2010-11 Wrestling Season Outlook
11/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 3, 2010
The Michigan State wrestling team brings an experienced and talented roster into the 2010-11 season. Although the Spartans lost three NCAA qualifiers from last year - one of them being All-American and 2009 NCAA Champion Franklin Gomez - they also return 11 letterwinners, including nine with starting experience. The Spartans are led by a pair of returning NCAA qualifiers in juniors David Cheza (149/157 pounds) and Ian Hinton (184), and also return starters Dan Osterman (141) and Tyler Dickenson (197).
MSU head coach Tom Minkel, who is in his 20th season coaching the Spartans, said that the team has talent throughout each weight class.
"We look pretty solid," said Minkel. "We only have two seniors, so we're going to be strong for a while. And we've had great recruiting - the best kids in the country are right here in Michigan."
Minkel acknowledged that although the team is young, they do not lack talent. There is veteran leadership in place and he does not see a weight class in which they will not compete.
Here's a breakdown of all the weight classes as the Spartans head into the 2010-11 season, which begins Saturday, Nov. 6 at the Eastern Michigan Open in Ypsilanti.
125 Pounds
Junior Eric Olanowski enters the season as the starter at 125 pounds for the Spartans. Olanowski started in 16 duals (8-8) and recorded a 21-19 mark overall as a red-shirt freshman in 2008-09 as he qualified for the NCAA Championships; however, he only wrestled in 17 matches (10-7) last year before he injured his knee and missed the remainder of the season.
"Eric is a very talented young man and he has a lot of tools," said Minkel. "I do think that losing last year was a bit of a setback to him, because he lost an entire year to competition. But Eric is a real competitive guy, very creative, and really an outstanding wrestler.
"I think the key for him will be getting over the fear of getting re-injured, and not losing his creativity while still managing that injury. I think that will be his initial challenge, at least for a while. We expect him to have a pretty good year - he's a heck of a wrestler."
Sophomore Brennan Lyon, who served as the replacement to Olanowski last season, is expected to redshirt. Brennan's brother, Chris, is also a true freshman in the 125-pound weight class.
133 Pounds
The Spartans are being left with a big hole at 133 pounds with the graduation of Franklin Gomez. One of the top wrestlers in program history, Gomez was a three-time All- American and won the NCAA Championship in 2009.
The Spartans have two wrestlers projected to help fill the void left by Gomez: red-shirt freshman Josh Harper and fifth-year senior Joel Trombly.
A three-time high school state champion, Harper collected a 4-4 record in open tournaments as a true freshman last season, wrestling at both 133 and 141 pounds.
"I think that Josh (Harper) is starting to mature, both as an individual and as a wrestler," Minkel said. "I expect him to grow into a player for us before long."
Trombly is coming off of a shoulder injury that he had repaired last year. Although Trombly has wrestled at 141 in the past, Minkel said Trombly "should do pretty well at 133."
Minkel noted that the battle would most likely come down to which wrestler is able to manage their weight the best and still be effective.
Three true freshmen round out the 133 class: Andrew Ermatinger, Raymond Kort, and Jacob Mocny.
141 Pounds
Sophomore Dan Osterman returns as the starter at 141 after earning a position in the lineup last season as a true freshman. After starting out the year 8-0 at 133 pounds in open tournaments, Osterman moved up to 141 and started in 14 duals (7-7 record) for the Spartans. Overall, he posted a 21-14 record.
 Dan Osterman won 21 matches as a true freshman in 2009-10.  | |
"Dan is a talented kid and he undoubtedly will be our starter at 141," Minkel said. "Nobody has a better work ethic than he does. My biggest challenge is to keep him from overworking - every time you turn around he is back in the (weight) room wanting to work out and train.
"Dan is a lot more mature and a little bigger this year. Last year he was maybe a little small and didn't have quite the power for what he needed it for. He certainly does now though, he worked his tail off. He is going to have a breakout year I think."
Rounding out the 141 class is sophomore John Herbert and freshmen Connor Koester and Kyle Luks.
149/157 Pounds
The starter for the 149-pound class depends solely on whether junior David Cheza is able to manage his weight for 149, or decides to wrestle at 157.
Last season at 149 pounds, Cheza compiled a 25-15 record, started every dual (13-4 mark), placed sixth at the Big Ten Championships and went 2-2 at the NCAA Championships. But this season, Cheza could move up a weight class to 157 due to the absence to NCAA qualifier Anthony Jones Jr., who will miss the entire 2010-11 season with a shoulder injury.
