Caffey Finishes Runner-Up, Spartans Place 10th at Big Ten Championships

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Cameron Caffey finished in second place at 184 pounds and five other Spartans picked up top-8 finishes in the final day of the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Rutgers, inside RU's Rutgers Athletic Center.

The Spartans finished in 10th place at the B1G Championships, scoring 57 team points over the course of two days. Redshirt junior Jake Tucker collected a sixth-place finish at 157 pounds for the Spartans, while redshirt senior Logan Griffin (125), redshirt juniors Alex Hrisopoulos (149) and Drew Hughes (165) joined Layne Malczewski with seventh-place finishes. Redshirt senior Logan Griffin claimed eighth place to qualify to the NCAA Championships, his first qualification of his career.

Caffey became the first runner-up for the Spartans at the Big Ten Championships since Javier Gasca in 2017, after a hard-fought 3-2 decision loss to No. 1-seed Aaron Brooks of Penn State.

Heck of a run by Cameron Caffey at the @B1GWrestling Championships! 💪

He falls by decision, 3-2, to Aaron Brooks of Penn State in a battle until the end.#SpartanStrong #GoGreen pic.twitter.com/NvPy994v19
— Spartan Wrestling (@wrestlingmsu) March 8, 2020

"The thing I was most proud of this team about was that all 10 guys who walked into the championships, they all truly competed," said MSU wrestling head coach Roger Chandler. "They stayed committed to the process that we talked about at the beginning of the year. No matter what happens in matches, it's process-based on effort and execution. Every guy gave their best effort and because of that, we got six guys going to the NCAA Championships. In order to have high-level success, to be up in that upper-half of the conference, everybody has to score points and nine of our 10 guys scored points for us, which was great. We want to get to a point where all 10 guys are scoring points and having multiple guys in the finals."

7th Place Matches

(12) Logan Griffin vs. (11) Malik Heinselman (OSU)

Griffin took on Malik Heinselman of Ohio State in the 7th place match at 125 pounds. The two scored points early in the first with Griffin landing a takedown and Heinselman adding two to make it 4-2 after one. An escape early in the second put Griffin within one at 4-3, but Heinselman produced another takedown to push his lead to 6-3. Heinselman added a takedown in the final period on his way to an 8-4 decision.

(12) Alex Hrisopoulos vs. (6) Cole Martin (WIS), Fall, 2:46
Hrisopoulos took the mat against Wisconsin's Cole Martin at 149 pounds. Hrisopoulos gained an early lead over Martin with a takedown, and finished the match with a fall at 2:46. Hrisopoulos qualified for the NCAA Championships after yesterday's action, but clinched a seventh-place bid at 149 pounds.

(9) Drew Hughes vs. (12) Tyler Meisinger (UM), W, 6-2

Redshirt junior Drew Hughes took on Tyler Meisinger of Michigan in his seventh-place match at 165 pounds. Hughes fell behind early after the first period (2-1), but rallied for the 6-2 decision over Meisinger. Hughes secured mat points in the final period and added a riding time point on his way to victory.

(8) Layne Malczewski vs.(7) Joey Gunther (ILL) W, 5-2

Redshirt freshman Layne Malczewski battled with No. 7-seed Joey Gunther in his seventh-place match at 174 pounds. Malczewski, who lost to Gunther in sudden victory in the dual season, started the dual with a takedown and showed off superb defense in the final period on his way to a 5-2 decision and top-7 mark at 174 pounds.

Redshirt junior Jake Tucker, who had to medical default for day two of the championships, secured a sixth-place finish after a 3-1 outing in day one.

9th Place - Quarterfinals

Matt Santos vs. (9) Cole Mattin (UM)

Redshirt junior Matt Santos met a familiar opponent, No.9-seed Cole Mattin of Michigan in the ninth-place semifinals at 141 pounds. Santos fell behind early after the first period, 2-1. A takedown and escape in the second period from Mattin gave him a 5-1 lead before Santos battled back to cut the lead to two at 8-6. Mattin used a riding time point to secure the 9-6 decision.

Finals
(2) Cameron Caffey vs. (1) Aaron Brooks (PSU)
Caffey went to battle with top-seeded Aaron Brooks of Penn State in the 184-pound final. The two wrestlers showed excellent defense in the first two periods, with each giving up an escape to each other to put the match at one-all after two periods. Brooks landed on a late shot to score the deciding takedown, but Caffey used a quick escape and failed on shots at the end of the dual, dropping a close 3-2 decision.

Day Two Results
9th place - Quarterfinals

(9) Cole Mattin (UM) dec. over (12) Matt Santos (MSU), 9-6

7th Place Matches

(12) Alex Hrisopoulos (MSU) fall over (10) Cole Martin (Wisconsin), 2:46

Drew Hughes (MSU) dec. over Tyler Meisinger (UM), 6-2

(8) Layne Malczewski (MSU) dec. over (7) Joey Gunther (ILL), 5-2

Finals

(1) Aaron Brooks (PSU) dec. over (2) Cameron Caffey (MSU), 3-2

Caffey Finishes Runner-Up, Spartans Place 10th at Big Ten Championships

Players Mentioned

Cameron Caffey

Javier Gasca

Logan Griffin

Alex Hrisopoulos

Drew Hughes

Layne Malczewski

Matt Santos

Jake Tucker

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