Michigan State University
Wisconsin
No. 17 Wisconsin Defeats Spartan Wrestling, 34-6
1/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State wrestling team fell to No. 17 Wisconsin, 34-6, Sunday afternoon at Jenison Field House.
Spartan red-shirt freshman Mitch Rogaliner opened the dual at 125 pounds with his first career fall in a Big Ten dual by pinning Matt Cavallaris, but the Badgers rallied to improve to 8-2 on the season and 6-1 in Big Ten action.
"Mitch has been wrestling really well, and as a red-shirt freshman he's obviously off to a great start and doing a lot of good things," said MSU head coach Tom Minkel. "In the remaining matches, I don't know if we didn't match up well, but we just didn't get the job done today. We wrestled really hard Friday night (in the win over Eastern Michigan) - that was a good dual and we found a way to get it done. We had a good intense practice yesterday. But I know we're all disappointed with the outcome today."
The dual started out with back-to-back pins as Rogaliner began the action by pinning Cavallaris at the 5:14 mark. Rogaliner was in control in the entire match and led 5-2 heading into the third period. He quickly produced a takedown in the final period and completed the pin with 1:46 left in the match.
"Mitch is a very resilient young man," commented Minkel. "He's had a few losses that really made him feel bad, but the mark of a very good wrestler and a wrestler with a lot of potential is when you can take a defeat and then regroup and wrestle well from then on.
"And obviously we're going to have to do that here as a team, because it doesn't get any easier for us. We have Penn State coming in next weekend, and then Nebraska the following week. We have to keep our heads up. The season is a grind and a test for everybody, but we have to rebound and come back with a fresh week next week."
The Badgers bounced right back at 133 pounds as 10th-ranked Ryan Taylor built up a 9-2 lead before pinning Hermilo Esquivel with 47 seconds left in the first period.
Brandon Fifield, wrestling in his first dual of the season, dropped a 9-1 major decision to Jesse Thielke in the 141-pound bout, as the Spartans (4-8, 0-5 Big Ten) fell behind 10-6.
At 149 pounds, Nick Trimble and Rylan Lubeck battled to overtime as each wrestler could only manage an escape point in regulation, but Lubeck notched a takedown 14 seconds into the first sudden-victory session to record the 3-1 decision.
"When you look at Trimble's match, he was on the offensive the whole match, and then he gets taken down in overtime," said Minkel. "He was in three or four times where it looked like he was going to get the takedown and win it, and that would have been a game changer for us. But the match comes out a victory for them, and that match might have changed the tone of the dual."
The Badgers increased their lead to 16-6 heading into intermission following Jarod Dunar's 4-0 shutout over Travis Curley at 157 pounds.
Roger Wildmo hung close with third-ranked Isaac Jordan at 165, as he trailed just 2-0 heading into the final period. Jordan maintained control for most of the match, however, and came away with the 5-1 victory after tacking on 4:49 of riding time.
Nick Proctor had his four-match winning streak come to an end as he dropped a 14-3 major decision to Frank Cousins at 174 pounds.
In the 184-pound match, John Rizqallah fell in a narrow 3-1 decision to Ricky Robertson. Although the match was scoreless after two periods, Rizqallah brought a two-minute riding time advantage into the final period. Robertson got Rizqallah on his back in the third for three near-fall points, and managed to hold off Rizqallah the rest of the way. Rizqallah did tally an escape with 20 seconds left, but couldn't come up with a late takedown after taking multiple shots in the closing seconds.
In the final two matches of the dual, ninth-ranked Timmy McCall held off Nick McDiarmid at 197, 5-3, and No. 3 Connor Medbery recorded a 15-0 technical fall in 3:22 over Chris Nash at heavyweight.
Michigan State returns to action Sunday, Feb. 1 to face four-time defending NCAA Champion Penn State in Jenison Field House at 2 p.m.
No. 17 Wisconsin 34, Michigan State 6
125: Mitch Rogaliner (MSU) pins Matt Cavallaris (UW) in 5:14. MSU leads, 6-0
133: No. 10 Ryan Taylor (UW) pins Hermilo Esquivel (MSU) in 2:13. Tied, 6-6
141: Jesse Thielke (UW) major dec. Brandon Fifield (MSU), 9-1 (RT 4:02). UW leads, 10-6
149: Rylan Lubeck (UW) dec. Nick Trimble (MSU), 3-1 (SV1). UW leads, 13-6
157: Jarod Donar (UW) dec. Travis Curley (MSU), 4-0. UW leads, 16-6
165: No. 3 Isaac Jordan (UW) dec. Roger Wildmo (MSU), 5-1 (RT 4:49). UW leads, 19-6
174: Frank Cousins (UW) major dec. Nick Proctor (MSU), 14-3 (RT 2:45). UW leads, 23-6
184: Ricky Robertson (UW) dec. John Rizqallah (MSU), 3-1. UW leads, 26-6
197: No. 9 Timmy McCall (UW) dec. Nick McDiarmid (MSU), 5-3. UW leads, 29-6
HWT: No. 3 Connor Medbery (UW) tech. fall Chris Nash (MSU), 15-0 (3:22). UW wins, 34-6
Attendance: 1,019
Players Mentioned
