Michigan State University
Michigan State Open
Spartans Shine In Michigan State Open Sunday
11/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
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EAST LANSING, Michigan -- Michigan State wrestling posted two event wins as part of 12 medal winners for a successful Michigan State Open Sunday at Jenison Field House.
2016 MSU Open Final Brackets 
| Michigan State Open - MSU Results
The Spartans' event titles came from redshirt junior Javier Gasca at 141 pounds and freshman Drew Hughes at 165 pounds. Sophomore Jacob Cooper was second at 285, while redshirt sophomore Austin Eicher was third at 133. Freshman Jwan Britton at 141 and 157-pounder Austin Thompson picked up a pair of fourth-place finishes, while senior Nick Trimble at 157 and freshman 285-pounder Christian Rebottaro were fifth. Freshman Lucas Hall at 125, Mark Bozzo at 157, freshman Nick May at 184 and redshirt sophomore Matthew Okaiye at 197 rounded out the Spartan medalists all with sixth-place postings.
"The biggest thing that we talked about all week long is just competing for seven minutes and get better every time we step on the mat," MSU head coach Roger Chandler said. "I think in a lot of places we did that and it's about the journey, and it's not just about this year, it's about their career, and I think a lot of the guys made a lot of progress today."
For the day, the Spartans led all teams with 20 total falls, led by three from Cooper while Gasca, Hughes and freshman Jake Tucker at 149 tallied two apiece.
Sunday was the Spartans' second weekend of action this season, after kicking off the season with the Eastern Michigan Open on Nov. 5.
It was really good to see them improve. Obviously there's going to be one or two guys that crash and that's going to happen but we had 31 guys compete today. The overall situation is that we got better from two weeks ago," Chandler said.
Gasca opened with a fall in 1:59 over Anthony Rubino of Northern Illinois. In the second round, he beat Marty Margolis of Notre Dame College in a 17-1 technical fall. In the quarterfinals against Central Michigan's Collin Vargo, Gasca tallied his second fall of the day, this time at 6:59. Gasca advanced to the finals after an 18-3 technical fall over Dresden Simon of Central Michigan in the semifinals. In the final, Gasca pulled ahead midway through the second period and went on to win in a 9-5 decision.
"It felt good. It got the win for us. I was glad to start out hot for us, then gave it to Drew (Hughes) and then to Cooper and hopefully we could've got three champions, but it felt good today," Gasca said.
Despite not getting that third title, Gasca, a native of Kingsburg, Calif., was excited to be competing in front of the large contingent of Spartan fans, including some family.
"It feels great. It's always a great feeling competing at home because you have everyone supporting you, but it feels good. It always feels good to compete in front of your friends and family. I've got my dad, grandpa and cousin here and the rest of my family, which is the team, and all the other guys that are here supporting us," Gasca said.
"Javier is guy that you can point to as a guy that is a program leader because he does everything right. He works hard, doesn't take shortcuts, doesn't get caught up in the social aspects of life, and is passionate about what he does. He also has a level head and what he's trying to accomplish along the way. So guys can identify with that and kind of want to follow his lead, so he's an easy guy to point to, as a head coach. I think he's a guy that's going to be a true leader for the program.
Hughes opened action with a bye in the first round before posting an 18-0 technical fall win over Jake Weimer in his first home action at a Spartan. Hughes stormed through the quarterfinals with a fall in 1:49 over Scottie Sopko of Indiana Tech, then logged another fall, this time in 1:59 over Andrew Scott of Northern Illinois. In the final, Hughes was down 4-1 through two periods, but rallied in the third and final frame to top Issiah White of Notre Dame College, 6-4.
"It feels good, especially being at home and coming off of a second-place finish at Eastern. It's good to finally win it. I'm pretty confident with being on top and being able to turn people. When I hadn't been on top yet in the match, the coaches and everyone were telling me to go on top so I figured I should and it paid off," Hughes said about his comeback victory.
Hughes' come-from-behind victory also impressed his coach.
"This is big time college wrestling, you see what he does every day in the room and you see how it carries over but until he's put in that situation, a big time match, you're not sure. I am very confident in Drew and his abilities, especially in the top position, and he's a guy that's going to challenge people all year long. He was in a position where he was going to try that one turn, and if not take the lead, and that's what happened. That is his best position and he gave himself a chance to win the match," Chandler said.
Cooper had a first-round bye, then beat Robert Eineder of Muskegon in a fall at 0:47, then logged another fall, pinning Gary Traub of Ohio State at 2:56 in the quarterfinals. In the semis, Cooper recorded his third-straight fall, this time at 4:13 over unattached wrestler Luke Ready to reach the finals. In the title bout against Caleb Gossett of Northern Illinois, Cooper led for the majority of the match before Gossett scored a late takedown and hung on to down Cooper in a 5-4 decision.
