Friday, February 19
East Lansing, Mich.
5 PM ET
Michigan State University
9
vs
28
No. 4 Michigan
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell/MSU Athletic Communications
No. 23 Spartans Topped By No. 4 Michigan On Emotional Friday Night
2/19/2021 10:07:00 PM | Wrestling
MSU honors its six seniors before the match; Omania posts upset in tribute to his high school coach that passed away this week.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Friday night was full of emotions at Jenison Field House as No. 23 Michigan State wrestling was topped by No. 4 Michigan, 28-9, in MSU's final home match and regular-season action, spoiling the Spartans' Senior Night.
MSU honored its six seniors: Nick Cooper, Drew Hughes, Matt Lloyd, Austen Malczewski, Jackson Renicker and Jake Spiess, before the match.
During the match, the Spartans got three wins on the night, at 125 from redshirt-junior, No. 13 Rayvon Foley, at 149 from redshirt-freshman Peyton Omania and at 184 from redshirt-sophomore No. 13 Layne Malczewski.
"As far as effort and energy, I had no issue with our program tonight," MSU head coach Roger Chandler said. "Every guy I thought competed and it's certain weights, just like heavyweight, where we're just out-classed. We tried to compete there but as a program I thought we competed up and down. I just told our guys in the locker room that we can fix some of the technical things as we go into the Big Ten Championships, as long as we have the effort, and that's what we had today, then good things can happen with the Big Tens with some small technical changes."
The most exciting and emotional match of the night was at 149, where Omania used a frenzied start complete with two headlocks to open a 12-1 lead and went on to post the upset No. 7 Kanen Storr of Michigan, 15-8. After the match, Omania broke down with emotion, as his win was a tribute to his De La Salle High School and Greco-Roman coach, Mark Halvorson, who unexpectedly passed away this past week.
"It kind of hasn't really set in yet, my dad's here, so I'm just kind of looking forward to going and spending time with him, and just kind of soaking it all up because he doesn't get out here too much and I don't really go home to often, I haven't been home in a while," Omania said. "So right now I'm just thankful for the opportunity, I'm thankful for the support that I have had throughout this week, I mean just in general here, it's family here, it's a family thing, it was crazy tonight, a crazy week, long week."
Omania honored his coach the best way he could, leaving his best effort on the mat, jumping to a quick .
"I just was taking it just seven minutes at a time, just focusing on the seven minutes and just trying to do the best I can for that seven minutes and then go from there," Omania said. "I just knew that he would want me to give my best effort, he would want me to make weight and he would want me to wrestle, it would have been too easy just to go home. What he would've wanted me to do was to be here tonight, and support my team and give my effort for my team and that's what I did."
Omania's emotion and effort impressed Chandler, not just Friday, but all week since learning of Coach Halvorson's passing.
"On Monday at practice, I was pulled out of practice, which never happens, by my athletic trainer, and we had to pull Payton out to let him know the news of his coach of his whole life," Chandler said. "It's unfortunate that Coach Halvorson passed away, and I know what he meant to Peyton. I mean he's seriously like a father figure to him from the time that Peyton first step foot on the mat, when he was probably five or six-years-old. And so we adjusted things for Peyton throughout the week to kind of deal with his grief and, I wasn't sure what we were going to get out of him tonight, so I give him a lot of credit. I've always said he's a 'lights guy,' he's a guy that wants to be in the limelight, and we're always going to have to keep our eyes on him because he's just special, and I think we saw tonight why he was so special, and there's no doubt that Coach Halvorson was sitting in his corner tonight."
The match got off to a great start for the Spartans with Foley's 7-2 decision over Jack Medley. Foley started off with a bang, getting a takedown within the first 20 seconds, and tacked on a late takedown and added riding time.
"Rayvon had kind of a slow start to the season," Chandler said. "You can kind of see he is slowly coming back to the form that he was at when he was an All-American, and now he's figured out some timing things, he's figured out some position things and he's able to get to his best positions, and he's able to utilize his pace to score, again, and I think that's what we saw tonight. He created a lot of pressure. That guy (Medley) took a shot, and Rayvon was able to score on a short drag off of that to get two takedowns."
Malczewski posted a 6-2 decision over UM's Jaden Bullock. The Spartan tallied a takedown in the first frame, then added an escape and another takedown in the second for a 5-0 advantage, before Bullock got on the board with a takedown early in the third, to close to 5-2, but Malczewski regained the upper hand and rode out the win, adding the riding time point.
Now with regular-season action complete, the Spartans prepare for the Big Ten Championships at University Park, Pa., hosted by Penn State, Saturday and Sunday, March 6-7 at PSU's Bryce Jordan Center.
Friday, Feb. 19 • Michigan State vs. Michigan Dual • East Lansing, Mich.
