No. 7 Central Michigan downs Spartans

Gomez, Cheza and Jacobs all victorious for MSU

MT. PLEASANT, Mich., 2/05/10 - The Michigan State wrestling team fell to 7th-ranked Central Michigan, 23-10, on Friday (Feb. 5) night in Mt. Pleasant. MSU is now 7-5-1 while CMU improved to 13-2.

"Our team got after it but we just had some matches that got away from us - the dual was a closer than the score indicated," said MSU head coach Tom Minkel. "We're disappointed but the kids wrestled pretty darn hard tonight."

After CMU's No. 9 Matt Steintrager got a major decision over MSU freshman Brennan Lyon at 125 pounds to begin the dual, fourth-ranked Franklin Gomez got back in the win column at 133. Gomez, who fell to No. 4 in the nation after having is his 29-match winning streak snapped last week, defeated No. 8 Scotti Sentes of CMU, 5-3. Gomez, now 16-1 on the year, got first and third-period takedowns and gave up three escape points to Sentes in the bout.

Central Michigan extended its lead to 7-3 at 141 pounds when Conor Beebe defeated MSU freshman Dan Osterman, 8-2.

In the night's second matchup of wrestlers ranked in the top-15, Michigan State's 12th-ranked David Cheza defeated the Chippewas' No. 14 Tony D'Alie at 149 pounds.

"Those were two critical matches against very tough opponents," said Minkel. "Franklin and David wrestled really hard."

Leading 2-1 heading into the third period, Cheza started down and got an escape. After D'Alie got a takedown to cut his deficit to 3-2, Cheza picked up another escape point, followed by a two-point takedown and then got one more point with 2:01 in riding time to make the final score 7-3.

In the final match before the break, Central Michigan's Donnie Corby defeated Anthony Jones Jr., 5-2, to give CMU a 10-6 lead.

After Tyler Grayson defeated Kyle Bounds, 10-2, at 165 and No. 10 Ben Bennett got a 5-0 decision over MSU's Ian Hinton at 174, Curran Jacobs put an end to the skid for the Spartans by getting major decision at 184 - defeating Dillon Kern, 12-4. Jacobs got two first-period takedowns, another in the second, and leading 6-2 at the start of the third, picked up a reversal, escape and another takedown for the win.  "Curran wrestled a very solid match and is really starting to develop," said Minkel about the redshirt sophomore. "He is going to be very good for us down the road."

Central Michigan's Eric Simaz gave the Chippewas a 20-10 lead with an 8-1 decision over Tyler Dickenson at 197 pounds. In the heavyweight bout, MSU's Alan O'Donnell battled third-ranked Jarod Trice of CMU, but it was Trice that came away with a 4-2 decision, giving the Chippewas a 23-10 win.

MSU will return home to host No. 24 Purdue on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Jenison Field House. The Big Ten Network will broadcast the dual and air it on Sunday night at 7 p.m.

No. 12 Central Michigan 23, Michigan State 10

125: No. 9 Matt Steintrager (CMU) maj. dec. Eric Olanowski, 17-8; CMU leads 4-0
133: No. 4 Franklin Gomez (MSU) dec. No. 8 Scotti Sentes, 5-3; CMU leads 4-3
141: Conor Beebe (CMU) dec. Dan Osterman, 8-2; CMU leads 7-3
149: No. 12 David Cheza (MSU) dec. No. 14 Tony D'Alie (CMU), 7-3; CMU leads 7-6
157: Donnie Corby (CMU) dec. Anthony Jones, 5-3; CMU leads 10-6
165: Tyler Grayson (CMU) maj. dec. Kyle Bounds, 10-2; CMU leads 14-6
174: No. 10 Ben Bennett (CMU) dec. Ian Hinton, 5-0; CMU leads 17-6
184: Curran Jacobs (MSU) maj. dec. Dillon Kern, 12-4; CMU leads 17-10
197: Eric Simaz (CMU) dec. Tyler Dickenson, 8-1; CMU leads 20-10
285: No. 3 Jarod Trice (CMU) dec. Alan O'Donnell (MSU), 4-2; CMU wins 23-10