Wrestling Returns Home to Face Illini

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State returns to Big Ten action this week with a pair of duals. The Spartans open the week on Friday, January 11 by welcoming No. 19-ranked Illinois to Jenison Field House prior to traveling to Columbus, Ohio on Sunday, January 13 for a meeting with No. 2-ranked Ohio State. Friday's contest against Illinois will be the first time Michigan State has competed at home since a 16-15 victory over Indiana on December 7. That victory gave Michigan State it's first 1-0 start in the conference since 2009-10.

Opponent	Date/Time/Location	Dual Record	Live Video ($)
#19 Illinois	January 11, 2019 // 7 p.m. ET // East Lansing, Mich.	1-1, 0-0 B1G	BTN2Go
#2 Ohio State	January 13, 2019 // 2 p.m. ET // Columbus, Ohio	5-0, 2-0 B1G	BTN2Go

PROBABLE STARTERS

Weight	Wrestlers	Record (Duals)
125	Rayvon Foley	19-1 (6-0)
133	Anthony Tutolo	13-8 (1-5)
141	Austin Eicher	11-6 (3-2)
149	Jaden Enriquez	10-10 (2-4)
157	Jake Tucker	15-7 (3-3)
165	Austin Hiles	9-9 (0-2)
OR	Logan Ritchie	8-9 (1-3)
174	Drew Hughes	16-6 (4-2)
184	Cameron Caffey	18-1 (5-1)
197	Nick May	10-7 (0-1)
OR	Brad Wilton	10-8 (2-3)
285	Chase Beard	11-6 (1-1)
OR	Christian Rebottaro	10-8 (2-2)

MSU SEES IMPROVEMENT IN 2018-19
Michigan State earned it's best start to a season since 2010-11 after a 4-0 start to the dual meet schedule. That season, the Spartans had wins over Shippensburg, Harvard, Binghamton and Northern Illinois. In 2018-19, MSU started with wins over Buffalo, Indiana, Southern Illinois Edwardsville and West Virginia. The Spartans have also performed well in tournament settings this season, taking first at the Navy Classic and finishing in second to Oklahoma State at the Reno Tournament of Champions. Michigan State wrestlers have earned seven first place finishes at tournaments this season which includes first place finishes for redshirt freshman Cameron Caffey and two for sophomore Rayvon Foley.

CAFFEY A THREE-TIME CHAMPION
With a first place finish at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Thursday, December 20, redshirt freshman Cameron Caffey locked up his third first place tournament finish of the season. Caffey had previous taken the 184 pound crown at the MSU Open and the Navy Classic. A native of Carbondale, Illinois, Caffey opened season on an 18-bout winning streak prior to falling to Kent State's Andrew McNally at the South Beach Duals on December 30. Caffey will aim to get back into the win column this week with tough tests against No. 2 ranked Emery Parker and No. 1 ranked Myles Martin.

SCOUTING THE ILLINI
Illinois arrives in East Lansing as the No. 19-ranked team in the country following a ninth place finish at the Midlands Championships on Sunday, December 30. This is just the third dual meet of the season for the Illini, who have defeated Northern Illinois (24-9) and lost to Missouri (30-8) to start the season. Illinois boasts a lineup with six ranked wrestlers, with two ranked in the top 10, the most MSU has faced to date. Michigan state will aim to take advantage at 125, 149, 174 and 285 pounds where they hold either an advantage in ranking or where the rankings are neutral. The match-up's at 125 and 184 will be ones to watch as they feature a pair of ranked wrestlers for each team.

ILLINOIS PROBABLE STARTERS
125:   #16 Travis Piotrowski (5-3, 1-0)
133:    #18 Dylan Duncan (5-2, 1-0)
141:   #9 Mike Carr (4-2, 0-1)
149:   Christian Kanzler (0-4, 0-2)
157:   #14 Eric Barone (8-3, 2-0)
165:   #16 Joey Gunther (10-4, 2-0)
174:   Carver James (9-3, 1-0)
184:   #2 Emery Parker (7-0, 2-0)
197:   Andre Lee (11-4, 1-1)
285:   Deuce Rachal (6-6, 0-2)

SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES
The No. 2-ranked team in the country, Ohio State projects seven ranked starters on Sunday in what will be one of Michigan State's toughest tests of the season. Five of the ranked Buckeyes appear in the top ten and four are in the top five of their respective weight classes. At 125 pounds, the Buckeyes could opt to utilize redshirt Malik Heinselman who is 13-3 as a unattached wrestler this season. From then on starts a gauntlet of four straight top ten wrestlers, including Luke Pletcher, Joey McKenna, and Micah Jordan who rank in the top five. At 184 pounds, Ohio State has Myles Martin who is the top ranked 184 pounder in Division I.

