The MSU wrestling team opened its season Saturday with the MSU Wrestling Open, where nine Spartans advanced to Sunday’s semifinals.
Tough competition from the 17-team field stalled MSU chances in Sunday’s finals, and no Spartan brought home a first-place finish.
“There were some areas where we struggled, but this is a very high-level tournament,” said head coach Tom Minkel.
Redshirt freshman Nick Simmons started the 125-pound semifinals on Sunday with a win over Michigan’s A.J. Grant, moving Simmons to the championship round to face Central Michigan’s Jason Borrelli.
Borrelli defeated MSU senior Chris Williams to advance to the championship round. Williams finished in fifth place in the 125 pound consolation match against CMU’s Craig Shutich.
But Simmons collapsed in the final match. The loss was the first in Simmons’ career, tainting his undefeated streak (211-0, with 193 pins), the best record ever in high school history.
While the loss certainly shocked Simmons, Minkel said he thinks his freshman will rebound.
“There are other open tournaments, so he isn’t done wrestling yet,” he said.
Other championship hopefuls included MSU junior Rashad Evans in the 174-pound championship and redshirt freshman Shane Martin in the 141-pound championship.
Evans placed second under Michigan’s Otto Olson, and Martin lost his match to Northwestern’s John Giacche.
Although he placed second, Martin said he feels this was a great way to get a feel for the depth of the team.
“I know someone is still more senior than me at this position, but I think I took advantage of a good situation.” he said.
Minkel said these competitive tournaments bring problematic match issues right to the forefront.
“When the pressure goes up, it’s easy to drift out of position,” Minkel said. “As you get tired your skills diminish, so it’s important for the team to stay focused and know how to handle fatigue.”
The team now has a 10-day break to practice and review tapes before its next matchup, on Nov. 28 at Central Michigan.
“Although the team does need to develop, we’ve got a lot of strong kids at every weight,” he said. “But overall they have really done a lot of good things.”