At 125, Hall opened with a first-round bye before knocking off Ivan McClay of Notre Dame College, 3-2, in the second round. Hall advanced to the semifinals with a fall at 6:10 over Drew Hildebrandt of Central Michigan. Hall suffered his first defeat of the day with a 3-1 decision to Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern, and Hall had his consolation semifinal cut short at 1:25 with an injury.
At 133, Eicher had a solid outing in his first action as a Spartan after transferring from Northern Illinois this past summer. Eicher opened with a first-round bye, then beat David Bavery of Notre Dame College in a 4-1 decision. In the quarters, Eicher won by an 8-0 major decision over current teammate, freshman Matt Santos. Eicher was edged by Corey Keener of Central Michigan, 6-2, in the semifinals, before bouncing back with a 3-0 decision over former Northern Illinois teammate, Alijah Jeffery. In the third-place match, Eicher was a 3-2 decision over Ian Parker of Iowa State.
Britton joined Gasca in medaling at 141, beginning action with an 8-3 decision over Notre Dame College's Hunter Bray. In the second round, Britton won in a 16-1 technical fall over Matthew Dowler of Edinboro. Britton suffered a 15-4 major decision defeat to Dresden Simon of Central Michigan. In the wrestle backs, Britton won a 17-7 major decision over Marty Margolis of Notre Dame College, then a 4-1 decision over Collin Vargo of Central Michigan, before a 6-3 decision over Angel Velasquez of Northern Illinois in the consolation semis. In the third-place match, Britton was nipped 2-1 by Mason Smith of Central Michigan.
At 149 Trimble also opened with a bye, then won a 5-1 decision over Austin Holmes of Indiana, then a 9-4 decision over Fernie Silva of Notre Dame College in the quarterfinals. Trimble lost a tight 6-3 decision to Justin Oliver of Central Michigan in the semis and a 10-0 major decision to Ryan Deakin of Northwestern in the consolation semifinal, before bounding back with a 5-3 decision over Silva in the fifth-place match.
Thompson had a by in the 157-pound first round, then posted a 10-0 major decision over Kent State's Richard Jackson and a 12-1 major decision over Blake Montrie of Central Michigan. Thompson was dealt a 10-3 defeat by Caden McWhirter of Northern Illinois before pinning Chase Hack of Indiana Tech in a 3:33 fall. Thompson lost a tight 2-0 decision to Edinboro's Andrew Shomers in the third-place match.
Bozzo had a first-round by then won a 15-3 major decision over Jon Watkins of Indiana Tech and a fall in 1:05 over Chase Hack also of Indiana Tech. He then lost a 9-0 major decision to Colin Heffeman of Central Michigan and finished sixth after medical forfeiting the next two bouts.
May finished sixth at 184 after opening with a 9-1 major decision over Johnny Garcia of Notre Dame College, then dropped a 3-0 decision to Dylan Dobzanski of Northern Illinois. May countered with a pair of decision wins, first at 3-1 over Duane Deerwester of Indianapolis, then at 5-2 over sophomore teammate Wesley Maskill. May lost a 5-2 decision to Notre Dame College's Tony Vezzetti and then a 7-5 defeat at the hands of Gayden Whitaker of Indianapolis in the fifth-place match.
Okaiye opened his action at 197 with a 9-4 decision over Indiana's Jake Kleimola before losing to Landon Pelham of Central Michigan in a 2:02 fall. He bounced back with a 10-4 decision over Max lhry of Northern Illinois and a 12-9 decision over Jordan Collins of Indianapolis, before losing in a 1:38 fall to Shawn Scott of Northern Illinois, then losing by forfeit in the fifth-place match.
Rebottaro earned his fifth-place finish after opening with a first-round bye, then a narrow 2-0 win over Jeffrey Henderson of Henry Ford, before losing to Gossett in the quarterfinals, 4-0. He bounced back with a 4-2 sudden victory triumph over Brian Wagner of Indianapolis, then an 8-5 decision over Vos Morrow from Notre Dame College. Rebottaro lost a 1:16 fall to unattached wrestler Luke Ready in the consolation final, before winning the fifth-place match via a medial forfeit.
After starting the season with two opens, the Spartans will have their first dual of the season when they head to Pennsylvania for a pair of duals on Saturday, Nov. 26, wrestling at Bloomsburg at 12:30 p.m. ET and Lock Haven at 5 p.m.
Players Mentioned
