Cheza wins five-straight matches, including two against
ranked opponents, to take sixth
EVANSTON, Ill., 12/30/08 - Michigan State sophomore Anthony Jones Jr.
and redshirt freshman David Cheza took sixth place in the 157- and
149-pound classes, respectively, to lead the MSU wrestling team to a
23rd-place finish at the Midlands Championships on Tuesday, Dec. 30.
"We brought nine to 15 wrestlers in their first two years in college,"
said MSU head coach Tom Minkel. "That considered, and since we were
without Franklin Gomez and John Murphy, I was quite pleased with our
performance. Two of our younger guys had breakout performances and as a
team, we learned a lot over the last two days."
Cheza, who was wrestling unattached, thus preventing him from scoring
any points for MSU in team standings, won five-straight matches after
dropping his first on day one of the tournament. Cheza recorded an 8-0
major decision against fourth-seeded Mitch Mueller of Iowa State and a
4-0 decision against eighth-seeded Charlie Ettelson of Northern Iowa to
solidify a sixth-place finish.
Losses to two-seed Jake Patacsil of Purdue and five-seed Steve Brown of
Central Michigan made Cheza's sixth place finish official.
"Cheza had just a breakout tournament," said Minkel. "He lost in the
first round but then came roaring back in the consolation round. It's
huge for him and I couldn't be happier."
Jones won his first two bouts against Tyler Grayson of Central Michigan
(7-3 decision) and Derek Sickles of Columbia (9-4) in the consolation
bracket, but suffered an injury against three-seed Michael Chandler of
Missouri, forcing him to forfeit his final two contests. Despite not
competing in his final two bouts, Jones still came away with sixth
place.
"Jones made it to the quarters and wrestled great," said Minkel. "He
probably would have done just as well in the wrestlebacks, but was
knocked unconscious in the wrestle-back semi-fnials and had to default
to sixth place."
Senior Alan O'Donnell took his first match in the heavyweight
consolation bracket today, defeating American's Quinton Pruett, 3-1, but
lost to top-seeded David Zabriskie of Iowa State by 12-4 major decision
to eliminate him from competition.
Senior Nick Palmieri also won his first bout in wrestleback competition
today - a 7-4 decision over Brice Arand of Oregon State - before losing
to Pittsburgh's Zac Thomusseit in the next round.
The Spartans return to Jenison Field House this weekend to host
12th-ranked Central Michigan on Saturday, Jan. 3 at 1 p.m.
Final brackets
Final team standings
