Gomez moves on to title match at NCAA Wrestling Championships

Franklin Gomez will compete for a national title tomorrow night.

ST. LOUIS, Mo., 03/20/09 - Franklin Gomez defeated No. 5 seed Andrew Hochstrasser of Boise State, 6-3, Friday night (March 20) at the Scottrade Center to advance to the title match of the NCAA Wrestling Championships. Gomez will face Reece Humphrey of Ohio State for the national championship at 133 pounds; the match, along with all of the other final bouts, will be broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN360.com beginning at 6:30 p.m.

"I've really worked hard to be (in the national championship)," said Gomez, a returning All-American. "I'm just trying to stay focused on my match."

Gomez and Humphrey, who are the top two seeds in their weight class, last squared off for the Big Ten championship. The two were deadlocked at four apiece until Gomez recorded an escape and a takedown in the second tiebreak period to earn the 7-4 victory and the Big Ten title. Gomez is 2-0 against Humphrey all-time.

"(Gomez) showed really, really good composure tonight," said MSU head coach Tom Minkel. "It was a tight match and he had to score to win, but he got the job done. I'm really proud of him. He's really grown a lot."

Gomez struck first against Hochstrasser, scoring a takedown with 1:07 remaining in the first period. A Hochstrasser escape left the score at 2-1 at the end of the first. With Gomez electing to start the period down, Hochstrasser rode the full two minutes out without any scoring. Through two periods, the tally remained 2-1 in favor of Gomez.

"I didn't want to take any sloppy shots," said Gomez. "So I was like, `I'm only going to take a really good shot.' Somehow he got to my legs, but I was able to kind of counter that."

Hochstrasser tied the match at two after escaping Gomez's hold 10 seconds into the third period. Gomez would retake the lead, 4-2, with a takedown 15 seconds later. An escape by Hochstrasser seconds later would cut Gomez's lead to 4-3.

With over a minute of riding time remaining well into the third, Hochstrasser tried for a takedown with under 30 seconds remaining to take the two-point lead. His attempt was denied by Gomez, who took advantage of Hochstrasser's position and recorded a takedown of his own with 18 seconds left to solidify the win.