The beginning of a new semester at MSU means a whole new slate of sports will be in action during the spring 2017 semester. Volleyball, ice hockey and football dominated the fall, but in 2017, other non-revenue sports will have their seasons underway. Gymnastics, tennis, track and field, wrestling and swimming and diving will all be competing throughout the rest of the year. Here are some key highlights of each sports’ respective season thus far.
Gymnastics
The Spartan gymnasts had their season opener on Jan. 6 against University of Illinois-Chicago, where they won the dual meet, 194.175-191.475. Redshirt-senior Nicola Deans and junior Hailee Westney carried their team that night by winning the individual bars and vault competition. Deans competed in all four events that night and placed second in the All-Around competition.
On Jan. 13, the team traveled to Iowa and lost 195.475-193.875. However, Deans tied with a competitor for the all-around competition, Westney took first in the bars and senior Kira Frederick took home the floor.
The dual meets against Illinois and Iowa have been the Spartans’ two chances to compete thus far this season to the tune of a 1-1 record. Next up, the Spartans will be competing against Minnesota at home as part of the Big Ten conference play. The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Jan. 20 at Jenison Field House as part of the now-annual Tumbles and Takedowns event.
Wrestling
The MSU wrestling team started late November with conference play already underway. The wrestling team has been struggling in Big Ten matches, falling to a 1-4 record. The Spartans recently got their first win against the University of Maryland, 19-17, on Jan. 15.
Redshirt-junior Javier Gasca and redshirt-freshman Logan Griffin led the team to victory. Gasca had his sixth fall of the season and bonus victory No. 12, which improved him to a 19-5 record this season. He’s won seven of the last 10 matches.
On the other side of the Tumbles and Takedowns event, the wrestling team will host Central Michigan University on Jan. 20.
Men’s and women’s tennis
On the men’s side, the tennis team opened up its season sweeping Wright State University, 7-0, then downing Xavier University, 5-2. Sophomore Billy Shisler and freshman Doug Francken won their matches in doubles against Wright State, 6-2.
Junior Jasper Koenen played No. 1 singles and won, 6-4, 6-2. Even though the men’s side has already had its first match of 2017, the women’s team doesn’t compete until Jan. 22 against Eastern Michigan University and Cleveland State. The men’s tennis team will continue its season Jan. 20 against Memphis.
Spring semester sports like gymnastics and wrestling won’t stop competing until mid-March, but some can go as far as June, like baseball. Every sport highlighted besides women’s tennis will be in action Friday.
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