Senior wrestlers prepare for final home match Sunday at Jenison

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Sunday’s match against No. 13 Indiana will be the final home wrestling matches for four MSU seniors, and it will be hard for the Spartans to assess everything the class has added to the team through the years.

Three of the four seniors — 133-pounder Franklin Gomez, 184-pounder Nick Palmieri and heavyweight Alan O’Donnell — have started in their weight class for the past three seasons, while Kyle Bounds has been a steady competitor at 165 pounds this year.

Each have had memorable moments that will live on with the Spartans.

Led by Gomez, the defending national champion in the 133-pound class and last season’s Big Ten champion, the class has been consistent through the regular seasons and had some impressive postseason moments as well.

“They meant a lot to our team and our program,” head coach Tom Minkel said. “Franklin is certainly the leader of the senior group and brings extraordinary work ethic to the sport and knows what it takes to be successful.”

Each of the four seniors sports a record of near-.500 or better this season despite wrestling in the top-tier Big Ten.

The Spartans as a team are 2-5 in the Big Ten after dropping two road matches against top-10 opponents last weekend.

Gomez went 2-0 to improve his overall record to 19-1, but the Spartans lost to No. 10 Penn State, 26-12, and No. 3 Ohio State, 30-7, to drop their overall record to 8-7-1.

Sunday’s match features another top-15 opponent in the Hoosiers, but with Senior Night and a final chance to improve before the Big Ten tournament, wrestlers said they feel confident headed in.

“Everyone wants to win,” O’Donnell said. “It’s good to get as many wins as you can before Big Tens. People really want to improve their seeding before the Big Tens.”

Minkel said the team didn’t wrestle to its full potential on the road Sunday at Ohio State. The Spartans were impressive in their last home meet, a 20-13 victory against No. 23 Purdue on Feb. 7, and will look to ride out the home energy one final time this season.

On the year, the Spartans are 4-2-1 at home, with victories against Purdue, Stanford, Northern Illinois and West Virginia.

The Spartans fell against No. 21 Illinois, 23-12, on Jan. 24, but battled No. 5 Minnesota to an 18-16 loss two nights earlier on Jan. 22 and have been tough at home.

Indiana is coming off wins against Michigan and Purdue last weekend and enters with a 15-3 overall record. The Hoosiers are led by a pair of undefeated wrestlers in 125-pounder Angel Escobedo, who’s ranked No. 1 in his class, and Nate Everhart, the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the heavyweight class.

In addition to Gomez, the Spartans’ other victory Sunday came from 141-pound freshman Dan Osterman, who will look to cap his strong freshman regular season this weekend.

The match is set for 1 p.m. Sunday at Jenison Field House.

“It’s going to be my last home dual and I’m definitely looking forward to it,” Gomez said. “The road was tough on us. … We’ve been working pretty hard and it’s a long season, so we definitely want to win.”

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