No. 4 Michigan 28, No. 23 Michigan State 9
125: No. 13 Rayvon Foley (MSU) dec. Jack Medley (MICH), 7-2; MSU leads, 3-0
133: No. 16 Dylan Ragusin (MICH) fall over Jordan Hamdan (MSU), 1:42; MICH leads, 6-3
141: Drew Mattin (MICH) dec. Matt Santos (MSU), 4-0; Mich leads, 9-3
149: Peyton Omania (MSU) dec. No. 7 Kanen Storr (MICH), 15-8; MICH leads, 9-6
157: No. 10 Will Lewan (MICH) dec. Chase Saldate (MSU), 7-2; MICH leads, 12-6
165: No. 14 Cameron Amine (MICH) dec. No. 22 Jake Tucker (MSU), 4-3; MICH leads, 15-6
174: No. 6 Logan Massa (MICH) maj. dec. No. 24 Drew Hughes (MSU), 16-6; MICH leads, 19-6
184: No. 13 Layne Malczewski (MSU) dec. Jaden Bullock (MICH), 6-2; MICH leads, 19-9
197: No. 1 Myles Amine (MICH) dec. No. 10 Cameron Caffey (MSU), 11-6; MICH leads, 22-9
285: No. 2 Mason Parris (MICH) fall over Christian Rebottaro (MSU), 2:19; MICH wins, 28-9
Extra Matches:
149: Cole Mattin (MICH) maj. dec. Jackson Renicker (MSU), 17-6
157: Fidel Mayora (MICH) dec. James Fotis (MSU), 9-1
165: Marty Larkin (MSU) dec. Matt McKenna (MICH), 11-3
174: Caleb Fish (MSU) fall over Max Maylor (MICH), 4:09
197: Andrew Davison (MICH) dec. Austen Malczewski (MSU), 10-5
285: Brad Wilton (MSU) dec. Blake Querio (MICH), 5-2
Attendance: 82
*Extra Matches: Due to only wrestling within the conference, the Big Ten will permit schools to hold extra matches on competition dates. Though they will not count towards dual scoring, they will count towards an individual's varsity record for purposes of seeding for the conference and national tournament.
MSU honored its six seniors: Nick Cooper, Drew Hughes, Matt Lloyd, Austen Malczewski, Jackson Renicker and Jake Spiess, before the match.
During the match, the Spartans got three wins on the night, at 125 from redshirt-junior, No. 13 Rayvon Foley, at 149 from redshirt-freshman Peyton Omania and at 184 from redshirt-sophomore No. 13 Layne Malczewski.
"As far as effort and energy, I had no issue with our program tonight," MSU head coach Roger Chandler said. "Every guy I thought competed and it's certain weights, just like heavyweight, where we're just out-classed. We tried to compete there but as a program I thought we competed up and down. I just told our guys in the locker room that we can fix some of the technical things as we go into the Big Ten Championships, as long as we have the effort, and that's what we had today, then good things can happen with the Big Tens with some small technical changes."
THIS ONE'S FOR YOU COACH!!@P8in_ Omania pulls off frenzied 15-8 upset over No. 7 Kanen Storr (MICH), then is overcome with emotion in tribute to his @dlsathletics HS coach Mark Halvorson, who unexpectedly passed away this past week. #SpartanStrong #GoGreen @ncaawrestling pic.twitter.com/sTtRQ32fHS
— Spartan Wrestling (@wrestlingmsu) February 19, 2021
The most exciting and emotional match of the night was at 149, where Omania used a frenzied start complete with two headlocks to open a 12-1 lead and went on to post the upset No. 7 Kanen Storr of Michigan, 15-8. After the match, Omania broke down with emotion, as his win was a tribute to his De La Salle High School and Greco-Roman coach, Mark Halvorson, who unexpectedly passed away this past week.
"It kind of hasn't really set in yet, my dad's here, so I'm just kind of looking forward to going and spending time with him, and just kind of soaking it all up because he doesn't get out here too much and I don't really go home to often, I haven't been home in a while," Omania said. "So right now I'm just thankful for the opportunity, I'm thankful for the support that I have had throughout this week, I mean just in general here, it's family here, it's a family thing, it was crazy tonight, a crazy week, long week."
Omania honored his coach the best way he could, leaving his best effort on the mat, jumping to a quick .
"I just was taking it just seven minutes at a time, just focusing on the seven minutes and just trying to do the best I can for that seven minutes and then go from there," Omania said. "I just knew that he would want me to give my best effort, he would want me to make weight and he would want me to wrestle, it would have been too easy just to go home. What he would've wanted me to do was to be here tonight, and support my team and give my effort for my team and that's what I did."
Omania's emotion and effort impressed Chandler, not just Friday, but all week since learning of Coach Halvorson's passing.
