2010-11 College Preview - Michigan State


Coach: Tom Minkel (19th season)
Preseason Rank: NR
Individuals ranked: 1: David Cheza (#14 at 157),
Last Year: 18th in NCAA, 7th in Big Ten
Top Returners: David Cheza (NCAA Qualifier), Anthony Jones
(NCAA Qualifier), Ian Hinton (NCAA Qualfier), Steve Andrus
(FILA Jr & University National Champ)

Impact Newcomers: Josh Harper (Freshman-133), Sean
McMurray (Freshman-157), Nick McDiarmid (Freshman-197),
Mike McClure (Freshman-285)

Outlook:  Michigan State comes off one of their best Big Ten
showings in years as they finished 7th in the power packed conference last year.  They will feature a young team this year as three of their five NCAA Qualifiers from last year will not be in the lineup this year.

The biggest loss for MSU this year will be 3x All-American and 2009 NCAA Champ Franklin Gomez.  Other notable losses include NCAA Qualifiers Kyle Bounds, Nick Palmieri and Anthony Jones.  Bounds & Palmieiri graduated while Jones will be redshirting this year. 

Top returners for MSU are NCAA Qualifiers David Cheza and Ian Hinton, who both jump up a weight from a year ago.  Cheza is currently ranked 14th at 157lbs in the country is the best bet for a Spartan All-American this year.  If MSU is going to build on their success from a year ago they will need Cheza and Hinton to both improve on last year’s National tournament run and push for All-American status this year.

A couple other proven guys back in the MSU lineup are Eric Olanowski at 125 and Dan Osterman at 141.  Olanowski has been to the NCAA Tournament before, as he qualified two years ago as a freshman.  If he can return to form he could be a solid spark atop the MSU lineup.  Osterman appears primed for a breakout after a very solid true freshman campaign last year, and the Spartans will need him to push the envelope as a top contender in the Big Ten this year.

The Spartan heavyweight trio of Steve Andrus, Mike McClure, and Joe Rizgallah may take all year to work itself out, however, the bottom line is that MSU will need to be competitive at 285, because many of their other weights feature young, inexperienced wrestlers who could take some time to get rolling.  133, 149, 165 and 174 will all likely feature new faces in the MSU lineup.

The Spartans will undoubtedly be a young team this year and coach Minkel and staff will have their work cut out for them after losing the core of their team from a year ago, however, the future definitely looks bright in East Lansing as their recruiting efforts from the past few years should really start to take shape over the next couple of seasons.


Weight by weight breakdown
125
Junior Eric Olanowski is back atop the Spartan lineup after missing most of the last season due to injury.  Olanowski has shown the ability to be a top-tier 125lber in the Big Ten and the country as he qualified for the NCAA Tournament two years ago as a freshman.  This is a weight where the Spartans need leadership and they need Olanowski to produce wins on a consistent basis for them to be competitive in their big dual meets.  Brenan Lyon, who filled in for Olanowski last year after the injury and improved throughout his true freshman campaign, will likely redshirt this year.

133
This is a big question mark for the Spartys after losing their heavy hitter, 3x All-American and NCAA Champ Franklin Gomez, who graduated last spring.  Redshirt freshman Josh Harper was a big-time recruit coming out of Indiana two years ago and if he can hold his weight well he should have the tools to provide some punch at the weight.  Both Harper and fifth year senior Joel Trombley, the other main contender to start here, are coming off seasons where they wrestled mostly at 141 all year long.

141
Sophomore Dan Osterman is back after a solid season last year, starting at
141lbs as a true freshman.   Osterman finished last season 21-14 including a
7-7 mark in dual meets.  He scored a handful of big-time wins throughout the
season, including Open Tournament titles at the MSU and EMU Open. 
Osterman showed signs of wear and tear as last year’s Big Ten season went on,
however, after a year of experience in the starting lineup he should be primed
for a breakout season this year, and MSU will be in need of it.  Osterman
started the year out at 149 for Open tournaments, word is he will be back down
for the remainder of the season, however, if Minkel opts to leave Osterman up
at 149, Trombley or Harper coming up from 133 would be viable options here.

