6 Spartans prepare for NCAA Championships, Gomez looks to repeat

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The MSU wrestling program has produced 19 individual wrestling champions, but only five have gone on to win multiple national championships.

Thursday, Franklin Gomez will begin his journey to repeat as champion of the 133-pound class in the same way as he entered last season’s NCAA Championships. The senior carries a record of 23-2, compared to a 22-2 record last season, and has dominated the majority of the competition.

To repeat, however, Gomez must regroup after a tough loss in the semifinal round of the Big Ten Championships and prepare to face familiar opponents who have improved since last season.

“Basically, I just keep believing like always,” Gomez said. “Nothing’s impossible — if I could do it once, I can do it again.”

In the 11 seasons that the 133-pound class has had a champion, three wrestlers have repeated, which should be a positive sign for Gomez. Both of Gomez’s losses this season have been against Iowa’s No. 2 Daniel Dennis, who snapped Gomez’s 29-match winning streak in January, then defeated him in the semifinals of the Big Ten Championships to prevent a three-peat for Gomez.

Gomez likely also will have to go through Minnesota’s Jayson Ness, the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the class and a semifinalist last season. Ness defeated Dennis for the Big Ten championship and is riding a 28-match win streak into this weekend.

Whatever the road, Gomez will bring more experience this year, as well as the desire to leave on top.

Gomez will be accompanied by five teammates as he prepares for this week’s NCAA Championships, which run Thursday through Saturday in Omaha, Neb. The six Spartans who qualified make up the largest MSU contingent at the national finals since 2003.

In a conference that features eight ranked teams, the Spartans took strides this year in improving from 11th-place finishes in the past two seasons to a seventh-place finish at Big Ten Championships this season. On the season, the Spartans finished with an 8-8-1 overall record and placed eighth in the regular season Big Ten standings.

“Our goal is not just to compete at the NCAAs, but also to make an impact there,” head coach Tom Minkel said. “Going there with a defending national champ and five other guys is certainly a step in the right direction.”

Gomez, No. 14-ranked 149-pound sophomore David Cheza, 157-pound junior Anthony Jones Jr. and 184-pound sophomore Ian Hinton earned automatic bids to the championships based on their performance at the Big Ten Championships, while 165-pound senior Kyle Bounds and 184-pound senior Nick Palmieri received at-large bids.

Minkel said the team has practiced with crowd noise to help simulate the championship environment, which will be new to first-time qualifiers Cheza, Bounds and Palmieri.

The team should be well-prepared after a rigorous Big Ten schedule and will use that event as a springboard for the NCAA Championships.

Minkel said the team wrestled with no regrets and featured a no-regrets mentality that helped contribute to a good finish.

“I feel like our confidence is as high as it’s ever been,” Cheza said. “I’m just going there to have fun, and no matter what the outcome is, I want to leave having no regrets.”

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