MSU Sports Blog

With Eric Olanowski’s one-dual suspension, the 125 lbs weight class match at Edinboro will fall on the shoulders of Brenan Lyon, a sophomore out of Ithica, Mich.

Lyon has not wrestled in a dual since he fell in a major decision to then-No. 20 Shane Young of West Virginia on Jan. 13, but he will have to step up to help MSU recoup the loss of one of their seniors.

Lyon is 7-9 overall and 1-3 in duals this season, with his sole dual victory coming from a 9-1 major decision over Purdue’s Luke Schroeder. Lyon showed promise in the MSU open, where he placed sixth and recorded three wins by fall.

The young 125-pounder likely would have wrestled some this weekend anyway, as tournaments allow for non-starters to gain valuable experience in competitions, but with the situation laid at his feet with Olanowski’s suspension, we’ll get to see how he responds when his teammates call upon him for a win.

When Eric Olanowski was disqualified last Sunday for what appeared to be a bite to his opponent’s arm, the action itself and his reaction to the call cost his team an eight point swing. After I spoke with Olanowski Wednesday afternoon, he was able to give some insight into why he was so upset, and what actually transpired during his match against No. 16 Johnni DiJulius of Ohio State.

Olanowski said head coach Tom Minkel contacted the Ohio State athletic department to try and clear up the matter, and even spoke with DiJulius, who told Minkel that Olanowski did not bite him.

“What it looked like was a bite,” Olanowski said. “But when he came with a cross face (hold), he was digging his wrist in (to my face) — and my nose is slightly broken so I can’t breathe through my nose, so I was breathing through my mouth — so when I opened it, he jammed it in. I didn’t bite down, but his hand was in my mouth.”

He added that the perceived bite was partially the reason for his disqualification, but exchanging words with the referee probably did not help his cause. A frustrated Olanowski had exchanged words with the official prior to leaving the mat and throwing his headgear down, which took two points away from the team score.

“I knew I didn’t bite the kid,” Olanowski said. “I’ve been wrestling for 15 years, and I know there’s one thing in wrestling that you can’t do and can’t get away with, and that’s biting. There’s proof, and I know that it’s flagrant misconduct.”

Olanowski said when he was in high school, a teammate was penalized for biting his opponent and the call effectively cost his team the state championship.

“I knew the consequences, so I never would even think about biting anybody,” he said. “It’s not the way I wrestle. I’m not a dirty wrestler; I just go out there and wrestle fairly to win the match, and if I lose, I take it the same way I take a win.”

So there you have it. Olanowski said he didn’t bite DiJulius, DiJulius said Olanowski didn’t bite him and although Olanowski must serve a one-meet suspension as a result of a flagrant misconduct call, the Spartans are ready to put this behind them and move on to Friday’s dual against Edinboro.

IntermatWrestle.com released its updated weekly rankings for NCAA wrestlers Tuesday afternoon, so without further ado, let’s dive in.

Not much has changed for the Spartan wrestlers, who dropped a closely fought battle against No. 6 Ohio State, but there are a few adjustments.

Senior 174-pounder Curran Jacobs stayed put at No. 16 despite an impressive 6-1 decision in Sunday’s dual.

Senior 197-pounder Tyler Dickenson also saw no change in the rankings, remaining at No. 13, despite having not competed since Dec. 18. Head coach Tom Minkel said last week that Dickenson’s season and career as a Spartan wrestler has ended due to the injury he sustained in that Reno Tournament of Champions, so it will be interesting to see if that affects his rankings at all.

Really, the only movement for MSU came for senior 157-pounder Anthony Jones Jr., who jumped two spots to No. 10 after he recorded a dramatic 5-4 decision over No. 20 Josh Demas.

As the end of the season nears, these rankings become more important as the Spartans wrestlers fight to earn their way into the NCAA tournament, and they’ll likely see their share of ranked opponents this weekend, when MSU faces No. 21 Edinboro in a Friday dual followed by the Edinboro open on Saturday.

What happened at MSU wrestling’s Sunday afternoon dual against No. 6 Ohio State exposed a flaw in the NCAA rules regarding unsportsmanlike conduct.

