Thursday, March 21
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Michigan State University
vs
NCAA Championships
Spartan Wrestling Headed to Pittsburgh for NCAA Championships
3/20/2019 9:44:00 AM | Wrestling
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Three members of the Michigan State wrestling team are headed to Pittsburgh in preparation for the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships which are set to take place Thursday, March 21 and conclude Saturday, March 23 at PPG Paints Arena.
Michigan State has three wrestlers competing in the championships, matching their total from the 2016-17 season. Sophomore Rayvon Foley is the top-seeded Spartan, drawing the No. 9 seed at 125 pounds. Foley will face Northern Colorado's Rico Montoya in round one after a late change in the bracket forced by an injury to Arizona State's Ryan Millhof. Montoya is 16-9 this season and earned an at-large bid into the championships as the No. 24 seed. This is Foley's second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships.
Redshirt sophomore Drew Hughes is seeded No. 26 at 174 pounds and will face Oklahoma State's Jacobe Smith in round one. Hughes automatically qualified for the championships after taking seventh at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships. The Big 12 champion, Smith is 27-3 this season and checks in as the No. 7 seed. Hughes is making the second NCAA Championships appearance of his career after previously qualifying at 165 pounds in 2017.
The Spartans final competitor is redshirt freshman Cameron Caffey. Caffey earned the No. 19 seed after taking one of the weights at-large bids following a ninth-place finish at Big Ten's. The Carbondale, Illinois native will face No. 14-seeded Dylan Wisman of Missouri in round one. Wisman is 16-7 this season and earned his spot in the NCAA Championships with a first place finish at the MAC Championships. As a redshirt freshman, this is Caffey's first trip to the NCAA Championships.
Tournament Schedule
The NCAA Championships are divided into six sessions over three days of competition. Thursday's slate begins at 12 p.m. EST., with Friday and Saturday's action starting at 11 a.m. Streaming is available with a subscription to ESPN+.
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Thursday, March 21
12 p.m. EST – Session I - First Round (Stream)
7 p.m. EST – Session II - Second Round (Stream)
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Friday, March 22
11 a.m. EST – Session III - Quarterfinals (Stream)
8 p.m. EST – Session IV - Semifinals (Stream)
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Saturday, March 23
11 a.m. EST – Session V - Medal Rounds (Stream)
7 p.m. EST – Session VI - Championship Round (Stream)
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Follow Along
Every match of the NCAA Championships will be aired online using ESPN+. Fans can watch sessions I, III, and V live on ESPNU, and primetime sessions II, IV, and VI will be broadcasted on ESPN's flagship channel. Fans can follow the tournament's results and brackets online using flowrestling.org and arena.flowrestling.org.
Spartans in the NCAA's
Foley, Hughes, and Caffey mark the fifth, six, and seventh NCAA Qualifiers in head coach Roger Chandler's three-year tenure at the helm. Hughes and Foley are both two-time qualifiers under Chandler, while Caffey is making his first appearance at the NCAA Championships this season. Javier Gasca is the other Spartan to qualify in the Chandler era. In total, the Spartans have had 78 NCAA Qualifiers since 2000 with 18 All-Americans. Mike McClure is Michigan State's last All-American, taking fifth in the heavyweight division at the 2013 NCAA Championships held in Des Moines, Iowa.
Two Spartans Reach 30 Win Plateau
Following their performances at the Big Ten Championships, Rayvon Foley (31-4) and Cam Caffey (30-7) became the first Spartans to win 30 matches since Mike McClure in 2012-13 (34-7). The last time MSU had two 30 match winners was 2006-07 when Nick Simmons (40-2) and Franklin Gomez (31-8) each reached the 30 win mark. In that season, Simmons took a career-best third at the NCAA Championships.
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Michigan State has three wrestlers competing in the championships, matching their total from the 2016-17 season. Sophomore Rayvon Foley is the top-seeded Spartan, drawing the No. 9 seed at 125 pounds. Foley will face Northern Colorado's Rico Montoya in round one after a late change in the bracket forced by an injury to Arizona State's Ryan Millhof. Montoya is 16-9 this season and earned an at-large bid into the championships as the No. 24 seed. This is Foley's second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships.
Redshirt sophomore Drew Hughes is seeded No. 26 at 174 pounds and will face Oklahoma State's Jacobe Smith in round one. Hughes automatically qualified for the championships after taking seventh at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships. The Big 12 champion, Smith is 27-3 this season and checks in as the No. 7 seed. Hughes is making the second NCAA Championships appearance of his career after previously qualifying at 165 pounds in 2017.
The Spartans final competitor is redshirt freshman Cameron Caffey. Caffey earned the No. 19 seed after taking one of the weights at-large bids following a ninth-place finish at Big Ten's. The Carbondale, Illinois native will face No. 14-seeded Dylan Wisman of Missouri in round one. Wisman is 16-7 this season and earned his spot in the NCAA Championships with a first place finish at the MAC Championships. As a redshirt freshman, this is Caffey's first trip to the NCAA Championships.
Tournament Schedule
The NCAA Championships are divided into six sessions over three days of competition. Thursday's slate begins at 12 p.m. EST., with Friday and Saturday's action starting at 11 a.m. Streaming is available with a subscription to ESPN+.
Â
Thursday, March 21
12 p.m. EST – Session I - First Round (Stream)
7 p.m. EST – Session II - Second Round (Stream)
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Friday, March 22
11 a.m. EST – Session III - Quarterfinals (Stream)
8 p.m. EST – Session IV - Semifinals (Stream)
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Saturday, March 23
11 a.m. EST – Session V - Medal Rounds (Stream)
7 p.m. EST – Session VI - Championship Round (Stream)
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Follow Along
Every match of the NCAA Championships will be aired online using ESPN+. Fans can watch sessions I, III, and V live on ESPNU, and primetime sessions II, IV, and VI will be broadcasted on ESPN's flagship channel. Fans can follow the tournament's results and brackets online using flowrestling.org and arena.flowrestling.org.
Spartans in the NCAA's
Foley, Hughes, and Caffey mark the fifth, six, and seventh NCAA Qualifiers in head coach Roger Chandler's three-year tenure at the helm. Hughes and Foley are both two-time qualifiers under Chandler, while Caffey is making his first appearance at the NCAA Championships this season. Javier Gasca is the other Spartan to qualify in the Chandler era. In total, the Spartans have had 78 NCAA Qualifiers since 2000 with 18 All-Americans. Mike McClure is Michigan State's last All-American, taking fifth in the heavyweight division at the 2013 NCAA Championships held in Des Moines, Iowa.
Two Spartans Reach 30 Win Plateau
Following their performances at the Big Ten Championships, Rayvon Foley (31-4) and Cam Caffey (30-7) became the first Spartans to win 30 matches since Mike McClure in 2012-13 (34-7). The last time MSU had two 30 match winners was 2006-07 when Nick Simmons (40-2) and Franklin Gomez (31-8) each reached the 30 win mark. In that season, Simmons took a career-best third at the NCAA Championships.
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Players Mentioned
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