Sunday, February 16
Cleveland, Ohio
1 p.m.
Michigan State University
at
Cleveland State
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell Photography
Spartan Wrestling Travels to Cleveland State Sunday
2/15/2020 12:02:00 PM | Wrestling
Michigan State wrapping up regular-season with first of two non-conference matches.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State's wrestling team makes the trek to Cleveland for a nonconference matchup with Cleveland State inside Woodling Gymnasium on Sunday, Feb. 16. Action begins at 1 p.m. No live stream will be available for the dual. Follow TrackWrestling and @wrestlingmsu on twitter for live updates throughout the match.
The Spartans enter Sunday's dual 7-9 overall and hold a 2-7 mark in Big Ten action. MSU is coming off an upset victory over No. 4 Wisconsin on Sunday, Feb. 9. The win was the Spartans' first over the Badgers since 2009, and the highest ranked win since MSU knocked off No. 2 Iowa on Feb. 7, 2003. Cleveland State comes into Sunday's dual with an 8-5 overall record and is 3-5 in the MAC. The Vikings are coming off a pair of losses to Central Michigan and Northern Illinois.Â
MICHIGAN STATE PROBABLE LINEUP
125 – Logan Griffin (17-12, 7-6 duals) -OR- Julian Saldana (5-7, 1-2 duals)
133 – Garrett Pepple (15-13, 6-9 duals)
141 – Matt Santos (13-12, 6-9 duals)
149 – Alex Hrisopoulos (11-13, 6-9 duals) -OR- Jackson Renicker (7-9, 0-0 duals)
157 – Jake Tucker (23-7, 11-5 duals)
165 – Drew Hughes (13-9, 8-5 duals)
174 – Layne Malczewski (20-11, 9-7 duals)
184 – Cam Caffey (23-6, 14-2 duals)
197 – Nick May (12-16, 4-11 duals)
285 – Christian Rebottaro (15-13, 8-8 duals)
SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE
Cleveland State and Michigan State will meet for just the fifth time on Sunday. The Spartans lead the head-to-head series, 4-0. MSU defeated Cleveland State in its last meeting, 36-7, on Feb. 10 in East Lansing. The Spartans had five bonus point wins, including two wins by fall. The Vikings are led by Justin Patrick with a 17-9 overall record at 133 pounds. Patrick has won seven of his last eight matches and is 9-4 in duals. Evan Cheek leads CSU with 17 bonus point wins at 141 pounds to go with his team-best 31 wins. Cheek is 10-1 in duals. At 197 pounds, Ben Smith is 22-11 with 13 bonus point wins.Â
CLEVELAND STATE PROBABLE LINEUP
125 - Logan Heil (20-9, 8-3 duals)
133 - Justin Patrick (17-9, 9-4 duals))
141 -Â Evan Cheek (31-4, 10-1 duals)
149 -Â Sam Matzek (10-9, 0-1 duals) -OR- Gus Sutton (11-14, 0-11 duals)
157 - Brady Barnett (15-4, 1-0 duals) -OR- Nico O'Dor (11-11, 5-6 duals)
165 - Riley Smucker (18-13, 5-6 duals)
174 -Â Chase Archangelo (13-18, 5-8 duals)
184 -Â DeAndre Nassar (18-15, 5-6 duals)
197 -Â Ben Smith (22-11, 9-4 duals)
285 -Â John Kelbly (12-12, 4-4 duals) -OR- Collin Kelly (8-11, 3-2 duals)
CAM THE MAN
Redshirt sophomore Cameron Caffey has been on fire for the Spartans at 184 pounds. After a 3-2 start to the season, Caffey has won 21 of his last 25 matches and eight-straight in dual action. Caffey, who ranks No. 9 by FloWrestling, has knocked off four top 25 wrestlers in four of his last five bouts, including wins by decision over No. 6 Taylor Venz of Nebraska (11-6) and No. 6 Abe Assad of Iowa (3-2). The Spartan trailed 5-1 in the third period on his way to the win over Venz. Caffey held off Illinois's Zac Braunagel (7-6) on Jan. 31, who ranked No. 14 at the time. Caffey leads the team with 58 dual points, highlighted by six bonus point wins in duals and a team-best eight wins by fall. A 2019 NCAA Qualifier and Junior Greco-Roman World Team member, Caffey hopes to return to the NCAA Championships for a second-straight year after a stellar 32-9 freshman campaign.
CHAMPIONSHIP SEEDING
The NCAA released the second coaches' panel rankings and Rating Percentage Index (RPI) for the 2019-20 wrestling season this week. The rankings and RPI will be two of the tools used as part of the selection process to determine the qualifiers for the 2020 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota. To be eligible for an RPI ranking, a wrestler must have a minimum of 17 Division I matches at a given weight class.
Five Spartans were listed in the most recent rankings release on Thursday, Feb. 13:
Garrett Pepple: NR Coaches' Ranking/ No. 20 RPI
Jake Tucker (157): No. 21 Coaches' Ranking/ No. 14 RPI
Drew Hughes (165): No. 29 Coaches' Ranking/ NR RPI
Layne Malczewski (174): No. 23 Coaches' Ranking/ No. 19 RPI
Cam Caffey (184): No. 7 Coaches' Ranking/ No. 14 RPI
SPARTANS IN THE RANKINGS
Redshirt junior Jake Tucker - 157 pounds
No. 15 by InterMat
No. 15 by TheOpenMat
No. 22 by TrackWrestling
No. 25 by FloWrestling
Redshirt junior Drew Hughes - 165 pounds
No. 27 by TheOpenMat
No. 32 by TrackWrestling
Redshirt freshman Layne Malczewski - 174 pounds
No. 21 by TrackWrestling
No. 24 by FloWrestling
No. 27 by TheOpenMat
Redshirt sophomore Cameron Caffey - 184 pounds
No. 7 by TrackWrestling
No. 8 by InterMat
No. 9 by FloWrestling
No. 9 by TheOpenMat
Players Mentioned
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