike Grey and Illinois' Jimmy Kennedy to clinch third place and All-American status.

TV COVERAGE
The 2009 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be aired live on the ESPN family of networks over the course of the weekend. Friday's first session will be aired on ESPNU and ESPN360.com and the second session will be aired on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360.com.

Saturday's medal rounds will be aired on ESPNU, while the final rounds will be shown on ESPN and ESPN360.com.

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH
The MSU starting lineup, the youngest in the Big Ten, has started the most underclassmen in the conference (10).

The Spartan lineup consists of one true freshman, five redshirt freshmen, a sophomore, two juniors and only one senior. Overall, 21 of the team's 32 wrestlers are sophomores or younger.

REX
Rex Kendle was recently featured on ESPN personality Jim Rome's radio show, taking part in Rome's "Guys Named Rex" streak.

Kendle was the 19th guest named Rex to be featured on Rome's show.