For those who don’t know, senior 125-pounder Eric Olanowski was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct and penalized further for what appeared to be a statement made to the referee and throwing down his headgear down in frustration. The initial infraction awarded Ohio State six team points while the last two deducted two points from MSU’s team score, making for a grand total eight point swing in Ohio State’s favor.

However, it’s the last two violations that I have issue with. In all my time spent around sports, this is the first I’ve seen points taken off the board as a because of a penalty that wasn’t somehow related to the points being scored. It would be like taking away a home run because five minutes later the manager gets tossed for arguing a call.

Admittedly, wrestling is a different breed, and individual performances play a bigger role in wrestling than in most sports. But for Olanowski’s minute of frustration to take away from the prior wins of his teammates seems wrong to me.

Olanowski’s actions now overshadow a brilliant performance by his teammates and literally take away from their own personal accomplishments. The Spartans wrestled harder than they have all season, and that should be the story coming from MSU’s final home dual.

So why does his moment of passion trump the hard fought battles of his teammates when it comes to scoring?

Although the MSU wrestling team dropped its dual against No. 6 Ohio State today, the Spartans’ performance was an encouraging one.

MSU showed it could hang with one of the top teams in the nation, and were it not for a late mental breakdown, the Spartans had a legitimate chance to upset the Buckeyes.

Several Spartan wrestlers knocked off ranked opponents; No. 12 senior 157-pounder Anthony Jones Jr. took down No. 20 Josh Demas in a 5-4 decision, No. 16 senior 174-pounder Curran Jacobs notched a 6-1 decision over No. 7 Nick Heflin and junior heavyweight Steve Andrus recorded a 7-3 decision over No. 18 Peter Capone.

All in all, it was a good showing for the Spartans as most of the seniors left Jenison Field House with pride, something head coach Tom Minkel stressed before the match.

As I said in a previous post, you never want to leave something unfinished, and Jones and Jacobs made sure to take care of business Saturday afternoon.

Although senior 174-pounder Curran Jacobs said he isn’t focused on Sunday’s dual being the last of his career at Jenison Field House, rest assured, it will be an emotional day for all of the MSU wrestling seniors.

When you put as much hard work and energy into something as those six wrestlers have over the past four or five years, it’s tough to let go. Which is why I expect the competing seniors to really step it up and give their best performance of the season — if not to end their careers on a win, then to not leave Jenison with a loss.

There’s nothing worse than leaving something undone, and if any of those six wrestlers leave the mat without a win on Sunday, that’s how they’ll feel. Senior 197-pounder Tyler Dickenson didn’t get that chance, as his season ended when he was injured during the Reno Tournament of Champions.

Head coach Tom Minkel appreciates the nostalgic energy surrounding the mat. As a former collegiate wrestler and MSU’s coach for 21 years, he’s been there and seen a number of Spartan wrestlers leave the gym with their heads held high and some who have left without a victory.

Even though Jacobs said he tries not to think about it, he knows that he wants to go out on a high note too. And I can pretty much guarantee he’s not the only one.

There’s something about alumni weekend that carries some special weight to it.

It’s human nature to want to impress your elders and make them proud, so when former members of MSU’s men’s and women’s gymnastics teams attend the Spartans’ meet at Jenison Field House Saturday night, there’s no surprise that there’s a different electricity in the air.

Head coach Kathie Klages said she is excited to see some familiar faces, but also said the event inspires her team to perform at an even higher level.

Senior Alyssa Brennan said she’s excited to see more people in the crowd as well, since the event likely will bring more people to the competition.

In any case, as impressed as the former Spartans may be, Klages has her team focused solely on impressing the judges once Saturday rolls around.

The MSU wrestling team’s rough week got even harsher Tuesday when several Spartan wrestlers saw their Intermat rankings drop as a result of their weekend performances.

Senior 174-pounder Curran Jacobs fell from No. 11 to No. 16 after he dropped matches against Nebraska’s Tyler Koehn and No. 5 Justin Zeerip of Michigan.

Sophomore heavyweight Mike McClure exited the rankings completely after a loss to U-M’s then-No. 11 Ben Aplund, while Aplund himself jumped a spot to No. 10 as a reward for beating the former No. 18 heavyweight wrestler.

Senior 157-pounder Anthony Jones, Jr. neither rose nor fell from the No. 12 spot after he split his weekend duals. No. 13 senior 197-pounder Tyler Dickenson also saw no change in his Intermat ranking and did not compete in the weekend duals.

