Brandon's Gomez wins Big Ten wrestling title

Former Brandon wrestler Franklin Gomez, now wrestling at Michigan State, won the Big Ten championship at 133 pounds this past weekend and figures to be the top seed in the NCAAs in two weekends.

Gomez beat No. 1 seed James Kennedy of Illinois to win the conference title, improving his record this season to 28-1 on the season. Gomez, a sophomore, entered the tournament ranked fifth nationally, and knocked off Kennedy, the third-ranked wrestler, and Iowa's Joey Slaton, the fourth-ranked wrestler and the only person to beat him this season, en route to the Big Ten title.

Michigan State coach Tom Minkel first spotted Gomez when recruiting former Brandon standout David Craig.

"He's lived up to all of our expectations," Minkel told the Times. "He should be the top seed going into the NCAA tournament. He's got the whole package. He's a very good athlete. He's very fast and has outstanding athletic ability. He had an outstanding work ethic. And above all, he's a real student of the sport. He's good at analyzing what he needs to improve on. A lot of guys work on what they're good at. He works on his weaknesses."

Five of the top 10 wrestlers compete in the 133-pound division, a newer classification that has been in place since 1999.

The NCAA wrestling championships will take place in March 20-22 in St. Louis.

Photo: MSUsports.com

-- EDUARDO A. ENCINA
eencina@sptimes.com