No. 19 Spartan Wrestling Wins First Three Matches, But Falls To No. 2 Missouri,

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The No. 19 Michigan State wrestling team got off to a promising start with three straight wins in its dual meet with No. 2 Missouri on Sunday afternoon, thanks to a technical fall at 125 pounds by red-shirt freshman Franklin Gomez and a fall by the nation's top-ranked 133-pounder, Nick Simmons, but Missouri reeled off seven consecutive victories to clinch a 29-14 win at Jenison Field House.

"Well, it was a great start," said MSU head coach Tom Minkel. "I don't know if we've ever started that strong against such a highly-ranked team. But Missouri is very good, particularly in the upper-weights. I definitely think we learned some things from the dual. We have to be more aggressive and do a better job of getting off the bottom. We also have to manage our matches a little better so they don't get away from us. But there's a lot of upside in wrestling the best teams, because you know what you have to do to get where you want to go."

Gomez jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first period en route to an 18-0 win over John Olanowski. Gomez scored a takedown early in the period and added two near-point falls before the end of the period, pacing the win. He added an escape and a takedown in the second period to garner a strong 9-0 lead heading into the final stanza, where he reversed Olanowski after starting in the down position and added two three-point near falls before time expired. A riding-time point helped round out the 18-0 win, and improved Gomez's record to 18-1 for the season.

Simmons dominated his match with No. 10 Tyler McCormick, who finished fourth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational last week. Simmons (18-0) quickly took down McCormick, less than 30 seconds into the match, and proceeded to get the junior to his back for near-fall points. Never relinquishing his grip, Simmons rolled the grappler onto his back for the fall at 1:23 into the first period. With the pin, Simmons moves into a tie for fourth place in MSU history with 40 career falls. He also notched his 115th career win, which places him in a tie for sixth in the Spartan record books.

"Nick is so unique in that he's always trying to pin you," Minkel said. "His whole focus is not takedowns or riding time, it's all about getting the fall. It doesn't matter who he's wrestling or what the score is, he's always trying to pin you, and that approach makes him very dangerous."

Sophomore Jeff Wimberley (16-4) filled in for injured All-American Andy Simmons for the second straight dual at 141 pounds, and again came away with a victory, building MSU's lead to 14-0 after the first three matches. Wimberley scored a takedown in the first period against Ashtin Primus to take control of the match. Wimberley added to the lead with a second period two-point near-fall before allowing an escape. In the final period, he wrapped up the match with a takedown midway through the period and tacked on a riding-time point for the 7-2 victory.

"Jeff really made a breakthrough last week at the Penn State Open," said Minkel. "He's starting to understand what it takes to be successful. He's real aggressive, he's athletic, and he's in great shape. For just his second year, we're really starting to see some good things from Jeff."

Missouri streaked from there, led by a fall from defending NCAA Champion Ben Askren at 174 pounds and a technical fall from his second-ranked brother, Maxwell, at 197. Three major decisions and two decisions rounded out the meet's scoring for the Tigers.

The Spartans will take 19 days off before heading to Evanston, Ill., for the annual Midlands Championships at Northwestern, starting on Friday, Dec. 29 with the tournament concluding the next day.

MATCH RESULTS

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