149
With  NCAA Qualifier David Cheza moving up to 157, this weight opens up a little for MSU.  The best bet to start for them will likely be redshirt Junior Collin Dozier, who was a blue-chip prospect out of Virginia a few years ago.  Dozier has yet to really reach his potential on the college scene, however, his tools are undoubtedly at a level where he can be a player in the Big Ten.  He has two years of in-and-out of the lineup experience, which gives him an edge over MSU’s other option here, true freshman Ryan Watts.  Watts is a returning State Runner-Up, however, as a true freshman MSU may opt to let him redshirt and gain some mat-time. 

157
2x NCAA Qualifier Anthony Jones will take a redshirt year this season, therefore David Cheza moves up to 157 for the Spartans where he currently sits #14 in the national rankings.  With Gomez gone and Jones out for this year, Cheza becomes the leader and go-to guy in this lineup.  They will need him to lead the way for a young Michigan State team and he is a guy capable of making a push for All-American status this year.  True Freshman Troy Lamson of Swan Valley, Nick Humes of Lakeshore,  and Sean McMurray of Indiana have all already shown promise, advancing to the EMU or MSU Open finals this fall.  All three will likely redshirt behind Cheza.

165
Ben Boudro is one of two seniors on this year’s squad and is the early favorite to start at this weight.  Boudro has a lot of experience here for MSU but has not really had an opportunity to start an entire year yet in his career.  This is a weight where MSU will look to be solid after losing an NCAA Qualifier in Kyle Bounds from last year.  True Freshman Nick Proctor of Illinois could be an option as well if anything goes wrong with Boudro and redshirt freshman Nick Kacznowski could be in the mix here as well after winning the MSU Open.

174
NCAA Qualifier Ian Hinton moves to 184, opening this weight up for someone else to step in.  Curran Jacobs and Bryant Craft are both contenders to start here for MSU.  Both Jacobs and Craft are talented in-state kids who have been showed signs of promise so far in their career.  Jacobs brings more experience to the table as he has been in the Spartan lineup sporadically over the past couple years, however, this one could go back and forth.

184
Ian Hinton is back for his junior year after qualifying for the NCAA Tournament his first two seasons.  This year he moves up to try his luck at 184lbs, where he finished 3rd at the EMU Open a couple weeks ago.  Hinton is athletic and slick for his size so moving up could be beneficial for him as quickness usually goes down with bigger opponents.  True freshman John Rizgallah, a big incoming recruit for MSU, will likely redshirt at this weight.


197
Sophomore Tyler Dickensen is back at 197 after starting last year for MSU here.  Dickensen should benefit from his experience last year and is someone that the Spartans could use a boost from.  He started his season out nicely, finishing runner-up at the EMU Open, losing to nationally ranked Anthony Biondo of Michigan in overtime.  Dickensen also finished 4th at the MSU Open.  2x State Champ and Senior National Champ Nick McDiarmid is a big addition to MSU this year, however, the true freshman will likely take a redshirt year.

285
This is without the deepest weight in the Spartan lineup as they have three legitimate candidates to start for them.  Steve Andrus comes in with the most experience as he started three duals for MSU his freshman year before redshirting last year.  Andrus was also a FILA Junior National Champion last year and competed at the FILA Junior World Championships.    Mike McClure and Joe Rizgallah are also extremely competitive at this weight as the trio of Spartan big men finished 1, 2, and 3 at the EMU Open, with McClure winning the title.  McClure may have separated himself from the pack after winning EMU and finishing 4th at the MSU Open where he was the only Spartan heavyweight to place.  Regardless of which big man takes the mat for MSU, they will likely be looking to make some noise at 285 this year.




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Osterman
Returning NCAA Qualifier David Cheza