Michigan State University
Iowa State
No. 16 Iowa State Defeats Spartan Wrestling, 22-9
11/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State wrestling team lost a hard-fought dual to No. 16 Iowa State, 22-9, Sunday afternoon at Jenison Field House in the home opener for the Spartans. MSU recorded three victories over the Cyclones, including 16th-ranked Javier Gasca's 5-3 win over No. 12 Earl Hall at 133 pounds in Gasca's first career home dual match. Garth Yenter (141) and Luke Jones (heavyweight) also notched decisions for Michigan State.
"We're not that far away," said Spartan head coach Tom Minkel. "We've got to get better and continue to improve, but I thought we wrestled Iowa State pretty darn well and I know we wrestled them hard. The guys are a little frustrated because in quite a few matches we came up just a point or two short, but if we wrestle hard and keep improving, we're going to be all right."
Gasca made quite the impression in his first home match, picking up his third win over a ranked opponent in the last two weekends. Hall, a returning All-American who wrestled at 125 pounds last season, picked up the early takedown one minute into the match, but Gasca quickly escaped to make it 2-1, and he tied it at 2 with an escape in the second.
In the decisive third period, Hall went back up, 3-2, with an escape; however, Gasca delivered a takedown with 1:05 left and tacked on a point of riding time (1:06) to rally for the 5-3 win.
"Javier's a special kid," said Minkel. "He's only been in the lineup for three weeks and he's already making a splash. He's a quiet, hard-working kid who's doing a nice job. He's focused, he's committed, and he's off to a great start.
"The nice thing about Javier is that he's got great focus and great intensity. That's a match where he gave up the first takedown and there were a few scrambles that could've gotten away from him, and yet he fought really hard and got the win. He's had a brutally tough schedule this early in the year, but he's handling it well."
"I was really excited, but it was kind of nerve-wracking a little bit," said Gasca of wrestling in his first home dual. "This whole season, I've had to come back in the third period. I'm trying to knock that off, I don't know what it is. I'm moving, I'm moving, but not with a purpose, and he (Hall) found an angle and capitalized. You're going to get taken down, it's going to happen, so you don't really think about it. I knew I was capable of taking him down, so I just kept that in the back of my head and kept wrestling. It feels good to get this first home win.
"It's crazy, but it's awesome," Gasca said of the tough early season schedule. "I would rather have it be like that - wrestle the best guys right away, and see where you're at. I'm getting a good gauge of where I'm at, but I have a lot to work on."
Yenter continued the momentum for Michigan State (2-3) with an 11-8 decision over John Meeks at 141 pounds. Although Yenter surrendered an early takedown 20 seconds into the match, he bounced back with an escape and a reversal to go up 3-2 after one period. Yenter was in control in the second, producing a takedown and receiving a point for stalling on Meeks. Yenter took a 7-2 lead on an escape to begin the third, and held on for the win despite three takedowns from Meeks in the final 90 seconds. The sophomore from California, Kentucky, racked up 2:57 of riding time to earn the 11-8 decision.
"Garth is adjusting to the new weight class (was at 133 last year), but he goes hard and he's got a big gas tank," Minkel said. "That was a nice win for him."
Down 6-0, the Cyclones (4-0) battled back to win the next six matches in a row to take a 19-6 lead. ISU features five ranked wrestlers in its lineup, including four straight in the 165, 174, 184 and 197 weight classes.
Gabe Moreno edged Nick Trimble at 149, 8-5, and Luke Goettl topped Roger Wildmo, 7-3, at 157, to tie the dual at 6.
In the final match before intermission, Ryan Watts took third-ranked Michael Moreno right to the wire, but dropped a 5-2 decision to the two-time All-American.
At 174 pounds, No. 6 Tanner Weatherman shut out Nick Proctor by major decision, 8-0, in the only match of the dual that featured bonus points.
No. 18 Lelund Weatherspoon of Iowa State handed John Rizqallah a 10-3 loss at 184, while third-ranked Kyven Gadson, also a two-time All-American, beat Nick McDiarmid at 197, 7-3.
The Spartans won their third match of the afternoon at heavyweight, as Luke Jones came back to defeat Quean Smith, 7-3. Trailing 2-1 with under one minute remaining, Jones recorded a takedown to go up 3-2, but Smith escaped to tie it at 3. With overtime looming, Jones delivered his second takedown of the period with just 15 seconds remaining and added near-fall points before the buzzer sounded to come away with the 7-3 victory.
"To move up to heavyweight is a big adjustment," said Minkel of Jones, who wrestled at 197 last season. "That was a huge win for him and will make a difference in his season altogether. I think he really saw what he had to do. He had to wait for the fatigue to kick in for his opponent a little bit, and then get after it. He had a couple of very timely takedowns."
In the final match of the dual, Iowa State's Kyle Larson defeated Mitch Rogaliner at 125 pounds, 6-4.
Michigan State has next weekend off before traveling to Northern Illinois Dec. 5 and Iowa Dec. 6.
No. 16 Iowa State 22 Michigan State 9
133: No. 16 Javier Gasca (MSU) dec. No. 12 Earl Hall (ISU), 5-3. MSU leads, 3-0
141: Garth Yenter (MSU) dec. John Meeks (ISU), 11-8. MSU leads, 6-0
149: Gabe Moreno (ISU) dec. Nick Trimble (ISU), 8-5. MSU leads, 6-3
157: Luke Goettl (ISU) dec. Roger Wildmo (MSU), 7-3. Tied, 6-6
165: No. 3 Michael Moreno (ISU) dec. Ryan Watts (MSU), 5-2. ISU leads, 9-6
174: No. 6 Tanner Weatherman (ISU) dec. Nick Proctor (MSU), 8-0. ISU leads, 13-6
184: No. 18 Lelund Weatherspoon (ISU) dec. John Rizqallah (MSU), 10-3. ISU leads, 16-6
197: No. 3 Kyven Gadson (ISU) dec. Nick McDiarmid (MSU), 8-3. ISU leads, 19-6
HWT: Luke Jones (MSU) dec. Quean Smith (ISU), 7-3. ISU leads, 19-9
125: Kyle Larson (ISU) dec. Mitch Rogaliner (MSU), 6-4. ISU wins, 22-9
Attendance: 624
Players Mentioned