OHIO STATE PROBABLE STARTERS
125:  Malik Heinselman (*13-3, 0-0)
-OR- Brakan Mead (4-6, 1-2)
133: #5 Luke Pletcher (14-1, 5-0)
141: #2 Joey McKenna (11-0, 5-0)
149: #3 Micah Jordan (13-1, 5-0)
157: #8 Ke-Shawn Hayes (12-3, 3-1)
165: Kaleb Romero (6-3, 1-2)
174: Te'Shan Campbell (7-2, 3-1)
-OR- Ethan Smith (11-4, 2-1)
184: No. 1 Myles Martin (8-0, 3-0)
197: No. 2 Kollin Moore (8-0, 2-0)
HWT: No. 17 Chase Singletary (13-3, 3-1)

SPARTANS IN THE RANKINGS
• Sophomore Rayvon Foley - 125#
   No. 7 by InterMat
   No. 7 by Dual Impact Index
   No. 8 by FloWrestling
   No. 8 by The Open Mat
   No. 8 by WIN Wrestling Magazine
   No. 9 by TrackWrestling

• Redshirt Freshman Cameron Caffey - 184#
   No. 15 by TrackWrestling
   No. 15 by WIN Wrestling Magazine
   No. 16 by Dual Impact Index
   No. 17 by InterMat
   No. 18 by The Open Mat
   No. 20 by FloWrestling

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State finished the South Beach Duals with a 2-2 record, defeating SIUE and West Virginia on day one prior to falling in close contests to then No. 18-ranked Wyoming and Kent State on day two.

Saturday, Dec. 29 • SIUE Dual • Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Michigan State 28, Southern Illinois Edwardsville 11
125: Rayvon Foley (MSU) tech. fall Austin Macias (SIUE), 15-0
133: Anthony Tutolo (MSU) by fall (4:50) Jake Blaha (SIUE)
141: Austin Eicher (MSU) major dec. Lucas Bernal (SIUE), 11-0
149: Tyshawn Williams (SIUE) dec. Jaden Enriquez (MSU), 10-6
157: Justin Ruffin (SIUE) dec. Jake Tucker (MSU), 2-1
165: Nate Higgins (SIUE) dec. Logan Ritchie (MSU), 13-7
174: Drew Hughes (MSU) by fall (1:56) Kevin Gshwendtner (SIUE)
184: Cameron Caffey (MSU) major dec. Sergio Villalobos (SIUE), 11-3
197: Christian Dulaney (SIUE) dec. Brad Wilton (MSU), 10-7
285: Christian Rebottaro (MSU) dec. Colton McKiernan (SIUE), 13-7
* 1 point deducted from SIUE following 197 bout

Saturday, Dec. 29 • West Virginia Dual • Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Michigan State 23, West Virginia 16
125: Rayvon Foley (MSU) tech. fall Joey Thomas (WVU), 19-4
133: Matthew Schmitt (WVU) dec. Anthony Tutolo (MSU), 3-2
141: Austin Eicher (MSU) dec. Lukas Martin (WVU), 8-3
149: Christian Monserrat (WVU) dec. Jaden Enriquez (MSU), 8-6
157: Jake Tucker (MSU) dec. Zach Moore (WVU), 3-0
165: Nick Kiuss (WVU) dec. Austin Hiles (MSU), 5-1
174: Josh Ramirez (WVU) dec. (SV-1) Drew Hughes (MSU), 4-2
184: Cameron Caffey (MSU) wins by forfeit
197: Noah Adams (WVU) major dec. Brad Wilton (MSU), 11-0
285: Chase Beard (MSU) inj. (2:33) David Smith (WVU)

Sunday, Dec. 30 • Wyoming Dual • Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Wyoming 20, Michigan State 13
125: Rayvon Foley (MSU) dec. Cole Verner (UW), 7-4
133: Montorie Bridges (UW) major dec. Anthony Tutolo (MSU), 12-4
141: Sam Turner (UW) dec. Austin Eicher (MSU), 1-0
149: Jaron Jensen (UW) dec. Jaden Enriquez (MSU), 3-2
157: Jake Tucker (MSU) dec. Dewey Krueger (UW), 5-4
165: Branson Ashworth (UW) major dec. Austin Hiles (MSU), 13-5
174: Drew Hughes (MSU) major dec. Casey Randles (UW), 15-4
184: Cameron Caffey (MSU) dec. Carless Looney (UW), 10-4
197: Cale Davidson (UW) dec. Brad Wilton (MSU), 1-0
285: Brian Andrews (UW) dec. Chase Beard (MSU), 1-0

Sunday, Dec. 30 • Kent State Dual • Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Kent State 18, Michigan State 17
125: Rayvon Foley (MSU) major dec. Jake Ferri (KSU), 12-0
133: Tim Rooney (KSU) dec. Anthony Tutolo (MSU), 4-3
141: Austin Eicher (MSU) dec. Cory Simpson (KSU), 4-0
149: Kody Komara (KSU) dec. Jaden Enriquez (MSU), 6-5
157: Jake Tucker (MSU) major dec. Richard Jackson (KSU), 13-3
165: Isaac Bast (KSU) dec. Logan Ritchie (MSU), 7-3
174: Dylan Barreiro (KSU) dec. Drew Hughes (MSU), 5-1
184: Andrew McNally (KSU) fall (2:45) Cameron Caffey (MSU)
197: Brad Wilton (MSU) dec. Shane Mast (KSU), 10-5
285: Christian Rebottaro (MSU) dec. Spencer Berthhold (KSU), 9-2

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Chase Beard

Cameron Caffey

Austin Eicher

Jaden Enriquez

Rayvon Foley

Austin Hiles

Drew Hughes

Christian Rebottaro

Logan Ritchie

Jake Tucker

Anthony Tutolo

Brad Wilton