Spartans fall despite individual success

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It was in their grasp, but the Spartans just couldn’t pull off the upset.

The MSU wrestling team dropped its final Big Ten dual of the season 24-13 to No. 6 Ohio State, but the match was much closer than the score indicates.

The Spartans (3-9 overall, 1-7 Big Ten) went into the final two matches of the day with a 15-12 lead and senior 125-pounder Eric Olanowski looking to upset No. 16 Johnni Dijulius for his final match at Jenison Field House. But in the third period, Olanowski was disqualified, and Ohio State assumed an 18-15 lead. As he walked off the mat, Olanowski was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, which deducted a point from MSU’s team score. Another violation deducted an additional point, and the Spartans found themselves down 18-13, an eight-point swing.

“It was tough,” head coach Tom Minkel said. “It took a lot of the steam out of the dual, and it was just not the way we wanted to end that dual. We were wrestling so well, and the team is really competing really hard, so to have a breakdown in discipline was very disappointing.”

The dual started off on the right foot for the Spartans when freshman 141-pounder Brian Gibbs pinned Ohio State’s Jarrod Boone two minutes and 44 seconds into the first period, which gave the Spartans a 6-0 lead.

Junior 149-pounder Dan Osterman dropped a close 4-2 decision in overtime to No. 14 Cam Tessari in the next class, but No. 12 senior 157-pounder Anthony Jones Jr. righted the ship thanks to a late takedown against No. 20 Josh Demas, which gave him a 5-4 decision.

“It was a tremendous win,” Jones said about his senior day victory. “It helped me out a lot. I think I’ve wrestled every kind of style that’s out there now, so now I’m just ready to go into the Big Ten and hopefully win it.”

No. 16 senior 174-pounder Curran Jacobs also pulled out a big win for his last hurrah at Jenison Field House. Jacobs notched a 6-1 decision over No. 7 Nick Heflin, which earned him his 20th win of the season.

“It’s the last time I’m going to compete for the Spartans in East Lansing, so to get a win in that fashion was terrific,” Jacobs said. “I think it’s second to none. It just felt really good.”

Junior heavyweight Steve Andrus rounded out the individual wins for MSU when he recorded an 8-3 decision over No. 18 Peter Capone. Another pair of Spartans dropped very close matches, with Osterman and senior 184-pounder Ian Hinton both dropping overtime decisions.

With only two duals and one open left before the Big Ten tournament, MSU’s performance against the Buckeyes is encouraging going forward.

“We went out with some tenacity today,” Jacobs said. “I’m really proud of the team because we went up against one of the top (six) teams in the country and we were so close in beating them. So the key now is just to stay confident and take what worked for us today into the rest of
the season.”

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