MSU has seen its share of highly ranked opponents as the Big Ten is one of the premier conferences within NCAA wrestling, and the Spartans will continue to see heavy opposition Sunday when No. 6 Ohio State comes to Jenison Field House for MSU’s senior day.

Say what you want about MSU head wrestling coach Tom Minkel, but when game time rolls around, he knows how to put on a show.

The lights will dim at Jenison Field House, Kernkraft 400’s “Zombie Nation” plays over the loudspeakers and a spotlight follows each wrestler to the middle of the mat as the announcer calls their names.

So maybe the change of scenery affected the Spartans a bit when they traveled into enemy territory Sunday afternoon, when they fell 26-9 at No. 11 Michigan.

Of course, the Spartans haven’t been performing at home either. But when you take into consideration the hostile crowd at Sunday’s dual, it’s not surprising that MSU’s confidence seemed to take a hit when the Cliff Keen Arena crowd finally woke up.

Some MSU wrestlers seemed to feed off the crowd energy, like No. 12 senior 157-pounder Anthony Jones, Jr. did when he notched his 3-2 double overtime victory. But others succumbed to the crowd noise, like junior 149-pounder Dan Osterman did when he was pinned at the 1:50 mark of his match.

Whatever the reason may be, the Spartans surely will look forward to next weekend’s home dual against No. 5 Ohio State. However, it also is MSU’s last home dual of the season, so they can’t get too comfortable.

This weekend, the MSU baseball program honored two of its all-time greats in Kirk Gibson and Earl Morrall at the 2012 MSU Baseball First Pitch Dinner.

Before the event on Saturday at the Kellogg Center, Gibson and Morrall addressed members of the media. More specifically, Gibson spent time discussing various topics including his recent National League Manager of the Year award, Prince Fielder and his time as a Spartan.

Here are some highlights from his conversation with the media:

A kingdom for Prince
With the Detroit Tigers signing Prince Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million dollar deal, it brings back fond memories to Gibson of a chubby kid growing up around the clubhouse at Tiger Stadium.

Gibson said Prince, the son of former Tiger great Cecil Fielder, used to live down the street from him in Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., and he got to know their family well as Prince was growing up.

Despite having a well-documented feud with his father, Gibson said he hopes his Prince’s return to Detroit helps in mending their relationship.

“I’m very familiar with all that, and we all know the situation between Prince and Cecil, and I talk to him about it every time I see him,” Gibson said. “Yet, when I listen to him at his press conference the other day, he sounds exactly like his dad. He talks like his dad. I think deep down, Prince understands that his dad loved him. He made some mistakes it sounds like but time hopefully will heal the hard feelings between them.”

Return to Mo-Town?
Gibson often has said his fondest memories in baseball came as a member of the Detroit Tigers.

As an outfielder who came up in the Tiger system, Gibson was an integral member of the 1984 World Series Championship team, and his hard-nosed style of play made him a fan favorite during his 12 seasons in Detroit.

But when asked about if he could see himself returning to the Tigers as a manager someday to replace current manager Jim Leyland, Gibson stalled at the opportunity and was quick to dismiss it.

“I’m grateful for the Arizona Diamondbacks. I really love the people that I’ve worked with, I enjoy the area,” Gibson said. “There’s no question there will always be something in my heart for the Tigers. I was nurtured here. As it stands right now, I don’t think like that. We won last year, let’s see how good we can do this year. Can we do it again and then beyond and beyond and beyond.”

Scaling the baseball summit
In winning the 2011 National League Manager of the Year, Gibson credits many people for his success.

Many of Gibson’s managing philosophies come directly from his former Tiger manager Sparky Anderson. But he also gives credit to many people from his formative college years.

“I came as a football player. I had a guy named Darryl Rogers, my football coach, who suggested I come to baseball. I come to baseball, I got a guy, our baseball coach, Danny Lithwiler, who convinces me not to quit,” Gibson said. “As I get into baseball with Jim Leyland and Sparky (Anderson) and Tommy Lasorda, Mel Didier, Jerry Crause, the scouts and with the great guys I played against like Tony Larussa. Mike Scocisia was a teammate of mine. It’s all out there for you, there’s so much information.”