Spartan Wrestling Announces 2019-20 Schedule

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State wrestling head coach Roger Chandler announced the schedule for the 2019-20 season on Wednesday.

The Spartans finished the 2018-19 season with a 10-8 overall record, ending 33^rd at the 2019 NCAA Team Championships, marking the best finish since 2002-03 for head coach Roger Chandler in his third season at the helm.

MSU returns three national qualifiers from a season ago, including Rayvon Foley, who earned All-America honors after finishing in seventh place. Foley became the first Spartan to be named an All-American since Mike McClure in 2014. Redshirt junior Drew Hughes looks to return to the NCAA Championships for a third consecutive season and joins redshirt sophomore Cameron Caffey as national qualifiers.

"We're looking forward to the 2019-20 season. We have a very balanced schedule as we will see 11 of the top 25 teams from last year at some point in the season. That is without knowing our South Beach Duals opponents yet, which we should know very soon," said fourth-year head coach Roger Chandler.

MSU's schedule includes five home duals and the Michigan State Open, slated for Saturday, Nov. 2 at Jenison Field House. The Spartans will face six opponents that finished in the top-25 of the NWCA Coaches Poll, including No. 3 Iowa, No. 4 Michigan, No. 7 Nebraska and No. 8 Minnesota.

The Spartans will take part in two tournaments after the MSU Open, as well as a tri-meet with Oklahoma and Kent State in Kent, Ohio (Nov. 16) and the 42^nd edition of the Navy Classic, slated for Saturday, Nov. 23 in Annapolis, Md. The Navy Classic includes the Naval Academy, American, Brown, Bucknell, Campbell, Rutgers, George Mason, Kent State, Ohio, Oregon State, Virginia Tech, Columbia, Edinboro, Cleveland State, Air Force Academy, Lock Haven, and Citadel.

MSU will travel to Edwardsville, Ind. for the Cougar Clash Invitational at the Vadalabene Center on the campus of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Dec. 7-9 and the South Beach Duals in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. on Dec. 29-30. The Cougar Clash consists of Missouri, Wisconsin, SIU-E, Little Rock, & Brown, while the South Beach Duals include Cornell, Duke, Lehigh, Minnesota, Missouri, NC State, North Dakota State, Old Dominion, Oklahoma, South Dakota State and Wyoming.

"We will again return to the Navy Classic as it is very good early season team scoring tournament. The Navy does a great job with this event and we are very much looking forward to it. New this year to the schedule is the Cougar Clash and it will allow us to see some great competition in a small tournament setting. We will again return to the South Beach Duals for the third straight year, which has been a great event where we will wrestle four dual meets over two days," Chandler added.

The Spartans play host to four duals in January, highlighted by a visit from Minnesota on Jan. 17. The Gophers finished the 2018-19 season ranked No. 8 in the rankings and eighth in total points at the NCAA Team Championships. MSU begins the month with a trip to Michigan to take on a squad that finished last season with a 13-1 record and fifth in points at the NCAA Championships on Jan. 10. MSU welcome Rutgers and Maryland to East Lansing on Jan. 12 and Jan. 19, respectively.

Clarion wraps up MSU's January home slate on Jan. 24. Nebraska, who finished No. 7 in the NWCA Coaches Poll a season ago, plays host to the Spartans on Jan. 26. MSU finishes ends the month with a trip to Illinois on Friday, Jan. 31.

The Spartans' February slate is highlighted by a home match with Iowa on Sunday, Feb. 2 for Senior Day. The Hawkeyes finished fourth in the NCAA Team Championships on their way to a 14-1 record and No. 3 ranking to end the season. MSU follows with four-straight road duals over a 14-day period to end the regular season. After trips to Northwestern (Feb. 7) and Wisconsin (Feb. 9), the Spartans travel to Cleveland State on Sunday, Feb. 16 to take on the Vikings at Woodling Gym. The Spartans end the regular season with a trip to Mt. Pleasant, Mich. to take on Central Michigan on Friday, Feb. 21. The Chippewas finished 28^th in total points in the 2019 NCAA Team Championships.

Rutgers will host the Big Ten Wrestling Championships for the first time in school history on March 7-8 at the RAC in Piscataway, N.J.

The 2020 NCAA Championships will take place at U.S. Bank Stadium, March 19-21, in Minneapolis, Minn.

Players Mentioned

Cameron Caffey

Rayvon Foley

Drew Hughes

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