"On Monday at practice, I was pulled out of practice, which never happens, by my athletic trainer, and we had to pull Payton out to let him know the news of his coach of his whole life," Chandler said. "It's unfortunate that Coach Halvorson passed away, and I know what he meant to Peyton. I mean he's seriously like a father figure to him from the time that Peyton first step foot on the mat, when he was probably five or six-years-old. And so we adjusted things for Peyton throughout the week to kind of deal with his grief and, I wasn't sure what we were going to get out of him tonight, so I give him a lot of credit. I've always said he's a 'lights guy,' he's a guy that wants to be in the limelight, and we're always going to have to keep our eyes on him because he's just special, and I think we saw tonight why he was so special, and there's no doubt that Coach Halvorson was sitting in his corner tonight."
The match got off to a great start for the Spartans with Foley's 7-2 decision over Jack Medley. Foley started off with a bang, getting a takedown within the first 20 seconds, and tacked on a late takedown and added riding time.
Rayvon Foley with the vision to start off with a bang! 💥
— Spartan Wrestling (@wrestlingmsu) February 19, 2021
The Ann Arbor native posted a takedown in the first 20 seconds of the match and was off and running on the way to a 7-2 decision!#SpartanStrong #GoGreen pic.twitter.com/g4zqDdkJ8q
"Rayvon had kind of a slow start to the season," Chandler said. "You can kind of see he is slowly coming back to the form that he was at when he was an All-American, and now he's figured out some timing things, he's figured out some position things and he's able to get to his best positions, and he's able to utilize his pace to score, again, and I think that's what we saw tonight. He created a lot of pressure. That guy (Medley) took a shot, and Rayvon was able to score on a short drag off of that to get two takedowns."
Ann Arbor native and No. 13 Rayvon Foley (@VisionRf) got the night off to a great start with a 7-2 decision!!#SpartanStrong #GoGreen pic.twitter.com/pRuRRHZWc2
— Spartan Wrestling (@wrestlingmsu) February 19, 2021
Malczewski posted a 6-2 decision over UM's Jaden Bullock. The Spartan tallied a takedown in the first frame, then added an escape and another takedown in the second for a 5-0 advantage, before Bullock got on the board with a takedown early in the third, to close to 5-2, but Malczewski regained the upper hand and rode out the win, adding the riding time point.
Now with regular-season action complete, the Spartans prepare for the Big Ten Championships at University Park, Pa., hosted by Penn State, Saturday and Sunday, March 6-7 at PSU's Bryce Jordan Center.
Friday, Feb. 19 • Michigan State vs. Michigan Dual • East Lansing, Mich.
No. 4 Michigan 28, No. 23 Michigan State 9
125: No. 13 Rayvon Foley (MSU) dec. Jack Medley (MICH), 7-2; MSU leads, 3-0
133: No. 16 Dylan Ragusin (MICH) fall over Jordan Hamdan (MSU), 1:42; MICH leads, 6-3
141: Drew Mattin (MICH) dec. Matt Santos (MSU), 4-0; Mich leads, 9-3
149: Peyton Omania (MSU) dec. No. 7 Kanen Storr (MICH), 15-8; MICH leads, 9-6
157: No. 10 Will Lewan (MICH) dec. Chase Saldate (MSU), 7-2; MICH leads, 12-6
165: No. 14 Cameron Amine (MICH) dec. No. 22 Jake Tucker (MSU), 4-3; MICH leads, 15-6
174: No. 6 Logan Massa (MICH) maj. dec. No. 24 Drew Hughes (MSU), 16-6; MICH leads, 19-6
184: No. 13 Layne Malczewski (MSU) dec. Jaden Bullock (MICH), 6-2; MICH leads, 19-9
197: No. 1 Myles Amine (MICH) dec. No. 10 Cameron Caffey (MSU), 11-6; MICH leads, 22-9
285: No. 2 Mason Parris (MICH) fall over Christian Rebottaro (MSU), 2:19; MICH wins, 28-9
Extra Matches:
149: Cole Mattin (MICH) maj. dec. Jackson Renicker (MSU), 17-6
157: Fidel Mayora (MICH) dec. James Fotis (MSU), 9-1
165: Marty Larkin (MSU) dec. Matt McKenna (MICH), 11-3
174: Caleb Fish (MSU) fall over Max Maylor (MICH), 4:09
197: Andrew Davison (MICH) dec. Austen Malczewski (MSU), 10-5
285: Brad Wilton (MSU) dec. Blake Querio (MICH), 5-2
Attendance: 82
*Extra Matches: Due to only wrestling within the conference, the Big Ten will permit schools to hold extra matches on competition dates. Though they will not count towards dual scoring, they will count towards an individual's varsity record for purposes of seeding for the conference and national tournament.
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