No. 23 Spartan Wrestling Defeats No. 17 Michigan, 21-17

Nick and Andy Simmons both record falls; heavyweight Alan O'Donnell
wins in double-overtime to secure victory.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - In a thrilling finish that came down to the
final match, the No. 23 Michigan State wrestling team held off No. 17
Michigan to secure a 21-17 victory over the Wolverines Sunday
afternoon in Jenison Field House before a season-high crowd of 2,792.
With MSU owning a slim 18-17 advantage and needing to claim the
heavyweight bout to clinch the dual, red-shirt freshman Alan O'Donnell
delivered a 2-1, double-overtime decision over Omar Maktabi to give
the Spartans their first dual win over Michigan since 2003. MSU jumped
out to a 15-0 lead thanks to pins by both Nick and Andy Simmons, but
after losing the first three matches, the Wolverines won five of the
next six to cut the margin to one point going into the heavyweight
bout.

Neither Maktabi or O'Donnell scored in the first period, but Maktabi
got on the board with an escape in the second. O'Donnell evened the
score with an escape in the third to bring the bout into overtime. The
first overtime went scoreless, forcing a double-overtime in which each
wrestler started in the down position with 30 seconds on the clock. In
the first portion of double overtime, O'Donnell easily escaped to go
ahead, 2-1. In the next round of 30 seconds, with the entire crowd on
its feet, O'Donnell held down Maktabi to earn the win. It marked
O'Donnell's first dual-match victory of his career.

"That was the biggest win of my career," said O'Donnell. "In high
school, I got a pin in the last match to win districts, but that
doesn't compare to this atmosphere and this rivalry."

"Alan's a great kid who's really committed to doing well," said
Minkel. "But he's still a freshman who has had to make a transition
from 215 in high school to heavyweight in college. For the whole dual
to come down to him, he really kept his wits about it, and did what he
needed to do to get the win. I'm really proud of him - that's a lot of
pressure for a freshman."

In the first match of the dual at 125 pounds, sixth-ranked Franklin
Gomez got out to a 7-1 lead en route to his 11-6 victory over Michael
Watts. Watts closed the gap to 7-6 in the third period with a takedown
and near-fall points, but Gomez recovered as he escaped and scored
another takedown in the closing seconds. Gomez added a point for
riding time in the 11-6 win, his team-leading 28th of the season.

The Simmons brothers electrified the Jenison crowd with back-to-back
pins at 133 and 141 pounds, respectively. Nick took care of Brandon
Elliott in just 1:34 for his 44th career fall, which is now just one
away from tying Jim Mason's school record of 45. The top-ranked
Simmons (27-0) quickly took Elliott down in the opening seconds of the
match, and added near-fall points to go up 5-0 before delivering the
pin.

Andy was nearly as quick in recording his 21st career pin, as he
disposed of Brad Cusumano with 47 seconds remaining in the first
period. Andy, now 8-1 on the season, took the same route in
registering his fall - he scored an early takedown, notched near-fall
points, then established position for the pin. Simmons left the
platform to a roaring crowd after giving the Spartans (2-5, 1-1 Big
Ten) a 15-0 team lead.

"I don't ever remember Nick and Andy getting back-to-back first period
falls - that was big," said Minkel. "That gave us a huge shot of
momentum."

Michigan (1-5-1, 0-2 Big Ten) won the next two matches heading into
the break. No. 3 Josh Churella controlled Jeff Wimberley at 149 pounds
with a 14-1 major decision, and Jeff Marsh held off Tony Greathouse at
157, 7-5.

The Wolverines cut MSU's lead to four points at 15-11 as second-ranked
Eric Tannebaum recorded a 13-4 major decision over Rocky Cozart in the
165-pound match.

John Murphy used the perfect opportunity to win his first dual-match
of the season, as he picked up a crucial 6-5 victory against Jordan
Sherrod at 174 pounds. Murphy went up 2-0 with a takedown in the
first, and built a 4-2 lead with another takedown in the second.
Sherrod escaped later in the period, and took his only lead of the
match at 5-4 with his first takedown. Murphy tied the score at 5 with
an escape to begin the third, and with over a minute of riding time in
his possession, he held off Sherrod the rest of the period to claim
the 6-5 win, giving MSU an 18-11 lead.

In a battle of top-10 wrestlers at 184, fourth-ranked Tyrel Todd of
Michigan took care of No. 10 Joe Williams, 9-4. Todd recorded three
takedowns, a reversal and riding time in the victory. MSU's lead was
trimmed to 18-17 heading into the final match as Casey White beat Nick
Palmieri, 6-0, at 197 pounds.

Michigan State returns to action Friday, Feb. 2 to take on Ohio State
in Columbus.