Spartans fall to No. 9 Minnesota

David Cheza and Anthony Jones pick up wins for MSU.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., 01/25/09 - The Michigan State wrestling team fell at the hands of No. 9 Minnesota, 30-6, on Sunday, Jan. 25, to cap off its weekend road trip. The Gophers (11-4, 1-0 Big Ten) won the last five bouts of the afternoon to defeat the Spartans (5-4, 0-2).

"When we wrestle this level of competition, we need to compete better than we did," said MSU head coach Tom Minkel.
"We'll learn from it and regroup."

Picking up wins for the Spartans were redshirt freshman 149-pounder David Cheza (Grand Blanc, Mich.) and sophomore 157-pounder Anthony Jones Jr. (Highland Park, Mich.).  Jones defeated 14th-ranked Tyler Safratowich, 7-6, and Cheza earned a 6-2 win over Joe Grygelko.

"Anthony is pretty young and not that experienced, but he puts everything he has into every match," Minkel said. "That's
why he's in every single match. He wrestles wide open. Today was an outstanding match for him."

Top-ranked Spartan junior Franklin Gomez (Brandon, Fla.) lost his first bout of the season, a 6-5 decision, to No. 6 Jayson Ness. The 133-pounder is now 12-1 this season.

Minnesota 125-pounder Zach Sanders, ranked seventh, started the afternoon with a 15-5 major decision over MSU's Eric Olanowski (Virginia Beach, Va.) to give the Gophers a 4-0 lead. Ness then followed with the 6-5 decision over Gomez to extend the lead to 7-0.

Ninth-ranked Gopher Mike Thorn pinned Spartan redshirt freshman Collin Dozier (Virginia Beach, Va.) in 4:36 at 141 pounds to give Minnesota six more points and the 13-0 lead.

The Spartans then won back-to-back bouts to pull within seven. Cheza defeated Grygelko and Jones beat Safratowich to cut the Gophers' lead to 13-6.

No. 16 Scott Glasser earned an 8-4 decision at 165 over Spartan senior Rex Kendle (Edwardsburg, Mich.) to up Minnesota's lead to 16-6. MSU redshirt freshman Ian Hinton (Nappanee, Ind.) dropped a close bout to Matt Everson at 174, losing a 4-3 decision to give Minnesota a 19-6 advantage.

Minnesota extended its lead to 22-6 after Sonny Yohn took a 6-3 decision over MSU senior Nick Palmieri (Highland Heights, Ohio) at 184.

Gordon Bierschenk and No. 18 Ben Berhow earned back-to-back major decisions to seal the win for Minnesota, defeating Tyler Dickenson (Pewamo, Mich.) and Alan O'Donnell (Lakewood, Mich.), respectively.

The Spartans return to Jenison Field House for their first home dual in nearly a month when they host No. 15 Wisconsin on Friday, Jan. 30. Action starts at 7 p.m.

FINAL RESULTS
125: #7 Zach Sanders (MN) maj. dec. Eric Olanowski (MSU), 15-5; MN leads, 4-0
133: #6 Jayson Ness (MN) dec. #1 Franklin Gomez (MSU), 6-5; MN leads, 7-0
141: #9 Mike Thorn (MN) pinned Collin Dozier (MSU), 4:36; MN leads, 13-0
149: David Cheza (MSU) dec. Joe Grygelko (MN), 6-2; MN leads, 13-3
157: Anthony Jones Jr. (MSU) dec. #14 Tyler Safratowich (MN), 7-6; MN leads, 13-6
165: #16 Scott Glasser (MN) dec. Rex Kendle (MSU), 8-4; MN leads, 16-6
174: Matt Everson (MN) dec. Ian Hinton (MSU), 4-3; MN leads, 19-6
184: Sonny Yohn (MN) dec. Nick Palmieri (MSU), 6-3; MN leads, 22-6
197: Gordon Bierschenk (MN) maj. dec. Tyler Dickenson (MSU), 12-2; MN leads, 26-6
285: #18 Ben Berhow (MN) maj. dec. Alan O'Donnell (MSU), 11-3; MN wins, 30-6