Gomez advances to the second round at NCAA Championships

Olanowski, Jones, Kendle, and Hinton drop to the consolation bracket

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Michigan State wrestling team completed the first session of the 2009 NCAA Wrestling Championships Thursday afternoon (March 19) at the Scottrade Center, with 133-pound Big Ten champion Franklin Gomez advancing to the second round. Rex Kendle, Eric Olanowski, Anthony Jones Jr. and Ian Hinton fell in their respective first-round matches.

"I think we'll fare a little bit better tonight," said MSU head coach Tom Minkel. "Franklin (Gomez) is certainly in the driver's seat with his seed and the way he's wrestling. We ran into some pretty tough competition right off the bat, but it's important for us to regroup here and have a real strong second round."

Gomez won his 10th straight match and his 23rd overall on the season with a 13-2 major decision over Missouri's Todd Schavrien. Gomez, a returning All-American, will face Cal Poly's Filip Novachkov in the second round.

At 125 pounds, Olanowski lost by technical fall, 21-1, to No. 8 seed Rollie Peterkin of Penn. After an early takedown and six near fall points, Peterkin lead Olanowski, 8-0, heading into the second period. Peterkin then recorded a reversal, a takedown and three near fall points and Olanowski notched an escape to leave the score at 15-1 entering the third period. Peterkin went on to rack up six more near fall points to give him the 21-1 victory. Olanowski will face Navy's Prescott Garner in the first round of wrestlebacks tonight.

Despite a valiant comeback effort, Jones fell, 9-7, to No. 8 seed Adam Hall of Boise State at 157. Jones entered the third period trailing Hall 7-1 after three takedowns and an escape from Hall, opposed by a single escape from Jones. An early takedown and two near fall points cut Hall's lead to 7-5 less than a minute into the final period. Hall escaped from Jones' grasp twice in the final minute to counter a Jones takedown and give him the 9-7 win. Jones draws Bryan Deutsch of Northern Illinois in the first round of wrestlebacks.

Edinboro's 12th-seeded Jarrod King pinned Kendle in 1:04 at 165. Despite competing in the consolation bracket, Kendle will face yet another tough opponent in Missouri's fifth-seeded Nick Marable in today's second session.

Hinton fell, 5-2, to Navy's Luke Rebertus at 174. Rebertus notched a takedown and Hinton had an escape in the first period to leave the score at 2-1 entering the second. An escape and a takedown allowed Rebertus to extend his lead to 5-1 through two periods. Hinton recorded an escape with under a minute remaining in the contest, but Rebertus' early scoring allowed him to wrestle defensively for the remainder of the contest. Hinton draws Justin Herbert of Franklin and Marshall in the first round of wrestlebacks.

The second round of the championship bracket and the first round of consolations will take place tonight at 7:30 p.m.