Gearing up for an important tussle with archrival Michigan on Friday, the ninth-ranked wrestling team won half of the individual titles at the Northern Iowa Open on Sunday.
Junior Chris Williams, senior Mike Castillo, and sophomores Nik Fekete, Karl Nadolsky and Gray Maynard all triumphed in their weight divisions, while fourth-ranked senior Pat McNamara lost for the first time this season.
The event was the Spartans’ last action before the top-10 showdown against the No. 7 Wolverines in Ann Arbor later this week.
Williams, ranked 16th nationally, breezed through his 125-pound bracket, by outscoring his opponents 31-12 en route to the final. He defeated Nebraska-Omaha’s Mack LaRock 3-2 for the championship.
Fifth-ranked Castillo won his second straight 141-pound title in his senior campaign after beating the host Panthers’ Mark Rial 6-4 in the final. He outscored his opponents 37-14 in the tournament and added a fall.
Two Spartans squared off for the 149-pound crown, as Nadolsky squeaked by teammate sophomore Charlie Sageman 3-2 for his second title of the year. The 18th-ranked sophomore pinned two opponents in the tournament, upping his total to three this season.
Sageman’s second-place finish was his second runner-up placing this year.
Maynard made quick work of his title bout, pinning Drew Kelly of Northern Iowa in 1:45. The pin was Maynard’s third of the tournament.
Fekete, ranked 20th in the nation, annihilated Nebraska-Omaha’s Les Sigman 16-7 to win the 197-pound championship.
McNamara had beaten his opponents by a combined score of 54-5 leading up to his championship loss to Minnesota’s Ryan Lewis at the open. McNamara lost 9-3 and finished in second place.
Senior Matt Lamb placed third in the heavyweight category and senior Cory Posey finished sixth at 165 pounds to round out the Spartans’ finishers in the top eight.
The open featured almost 350 wrestlers from around the Midwest, including grapplers from Big Ten rivals Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota.
The match against Michigan is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor.
