EVANSTON, IL., 12/30/09 - The Michigan State wrestling team finished competition
at the 47th annual Midlands Championships on Wednesday (Dec. 30).
Redshirt sophomore David Cheza was the top Spartan finisher at this
year's Midlands Championships as the 149 pounder took home eighth place.
"This year's Midlands tournament was the toughest it has been in a long
time," said MSU head coach Tom Minkel. "We wrestled some of the best
guys in the country and now we're looking forward to getting into the
dual portion of our schedule."
Cheza went 3-1 in action on Tuesday, including defeating the No. 8 seed
R.J. Pena of Oregon State and No. 9 seed Mike Kessler of Rider. On day
two of the tournament, Cheza advanced via forfeit before falling to
fourth-seeded Kevin LaValley of Bucknell. American's Kyle Borshoff
defeated Cheza, 4-3, in a hard fought seventh-place match.
"David had a really solid tournament - he's shown that he has grown and
matured a lot," Minkel said. "It's nice to see him step up in a tough
tournament."
Last season as a freshman, Cheza took home sixth place at the
Midlands Championships.
Eric Olanowski (125 pounds) and Nick Palmieri (184 pounds) were the only
other Spartans in action on Wednesday and each lost their first matches
of the day.
The Spartans return to action Saturday, Jan. 9 when they host the West
Virginia Mountaineers at 7 p.m. at Jenison Field House.
Final
Midlands brackets
