It was the MSU wrestling team’s third straight win and the last dual match of the season before the Big Ten Championships.
The wrestling team came out victorious on Saturday over No. 25 Central Michigan, 18-14. Seventh-ranked senior heavyweight Mike McClure got a pin on his last match, and 133-pound redshirt freshman Garth Yenter won the last match Spartan win of the dual to bring home the win.
“It was big for me and I knew it came down to me. That made it so much better,” Yenter said. “I was pretty excited. I’ve been working all year for this.”
Yenter pulled through, even wrestling one of Central Michigan’s best wrestlers, No. 11 senior Joe Roth, head coach Tom Minkel said.
"(Yenter) got taken down first, then he came back during the second period. It was great not only for him but as a team and deciding the match,” Minkel said.
Responding to Roth’s takedown - which got him two points - in the first period, Yenter got eight points to win the match, 8-4. Minkel said Roth was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“The kid threw a fit after he lost, but it was a great dual,” he said.
Another Spartan star that afternoon was McClure, who added to his pin-count after wrestling sophomore Adam Robinson.
“Central Michigan is one of the schools I’ve always wanted to beat, kind of like a rival, so it was great to come out with the win,” McClure said.
The victory over CMU, Yenter said, helped many teammates come together.
McClure said the dual was a team bonding experience, even though his coach put pressure on him - he didn’t want to let the team down.
“We know we have each other’s backs,” he said.
Overall, Minkel said that having both a senior and freshman win was the key to integrating the team more.
“It was a good dual all around,” he said. “We lost a few matches that we thought we would win but the team found a way to get it done.”
Now the team is looking forward to the Big Ten championships on March 8 and 9. Minkel said they have the weekend off, then practice all week to leave next Thursday to go to Madison, Wis.
“It was a good way to wrap up, and now we move on to the toughest part. We’re keeping the same lineup we’ve been wrestling with,” Minkel said.
For the wrestlers, besides practicing, it is all about not overdoing anything and resting.
“I’m feeling good about it and I want to go in not beat up,” McClure said. “I’m focusing on coming there and wrestling fresh.”
McClure will be experiencing his last set of championships. Yenter has his first ahead of him.
“I’m going to do what I’ve been doing and going real hard, but I’m going to rest my body this next week,” Yenter said.
Regardless of whether it’s someone’s first or last Big Ten championships, Minkel said it’s a fierce tournament, and sometimes more difficult than the NCAA Championships, because theirs is the hardest conference.
“There are no soft spots,” he said. “What you want is to have their season-best performance, and have the kids step up and really wrestle.”
