Spartans upset No. 24 Boilermakers

The MSU wrestling team has been searching for a consistent effort throughout its entire lineup.

The Spartans got it Sunday in a 20-13 upset of No. 24 Purdue that was highlighted by close matches and several dramatic finishes.

MSU jumped out to an 11-4 start, then received good follow-up performances from the remainder of its lineup to earn the victory and improve to 2-3 in the Big Ten.

“We’ve been working really hard on making sure we give our all-out effort no matter what, and for the most part I thought we did that,” head coach Tom Minkel said.

“In this conference, you can’t worry about who’s ranked, you just have to make sure you’re ready to go. This was a nice win at home.”

The Spartans, who dropped a nonconference battle Friday at Central Michigan, 23-10, recorded their second Big Ten match victory of the season Sunday, which surpasses the combined conference win output of the past two seasons.

MSU now is 8-5-1 overall and 2-3 in Big Ten.

MSU struggled last season with a young lineup in the perennially stacked Big Ten, finishing with a 1-7 record in conference play.

Boasting more experience this season, the Spartans already have gathered two victories and nearly secured a third in an 18-16 loss against No. 5 Minnesota on Jan. 22.

MSU took an early lead when No. 4-ranked 133-pound senior Franklin Gomez recorded a technical fall against Purdue sophomore Matt Fields. After dropping his first match of the season last week, Gomez won both of his matches this weekend, including a 5-3 victory against Central Michigan’s No. 8 Scotti Sentes.

Freshman Dan Osterman earned a dramatic 8-5 victory in the 141-pound weight class when he took down Purdue’s No. 20 Juan Archuleta twice in the final minute. An Osterman escape tied the match at four with 1:15 remaining, then a takedown with 50 seconds left and another with 15 seconds remaining brought a large ovation from the crowd.

A late near-fall highlighted 149-pound sophomore David Cheza’s victory against the Boilermakers’ Nick Bertucci. Cheza, ranked No. 12 in the country, earned his 20th win of the season and avenged a loss against Bertucci earlier this season.

“There’s still a lot of improvement that needs to be done throughout the whole dual, but (Purdue) is a scrappy team and it was a good win,” Cheza said.

Later in the match, 184-pound sophomore Curran Jacobs recorded an overtime victory against Purdue’s Nick Corpe that gave the Spartans a comfortable seven-point advantage. Jacobs used a late escape to tie the match at four, then drove his opponent into the mat early in the extra period to clinch victory.

Jacobs also picked up a major decision Friday, and after Sunday’s thrilling victory, joined Gomez and Cheza as wrestlers who went 2-0 on the weekend.

“I knew that it was a critical match to win,” Jacobs said.

“To hear that crowd behind me, no matter how exhausted I was, that really gave me the extra boost to get the job done because I was excited about it.”

Seniors Kyle Bounds and Alan O’Donnell, of the 165-pound and 285-pound classes, respectively, also recorded victories, while 174-pound sophomore Ian Hinton battled Purdue’s No. 6 Luke Manuel to the end in a 7-5 loss.

The Spartans continue play this weekend with matches at No. 11 Penn State and No. 3 Ohio State.