Wrestling’s freshmen and sophomore competitors, as well as the upperclassmen, showed a lot of promise Sunday at the Michigan State Open.

In an open that holds a tournament for both upperclassmen and freshmen and sophomores, the Huskies placed four wrestlers on the podium.

In the open 197-weight class tournament, redshirt sophomore Shawn Scott placed fifth, scoring 15 points for the Huskies. Scott went 4-1 and took fifth place when he defeated Chris Heald from Michigan, 10-5.

“Shawn Scott had a great day,” said head coach Ryan Ludwig. “He put together a lot of great wins today. The only one he lost was against Max Huntley, who is ranked anywhere from 10-15 depending on what poll in the country you look at.”

In the open tournament for the 125-weight class, the Huskies saw another one of their wrestlers place fifth. Senior Derek Elmore knew what it would take to do well in this open as he competed in last year’s Michigan State Open. He placed fifth, scoring an impressive win over Purdue’s Aaron Assad, 15-4.

Freshman Quinton Rosser impressed many in his first tournament at the college level in the freshman/sophomore 184-weight class tournament. He defeated Derek Hillman from MAC rival Eastern Michigan by, 8-5, in the quarterfinal match. Rosser made it all the way to the first place match, where he lost to Garrett Lineberger from Notre Dame (Ohio), 17-1, finishing in second place.

“I feel outstanding about his performance. He wrestled a third-year kid in the final,” Ludwig said. “He was a bit outmatched maturity-wise, but up to that point I thought Quinton Rosser had an outstanding tournament. He has a motor that doesn’t quit. He’s done outstanding all the way around from his school work to getting it done in the weight room. We’re really proud of his performance today.”

The last standout performance for the Huskies was by freshman Steve Bleise, who placed fourth place in the freshman/sophomore 149-weight class tournament. Bleise scored 14 points for the Huskies in the competition, his first at the collegiate level.

The Huskies’ performance at the Michigan State Open gives them momentum going into Sunday’s meets. The Huskies will go into Champaign, where they will face Rider and SIU Edwardsville, concluding their weekend with what promises to be a competitive matchup against the host team, the Illinois Fighting Illini.

“I think we got a young, scrappy squad who’s capable of big things this year,” Ludwig said. “It also says we got to get back in the room and fix some of our mistakes, but I feel good about are ultimate goal of getting where we want to be in March.”