Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan State Open
Precin, Benefiel Win at Michigan State Open
11/11/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 11, 2007
EAST LANSING, Mich.-- Northwestern won two individual titles at the Michigan State Open on Sunday as Brandon Precin (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) won the 125 lb. open division with a victory over Eric Morrill of Edinboro University, 2-0, in the finals and freshman Mike Benefiel (Aurora, Ill./Montini Catholic) cruised to easy victories to win the freshman/sophomore division at 174 lbs.
Benefiel defeated Blake Mesyn (Michigan State) 7-4 in the finals, while Precin earned two pins over his first two opponents, then finished his final two off without allowing a single point against him.
"Precin and Benefiel have done a fantastic job this season so far. They do everything we ask of them and more and that's why they're winning tournaments," assistant coach Drew Pariano said. "Marella also had an outstanding tournament again. He just has a few technical issues to fix and he'll be right in the thick of things this year."
Also in the freshman/sophomore division, freshmen John Schoen (Homer Glen, Ill./Marist) reached the semifinals at 197 lbs., unattached, then defeated Tyler Dickenson (Michigan State) in the consolation finals to finish in third place.
In the open division, Nick Hayes (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central) finished second in the 174 lb. after winning four matches before bowing out due to injury to David Erwin (Penn State). Dominic Marella (Roselle, Ill./Conant) also finished second in the 165 lb. open division, winning four matches by scores of 4-0, 2-0, 10-7 and 7-3 until he fell to Indiana's third-ranked All-American Matt Coughlin. Along the way to the finals, Marella defeated Kurt Gross of Kent State, who was a national qualifier a season ago, and nationally ranked Keegan Mueller of UNC. Marella won his weight class at the opening meet of the year in the Eastern Michigan Open, as well.
"Hayes was impressive and that is what we expect out of our veterans," Pariano added.
Eric Metzler (Luxembourg-Casco High School) reached the semifinals of the 133 lb. open division bracket before falling in an 8-4 decision to Andrae Hernandez of Indiana University, who is ranked nationally in the top five. Metzler then ended up in sixth place in the division, but defeated Sean Clair of Eastern Michigan after losing to him at the Eastern Michigan Open last week.
Sophomore Robert Joyce (Sioux City, Iowa/Sioux City North) picked up five wins in the 125 lb. freshman/sophomore bracket and finished in fourth place. Again in the freshman/sophomore division, Andrew Nadhir (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) won four matches at 149 lbs., leading to his fourth-place finish, as he was defeated by Mike Rappo of UNC, 14-11.
Adil Kolovic (Chicago, Ill./Niles West High School) and Mark Graves (Evansville, Ind./Reitz Memorial) battled it out in the 184 lb. division, eventually facing each other in the consolation bracket, with Kolovic winning by a 3-1 decision. The win propelled Kolovic to quarterfinals of the consolation bracket where he lost to Joshua Lewis (Eastern Michigan), 8-6.
"We won a lot of matches and we're getting stronger from week-to-week and keep improving," head coach Tim Cysewski said. "This tournament gave us another boost of confidence and the guys feel pretty good about this season. We learned a lot from last week and used it this week to continue to get some wins."
For complete results and brackets, visit: www.msuwrestling.com.