"David has gotten quite a bit bigger, so we are going to see how his weight feels early in the season before we make a decision," said Minkel. "My inclination is that he will probably go 157, but he may go 149. There are some advantages to going 149, but at the same time I know that he got tired of managing his weight last year, week in and week out. He is a pretty big kid.
"David is one powerful young man and has good fundamental skills. He is going to anchor the center of our team this year, no doubt, at 149 or 157, wherever he is at."
If Cheza goes up to 157, Minkel said that either true freshman Ryan Watts out of Ferndale High School or junior Collin Dozier would be potential starters at 149.
Watts was a two-time all-state selection and the runner-up at 145 pounds his senior year at the 2010 MHSAA Championships. Minkel said Watts has worked with former Spartan and three-time All-American David Morgan, who is the son of Ferndale High School Coach Charlie Morgan.
"Ryan is highly motivated - if you went down to the wrestling room right now, he is probably down there," said Minkel. "The guy lives in the wrestling room. He reminds me a lot of David Morgan: talented, athletic, great work ethic. He is going to be a player for us no doubt."
Dozier himself would be moving up a weight class, as he recorded a 3-9 record at 141 pounds last year. Dozier has starting experience, as he's been in the lineup 16 times for duals in his career.
"He is in his fourth year and has a lot of experience now," Minkel said of Dozier. "He is certainly our veteran there. Between Dozier and Watts, if Cheza goes to 157, we should be in good shape at 149."
If Cheza remains at 149, Minkel will likely have to rely on a pair of true freshmen at 157: Troy Lamson and Sean McMurray.
 David Cheza recorded a 25-15 record last season and qualified for the NCAA Championships. | |
Lamson won the 152-pound Michigan state championship as a senior at Swan Valley High School.
"Troy had a breakout year last year, placing third in the high school national championships," said Minkel. "He reminds me a little of David Cheza. He is powerful, has good fundamentals, and is a tough kid."
McMurray, who is a three-time state Indiana state champion out of Portage, Ind., went a perfect 42-0 his senior season.
"Sean is one of our most credentialed freshmen," claimed Minkel. "He's a very sound wrestler and is an all around tough kid that is used to winning."
Regarding Jones' shoulder injury, Minkel said that Jones was hurt most of last season, even though he still managed to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the second straight year.
"Anthony wrestled his true freshman year and he really wants to graduate with his class," said Minkel. "We wanted to let him redshirt and he is just now starting to come back where he is able to (participate in) drills. We will miss him. He has been to the NCAA's twice and he is a player for us, and really came on last year, but he will be back next year. I know that Cheza talked about going 157 this year and then going back down to 149 last year, so that Jones can come back in at 157. We will see how all of that washes out."
Junior Philip Khozien and true freshmen Nick Humes and Kevin Nash will add depth to the 157-pound weight class.
165 Pounds
The top spot in the 165-pound weight class belongs to Ben Boudro, one of only two seniors returning from last year's squad. Boudro finished last season with a record of 12-10.
Being a senior, Boudro brings experience that will help benefit the team throughout the season.
"Ben is one of our leaders on our team and will most likely be our guy there (at 165)," Minkel said.
Red-shirt freshman Nicholas Kaczanowski and true freshmen Robert Nash and Nick Proctor will also wrestle at 165 for the Spartans.
174 Pounds
Junior Curran Jacobs and sophomore Bryant Craft will battle for the starting spot at 174 pounds. Jacobs finished with an overall record of 11-8 while wrestling at 184 pounds last year, while Craft finished 7-6 overall last season at 174. Craft showed his potential when he went 4-0 in the freshman/sophomore division of the 2009 MSU Open to take first place.
Having two guys battling for the top spot means that Coach Minkel will have his options when the season opens.
"Both are pretty talented guys with experience," Minkel said.
The Spartans also have three true freshmen in the 174 class: Eric Ford, Tyler Humes, and Luke Jones.
184 Pounds
The 184-pound class will be led by junior Ian Hinton, who finished 21-21 last season and qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. After starting every dual at 174 pounds his first two seasons, Hinton will move up to 184 pounds for the 2010-11 campaign.
"Ian has no intimidation in him at all," said Minkel. "He is in it to win it and he had some great matches last year. He has been in the lineup for two years now, and once you get in that third and fourth year, you really start to figure it out. He is way more mature now, and physically a lot stronger. I expect him to have a very strong year at 184."
Rounding out the 184 class are red-shirt freshmen Luke Domanski and Neil Hyska, along with true freshmen Patrick McGauley and John Rizqallah.
