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Gomez, Luke win NCAA Titles; Metcalf dethroned

3/21 - The 2009 NCAA wrestling season concluded tonight and there will be a

Spartan and a Wolverine coming back to Michigan with some major hardware.

Michigan State junior Franklin Gomez won the 133lb title with a win over Reece

Humphrey of Ohio State in a finals rematch of the Big Ten Tournament where

Gomez won in overtime. This time around Gomez won more convincing as he

scored takedowns in the 2nd and 3rd period to put Humphrey away 5-4 and win

the first Spartan National Championship since 1995.

Michigan's Steve Luke capped off his stellar Wolverine career in fashion with a

dominant 8-4 win over familiar foe Mike Miller of Central Michigan. Luke scored

three takedowns in the match while only surrendering points from escapes.

With the win Luke finishes up his senior season undefeated, while Miller, only a

sophomore, will be back for another shot at a title for the Chipps.

Two former Davison standouts came into the finals as the #1 seed and favorite

to win, but fell short. Paul Donahoe of Edinboro lost to #2 Troy Nickerson of

Cornell at 125lbs on a locked hands call in overtime that proved to be the

difference, while Brent Metcalf of Iowa was on the losing end of the night's

biggest upset, falling 11-6 to Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State.

Metcalf entered the finals on a 60+ match winning streak after winning the 149lb title last year as well as the Dan Hodge Trophy. The only time Metcalf lost in his college career before tonight was to Caldwell last year in a dual where he was caught and pinned in a spladle. This time around Caldwell did what few thought was possible - going toe to toe with Metcalf from beginning to end. The final score was 11-6 as Caldwell tacked on takedowns in every period of the match, including two in the first period. Metcalf was considered the front runner to win the Hodge Trophy again this year and many are already calling his loss to Caldwell "the biggest upset of the decade".

Behind the efforts of Luke and all-americans Tyrell Todd (4th at 184) and Kellen Russell (7th at 141) Michigan finished 11th in the final team standings with 47 points. Central Michigan tied Minnesota for 14th behind all-americans Miller and Scotti Sentes (7th at 125). Michigan State came in a tie at 25th with 23 points.

Final Brackets

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