Michigan State University
Reno Tournament of Champions
Spartans Finish Second at Reno; Hughes Wins at 165
12/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
RENO, Nevada -- Michigan State wrestling finished in second-place at the prestigious 22nd annual Reno Tournament of Champions boosted by freshman Drew Hughes winning at 165 pounds as part of seven top-five finishes Sunday at the Reno Events Center.
The Spartans ended with 129 points, with one place each in first through third to go with two fourth-place finishes and two fifth-places. No. 1 Oklahoma State won the team title with 146.5 points, also having seven top-five finishes, getting two individual wins, one second-place, three third-places and one fifth-place. Wyoming, who is ranked tied for No. 28 in the Trackwrestling rankings, was third with 122.5 points. Cal Poly was fourth with 82.5 points, followed by Oregon State with 68 points. Oregon State was No. 25 in this week's Trackwrestling rankings. No. 16 Stanford was sixth with 64.5 points.
"I'm really proud of the overall team effort today," MSU head coach Roger Chandler said. "I've told the team since week one that we have to get better each time we step on that mat. Overall, we did that today as a team."
Hughes' win was one of the Spartans' five top-five finishes in the team portion on the day. In addition to Hughes, senior Nick Trimble was second at 149, redshirt-freshman Logan Griffin was third at 125, redshirt-sophomore Austin Eicher was fourth at 133, sophomore Jacob Cooper was fourth at heavyweight, redshirt-junior Javier Gasca was fifth at 141 and redshirt-sophomore Austin Thompson was fifth at 157. Redshirt-sophomore Wesley Maskill was also fourth at 184 pounds, but his results were non-counting toward MSU's team score.
Hughes capped off his steamroll to the finals with a 2-0 extra time upset of No. 12 Branson Ashworth of Wyoming, 2-0 in extra time. That win capped Hughes' shutout streak for the day, winning his four matches by an average of 13-0. The Spartan opened with a bye in the round of 32, then won by an 18-0 technical fall over Lucius Van Rensburg of Southwest Oregon. Hughes won his next two bouts by identical 16-0 technical falls, first over Luke Wilson of Cal Poly in the quarters, then over Hestin Lamons of Oklahoma State in the semifinals to set up his finals match-up with Ashworth, who entered the bout with a 22-2 record on the season. After a scoreless seven minutes of regulation, Hughes scored his winning two points on a takedown with just five seconds remaining the first extra period.
"Drew Hughes has the composure of a veteran. He doesn't get sidetracked when things aren't going 100 percent in his favor. He went through the tournament today without surrendering a single match point. Then he went and shot and scored on single leg in overtime of his championship bout. He is a true competitor," Chandler said.
Trimble opened with a 17-9 major decision over unattached wrestler Zechariah Bresser in the round of 32. In the round of 16, Trimble nipped Jone Blaylock of Oklahoma State, 5-3, with a sudden victory in the seventh period, after forcing extra time with a takedown with 10 seconds left. The Spartan had another tight bout in the quarterfinals with a 2-1 decision over Josh Cortez of Cal Poly, to advance to the semifinals. Trimble pinned Josh Reyes of Clackamas at 5:48 to move on to the finals and match-up with No. 11 Cole Mendenhall of Wyoming. Mendenhall pinned Trimble at 3:41 for the individual crown.
"There are a lot of bright spots I can point to, but I'm really encouraged by the leadership of senior Nick Trimble," Chandler said. "He's becoming a complete wrestler and is competing for seven minutes every time he steps in the mat. That is our program motto this year, and he is doing that every time he competes."
Griffin started his action at 125 by pinning unattached wrestler Michael Bresser at 3:58 in the round of 32, then logged a 14-2 major decision over Alex Hernandez-Figueroa of CSU-Bakersfield in the round of 16. The Spartan then suffered a 17-3 major decision to Ronnie Bresser of Oregon State in the quarters, before bouncing back with a pin at 2:40 over Gunnar Woodburn of Wyoming. Griffin reached the consolation semifinals with a 16-0 technical fall over Sean Nickell of CSU-Bakersfield. Griffin then pinned Michael Nguyen of Arizona State in the consolation semis, then posted a 2-0 decision over Zac Gentzler of Oklahoma State for third-place.
Eicher reached the quarters after a fall over Blake McNall of Clackamas in 54 seconds, just shy of his season quick pin time of 51 seconds. The Spartan then bettered that time with a 36-second pin of Lincoln Olson of Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals, before suffering a 4-3 loss to Drew Templeman of Wyoming in the semifinals. Eicher rebounded with an 8-1 decision over Durbin Lloren of Utah Valley in the consolation semifinals then lost to Oklahoma State's Mike Malgado, 8-3, in the third-place bout. Eicher now has four falls this season with three of them in under a minute.
Cooper reached the semifinals with a 5-2 decision over Nic Iverson of Cal Poly, a pin at 4:29 over Timothy Smith of Southwest Oregon and a 12-1 major decision over Southern Oregon's Alejandro Sandoval. In the semifinals, Cooper was nipped, 1-0, by Oregon State's Cody Crawford. The Spartan bounced back with a 6-4 decision over Spencer Empey from Cal Poly in the consolation semis before suffering a 3-0 decision to Utah Valley's Jordan Karst in the third-place match.
Gasca had a bye in the round of 64, then topped Kurt Mode of Clackamas in a 16-0 technical fall at 4:34 in the round of 32. In the round of 16, Gasca pinned Tyler Schilling of Cal Poly at 5:47 to reach the quarterfinals, where he edged Trevor Willson of Utah Valley, 7-6 to advance to the semifinals. Gasca's bid to reach his third Open final of the season came up short with a 7-5 decision to Boo Lewallen of Oklahoma State. The Spartan then wrestled another Oklahoma State wrestler, Tristen Moran, in the consolation semis for a spot in the 3rd-place match but Moran pinned Gasca at 2:27, and Gasca won the fifth-place bout by medial forfeit.
Thompson joined Gasca with a bye in the round of 64, then logged a 13-2 major decision over Boise State's Joke Outuafi in the round of 32. After a 7-2 decision loss to Archie Colgan of Wyoming in the round of 16, Thompson rebounded with a 13-1 major decision over Southern Oregon's Hunter Hodges that was the first of four-straight wins. Thompson then beat Chandler Michael from Southern Oregon in an 11-3 major decision, then pinned Jacob Thalin of CSU Bakersfield and posted a 7-4 decision over Jake Elliott of Wyoming. Thompson's run was halted by a 10-0 MD loss to Davie Dolan in the consolation finals, before the Spartan bounced back by pinning Boise State's Fred Green in 32 seconds in the fifth-place bout. Thompson's two falls on the day surpassed his one pin entering the weekend and the 32-second pin is a new season best quick pin.
Maskill started his day with three wins, a 9-0 major decision over CSU Bakersfield's Jacob Sieder, then pinned Jacob Richards from Pacific in 1:06, before a 9-6 decision over Boise State's Will Tindal in the quarterfinals. Northern Colorado's Dylan Gabel topped Maskill in a 15-2 MD, before Maskill rebounded with a 12-3 major decision over Mitch Woods in the consolation semis, but then Maskill lost to Colorado Mesa's Austin Gaun in the third-place bout.
The Spartans will now break for the Holidays. MSU resumes action and opens the New Year at home hosting Iowa on Sunday, Jan. 8 at 1 p.m. at Jenison Field House.
"This was a great effort going into the break," Chandler said. "We'll give the guys a few days off and then return after Christmas and begin to prepare for Iowa on January 8."
Players Mentioned
