Senior heavyweight Mike McClure earned fifth place in the 2014 NCAA Wrestling Championships this past weekend to end his MSU wrestling career.
After losing to second-seeded Nick Gwiazdowski from North Carolina State in session three at 11 a.m. on Friday, No. 7 seed McClure won against Ohio State’s Nick Tavanello in a 10-2 decision in session four on Friday night.
McClure wrestled No. 11 seed Austin Marsden from Oklahoma State and won, 3-2.
In session five, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, McClure suffered a 1-0 loss to fifth-seeded Bobby Telford of Iowa — losing his chance at first place in the process.
McClure then went on to face No. 3 seed Adam Chalfant of Indiana.
McClure won the match against Chalfant, 3-2, placing him fifth in the tournament, a victory all the more special because he lost to Chalfant twice earlier this season.
“We’re enormously proud of Mike,” head coach Tom Minkel told msuspartans.com. “He wrestled great all weekend. The depth at heavyweight this year is just incredible. For Mike not only to place fifth, but to do it in that weight class, I think is really a credit to his persistence and his ability to handle the ups and downs and find a way to get it done.”
McClure finished the season with a 32-9 record. He ranks 17th all-time at MSU with 104 career wins and ninth with 24 falls.
“In one way, you hate for it to end, because you know you won’t see him every day, like I’ve been able to do for the last five years,” Minkel told the website. “But at the same time, it’s the same feeling you have when your kids grow up, go to college and move on — you’re always part of their lives, and you know you played a role in their development, not only as an athlete, but as a person.”
