Wrestling suffers loss to No. 12 Oklahoma

Palmieri's upset win headlines the Spartans' final home dual of the season

EAST LANSING, Mich., 2/15/09 - Michigan State junior Nick Palmieri notched an upset victory over Oklahoma's 19th-ranked Pat Flynn and senior Rex Kendle earned a 6-0 decision over Derek Peperas in his final dual at Jenison Field House, but the Spartans couldn't hold off the 12th-ranked Sooners, dropping a 21-8 contest on Sunday, Feb. 15.

Sixth-ranked junior Franklin Gomez also recorded a win for the Spartans, downing Oklahoma's David Armstrong, 9-4. Gomez is now 15-2 this season, 11-2 in duals.

"I think (the dual) says a lot about our potential and what the future holds for our program," said MSU head coach Tom Minkel. "They've taken some lumps but we've rebounded and we just really try to understand that this is a process. If we stay positive and we stay working hard and make the proper adjustments, this can be a very, very fine team."

The dual began at 125 pounds, where seventh-ranked Sooner Joey Fio defeated MSU redshirt freshman Eric Olanowski, 9-5, to give Oklahoma the early three point lead.

Gomez then picked up MSU's first win of the day at 133 pounds, narrowing the Sooners' lead to 3-2. MSU redshirt freshman Collin Dozier lost a 5-2 decision at 141 against Seth Vernon to extend Oklahoma's lead to 6-2.

In two tough bouts, MSU 149-pounder David Cheza and 157-pounder Anthony Jones Jr. fell by decision to give Oklahoma a 12-2 lead going into the intermission. Cheza fell to sixth-ranked Kyle Terry, 10-3, while Jones lost an 8-4 decision to Chad Terry.

Kendle earned the Spartans' second win of the afternoon at 165, making the score 12-5. Spartan redshirt freshman Ian Hinton lost a battle at 174 to No. 8 Jeff James, with James recording a takedown with 30 seconds remaining to seal the 3-2 win. Palmieri's win at 184 made the score 15-8 with two bouts remaining.

MSU senior John Murphy gave 11th-ranked Eric Lapotsky all he could handle, but 1:57 of riding time in Lapotsky's favor would break the tie and give the Sooner 197-pounder the 4-3 win. At heavyweight, No. 16 Nathan Fernandez defeated MSU true freshman Steve Andrus by a 10-8 decision.

The Spartans fall to 6-8 overall this season, while the Sooners move to 16-3. MSU will hit the road next weekend for their final duals of the season, taking on Purdue on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. and Illinois on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2 p.m.

FINAL RESULTS
Oklahoma def. Michigan State, 21-8
125: #7 Joey Fio (OU) dec. Eric Olanowski (MSU), 9-5; OU leads, 3-0
133: #6 Franklin Gomez (MSU) dec. David Armstrong (OU), 9-4; OU leads, 3-2
141: Seth Vernon (OU) dec. Collin Dozier (MSU), 5-2; OU leads, 6-2
149: #6 Kyle Terry (OU) dec. David Cheza (MSU). 10-3; OU leads, 9-2
157: Chad Terry (OU) dec. Anthony Jones Jr. (MSU), 8-4; OU leads, 12-2
165: Rex Kendle (MSU) dec. Derek Peperas (OU), 6-0; OU leads, 12-5
174: #8 Jeff James (OU) dec. Ian Hinton (MSU), 3-2; OU leads, 15-5
184: Nick Palmieri (MSU) dec. #19 Pat Flynn (OU), 9-6; OU leads, 15-8
197: #11 Eric Lapotsky (OU) dec. John Murphy (MSU), 4-3; OU leads, 18-8
285: #16 Nathan Fernandez (OU) dec. Steve Andrus (MSU), 10-8; OU wins, 21-8