March 9, 2008

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Sophomore Franklin Gomez proved today that he is one of the best, if not the best, collegiate wrestler at 133 pounds, beating No. 1-seed James Kennedy of Illinois, 3-1, this afternoon to win the 2008 Big Ten Championship, held inside Williams Arena on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Gomez, the No. 3-seed in the weight class, becomes the 65th individual Big Ten champion in the prestigious history of MSU wrestling, including the third at 133-pounds, a weight class that has only been competed at the conference championship since 1999.

"Winning a Big Ten Championship is an outstanding accomplishment for Franklin," said head coach Tom Minkel. "Especially given that he is only a sophomore and the field at this weight class includes five of the top-10 wrestlers in the country. This is not only a conference feat, but a national accomplishment as Franklin should now be the No. 1 seed entering the NCAAs in two weeks."

"I am extremely excited about how I wrestled today and the fact that I was able to win a Big Ten Championship," said Gomez. "I felt much better today. I recovered well and all my training has paid off, because yesterday's match took a lot out of me."

In the first meeting between these two accomplished wrestlers this season, Gomez, who also earned All-Big Ten honors with his first place finish, began the scoring with a take down two and a half minutes in. Gomez started the second down and escaped within the first 10 seconds to open up a 3-0 lead. The score would hold going into the third period. Kennedy started down and would escape 40 seconds in, but could not take down the Spartan sophomore, keeping the deciding tally to 3-1.

"My game plan for today was to wrestle tough and not give up anything," said Gomez. "I kept thinking, don't let him control me, stay in a good position, be aware of my opportunities and pick my openings. I feel like I was able to stay in control and wrestle my own match."

Gomez, who entered the weekend, ranked No. 5 nationally and is now 28-1 on the season, upset the third ranked wrestler today in Kennedy, after knocking off the No. 4 nationally ranked Joey Slaton of Iowa yesterday, the only wrestler to beat Gomez this season. In his opening bout, he beat No. 6-seed Andrae Hernandez of Indiana, 7-4.

"Last year didn't go my way," added Gomez on his 0-2 record at 125 pounds in last year's Big Ten Championship. "I changed my class, but I have always believed that I am one of the best wrestlers in the country. I have the skills and now I have the confidence that I can be the best."

Gomez will now advance to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo. on March 20-22.

"Going into NCAAs, I have to continue to focus on one match at a time," said Gomez. "I will rest a little bit and focus on school for a little while so it's not a distraction come the weekend of NCAAs. As long as I concentrate on each match and continue to stay focus on only the wrestler I am facing, I feel I can win it all."

Juniors John Murphy and Jeff Wimberley, along with sophomore Nick Palmieri, lost their respective seventh place matches. Murphy was defeated by No. 8-seed Dan Clum of Wisconsin at 174-pounds by a score of 5-3. Meanwhile, both Wimberley and Palmieri were pinned; Wimberley at 141 pounds by No. 5 seed Garrett Scott of Penn State (1:56) and Palmieri by A.J. Kissel, the No. 8 seed at 184 pounds (3:42).

Michigan State finished in 11th as a team with 34 points.