197 Pounds
For the third straight season, junior Tyler Dickenson will be the starter at 197 pounds for the Spartans. Dickenson doubled his win total from eight to 16 last season, and Minkel expects another jump in the victory total this season.
 Tyler Dickenson has started in 31 duals the past two seasons for the Spartans and returns to the starting lineup in 2010-11. | |
"He has a lot of experience now, and you can see the difference in practice," Minkel said of Dickenson, who has started 31 duals the past two years. "He is going to have a really good year. He is a really bright kid and has a great work ethic; he will do anything it takes to be successful."
The Spartans also have an outstanding freshman on the roster in Nick McDiarmid. A native of Fowlerville, Mich., McDiarmid won 122 consecutive matches in high school, won two state titles, and won the NHSCA Senior National Championship. Minkel said he plans on redshirting McDiarmid this season.
285 pounds
The heavyweight class is as strong as it has ever been for the Spartans. The class returns three wrestlers - red-shirt sophomore Steve Andrus, red-shirt freshman Michael McClure, and sophomore Joe Rizqallah - who will all compete for the starting position.
Andrus went 7-8 and started in three duals his freshman season in 2008-09, and compiled a 10-6 record in open tournaments last year while redshirting. But this past summer, Andrus proved he can wrestle with anyone in the country as he qualified for the 2010 FILA Junior World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, after winning both the FILA Junior Greco-Roman National Championships and the FILA Greco-Roman World Team Trials.
"Steve had a great summer and has gotten a lot bigger, he weighs about 260 pounds now," said Minkel. "He has an enormous gas tank and he never gets tired."
A state champion his senior year at Holland West Ottawa High School, McClure redshirted last year after competing during the open season. McClure showed promise by placing second at the EMU Open and fifth in the freshman/sophomore division of the MSU Open.
"You have never seen a better built kid as this - he is just a horse," said Minkel. "He is the most powerful kid we've ever had; he is very fundamental and very powerful."
Rizqallah also had an outstanding offseason competing in the U.S. Nationals, where he placed second. Minkel said he is an "unorthodox wrestler, and has great conditioning."
True freshman Pat Williams will redshirt this season.
"There isn't a happier coach in the country about their heavyweight situation than I am," said Minkel. "We have three outstanding heavyweights. It's just amazing, because so often if you get one good heavyweight, you're lucky. But then, he usually doesn't have anybody to work out with, which keeps him from getting as good as he could be. We have three really talented guys and they are all young. Each one has two great training partners, and we are really excited."
Schedule
Competing in the top wrestling conference in the nation, the Spartans' schedule is always a challenge, year in and year out. Of the Spartans' 18 dual matches, nine of them are against teams that begin the season ranked in the NWCA/USA Today Top 25.
Michigan State opens the 2010-11 season at the Eastern Michigan Open Nov. 6, then hosts the annual MSU Open at Jenison Field House Nov. 13.
The Spartans begin dual action with matches against Binghamton, Shippensburg and Harvard at the Sprawl & Brawl in Binghamton, N.Y., on Nov. 21.
For its Big Ten opener, Michigan State will travel to Iowa City, Iowa, to face the defending NCAA champion Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, Dec. 5. Following that comes a matchup in Dekalb, Ill., against Northern Illinois on Saturday, Dec. 11. The Spartans will also compete in Illinois later in the month at the Midlands Championships in Evanston on Dec. 29-30.
To start the new year, Michigan State returns home for the Spartan Duals on Saturday, Jan. 8. The Spartans will face Lock Haven at 11 a.m., Oakland University at 1 p.m., and will conclude against Eastern Michigan at 3 p.m. After a non-conference dual at West Virginia on Jan. 15, the Spartans will resume Big Ten play with a meet against Ohio State on Sunday, Jan. 16 at Millersburg, Ohio.
Michigan State then returns to Jenison Field House for four straight home meets against Central Michigan, Northwestern, Illinois, and Penn State. The Spartans will entertain the Chippewas on Friday, Jan. 21, before facing the Wildcats on Sunday, Jan. 23, followed by the Fighting Illini on Sunday, Jan. 30, and ending with the Nittany Lions on Friday, Feb. 4.
The Green and White then take off for Indiana for their last road trip of the Big Ten season, where they will face Indiana on Feb. 11 and Purdue on Feb. 13. Concluding the Big Ten regular season, MSU will return home to face archrival Michigan on Friday, Feb. 18, and then will wrap up against Wisconsin on Sunday, Feb. 20.
March brings the Big Ten Championships, which will be held at Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., on the weekend of March 5-6. The NCAA Championships will be held in Philadelphia, Pa., on March 17-19.
Players Mentioned
