Friday, February 7
Evanston, Ill.
8 p.m.
Michigan State University
at
Northwestern
Photo by: Rey Del Rio/MSU Athletic Communications
Michigan State Wrestling Wraps Up Big Ten Slate at Northwestern, Wisconsin
2/6/2020 3:47:00 PM | Wrestling
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State wrestling looks to snap a three-match losing skid this weekend as the Spartans hit the road for a pair of Big Ten matchups. MSU kicks off the weekend on Friday, Feb. 7 against No. 24 Northwestern at 8 p.m. ET before heading to Madison to take on the No. 9-ranked Badgers on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 4 p.m. ET. Both matches will air on BTN+.Â
The Spartans are coming off a two-loss weekend to No. 15 Illinois, 18-12, and to the No. 1-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, 32-3. Redshirt sophomore Cameron Caffey tallied two ranked wins for the Spartans over the weekend. Northwestern comes into the dual with with a No. 24 national ranking and is 3-5 overall (1-4 B1G). The Wildcats fell in their last two duals, 19-18 to Illinois and 20-17 to Michigan. Wisconsin ranks No. 9 by the NWCA Coaches Poll and is 10-3 overall (3-3 B1G). The Badgers have won three of their last four and are coming off a dominant 27-14 win over No. 7 Purdue last Sunday, Feb. 2 in West Lafayette.Â
Michigan State Probable Lineup
125 – Logan Griffin (17-10, 7-4 duals) -OR- Julian Saldana (5-7, 1-2 duals)
133 – Garrett Pepple (14-12, 5-8 duals)
141 – Matt Santos (12-11, 5-8 duals)
149 – Alex Hrisopoulos (11-11, 6-7 duals)
157 – No. 24 Jake Tucker (22-6, 10-4 duals) -OR- Nathan Atienza (10-8, 0-0 duals)
165 – Drew Hughes (12-8, 8-4 duals) -OR- Austin Hiles (8-8, 0-2 duals
174 – No. 23 Layne Malczewski (18-11, 7-7 duals)Â
184 – No. 9 Cameron Caffey (21-6, 12-2 duals) -OR- Austen Malczewski (11-6, 0-0 duals)
197 – Nick May (11-15, 3-10 duals)
285 – Christian Rebottaro (14-12, 7-7 duals) -OR- Jackson Ross (11-5, 0-0 duals)
*rankings by FloWrestling
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern enters Friday ranked No. 24 by the NWCA Coaches Poll and has three wrestlers ranked in national polls. Ryan Deakin, Shayne Oster and Lucas Davison all rank in the top 25. The Wildcats are led by 157 pounder Deakin, who ranks No. 1 and boasts a perfect 13-0 record on the season and leads the team in dual points (34) and pins (4). Oster is 12-8 and ranks No. 16 at 165 pounds and Davison is 11-4 overall at 197 pounds and ranks No. 12. Friday's meeting between Michigan State and Northwestern will be the 50th meeting between the schools with Michigan State leading the all-time series, 28-21. The Spartans have won two of the last three over the Wildcats, including a 30-10 win last season.Â
SCOUTING WISCONSIN
Wisconsin sports a 10-3 record and No. 9 national ranking. The Badgers have wins over two ranked opponents on the season (27-14 over No. 7 Purdue and 25-18 over No. 5 Nebraska). UW has four wrestlers ranked in the top 5 of multiple polls, highlighted by No. 1 Seth Gross at 133 pounds. Gross is 22-1 on the season with four major decisions and two wins by fall. His lone loss came to Austin DeSanto of Iowa. Evan Wick, who has competed in every dual this season for the Badgers at 165 pounds, ranks No. 3 and boasts an impressive 23-3 overall record and 10-1 mark in duals. Trent Hillger is 9-2 in duals at 285 pounds and ranks No. 5 for the Badgers. Wisconsin and Michigan State will meet for the 49th time on Sunday, with Wisconsin holding a 29-17-2 advantage in the all-time series. The Badgers have won the last six contests against the Spartans, with MSU's last win coming on Jan. 30, 2009 (25-17 in East Lansing).Â
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 19 of his last 23 matches and six-straight in dual action. Caffey, who ranks No. 9 by FloWrestling, has knocked off three top 15 wrestlers in his last three 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 49 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.
SPARTAN SHUTOUT
MSU recorded one of its most dominant performances in recent history on Sunday, Jan. 19, blanking the Maryland Terrapins 36-0 in East Lansing. The Spartans picked up three bonus point wins over the Terrapins, highlighted by a technical fall by Jake Tucker and a fall for Cameron Caffey. MSU's shutout over Maryland was its first Big Ten shutout in 36 years, the last coming on Jan. 20, 1984 in a 44-0 shutout of Illinois. The Spartans blanked Duke, 44-0, earlier this season at the South Beach Duals.
SPARTANS IN THE RANKINGS
Redshirt junior Jake Tucker - 157 pounds
No. 14 by InterMat
No. 15 by TheOpenMat
No. 21 by TrackWrestling
No. 24 by FloWrestling
Redshirt junior Drew Hughes - 165 pounds
No. 27 by TheOpenMat
No. 33 by TrackWrestling
Redshirt freshman Layne Malczewski - 174 pounds
No. 19 by TrackWrestling
No. 24 by FloWrestling
No. 26 by TheOpenMat
Redshirt sophomore Cameron Caffey - 184 pounds
No. 7 by TrackWrestling
No. 8 by InterMat
No. 9 by FloWrestling
No. 9 by TheOpenMat
No. 10 by WIN Wrestling Magazine
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Tuesday, February 18
Spartans All-Access: Layne Malczewski
Monday, January 22
Spartans All-Access: Mayhem at the Mainstage
Tuesday, December 12
Spartans All-Access: Tristan Lujan
Wednesday, December 21