Spartans Wrap Up Action At NCAA Championships Friday

ST. LOUIS -- Three Michigan State wrestlers wrapped up their action at the 2021 NCAA Championships at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on Friday's second day of "Mat Madness."

At 197, No. 10 seed redshirt-junior Cameron Caffey posted a pair of pins, over No. 24 seed Benjamin Smith of Cleveland State at 5:00 in consolation round three, and No. 31 seed Owen Pentz of North Dakota State at 2:40 in consolation round four nearly an hour later. Pentz pulled off one of the Thursday's biggest upsets, taking down No. 2 seed Eric Schultz of Nebraska, but Caffey made sure there wasn't a similar upset.

Caffey then took on No. 5 seed Jacob Warner of Iowa, and was knocked off in a hard-fought, tight battle, 4-1.

"Cam was right there to be an All-American and he's definitely one of the guys no one wants to see on a bracket," MSU head coach Roger Chandler said. "In his blood round match against Warner of Iowa, he made some key adjustments from the last time they wrestled at Big Tens. It was a much different match this time and Cam was a razor-thin margin away from being on the podium."

Caffey is a three-time NCAA Qualifier, with the previous two at 184 pounds before moving up to 197 before this season.

"Cam has a lot to be proud of on the season," Chandler said. "He went up a weight not being completely a full size 197 and proved to himself and the nation that he's one of the best. Cam will continue to evolve and better himself during the off-season and be ready to make a title run in 2022."

At 125, No. 8 seed redshirt-junior Rayvon Foley won his opening match of the day with a 6-3 decision over No. 10 seed Malik Heinselman of Ohio State, before getting knocked off by No. 17 seed Killian Cardinale of West Virginia by 5-1 decision.

"Rayvon is guy that I'm happy to have in the foxhole with me and the program. He competes with a relentless mindset and is always looking to score points," Chandler said. "Sure he came up short of being on the podium this year, but he has nothing to hold his down about. I look forward to getting him completely healthy this off-season and see him back on the podium next year."

Redshirt-senior Jake Tucker was in action in the 165-pound consolation round, and was defeated by No. 10 seed, Travis Wittlake of Oklahoma State, in a 10-2 major decision.

"Jake adjusted and evolved all season long and I'm proud of the way he competed," Chandler said. "I preach all the time to compete through every situation and look to score points and he did that. In his first appearance competing at the NCAA Championships, I thought he competed with confidence in himself."

MSU sent eight wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, the most since 2000, and tying for the second-most in program history.

"As a program, we are continuing to evolve and grow. As the stakes get higher, we have to learn to compete at the highest levels at the right time. We did that at Big Tens and need to learn how to carry that over on a consistent basis," Chandler said. "It was a year of growth and there are many things we can be proud of, but we have to continue to be hungry and have that edge to push into even greater success."

Cons. Round Five
Caffey and Warner got off to a dramatic start, with Warner initially getting credited with a takedown just over a minute in, but after a coach's challenge by MSU head coach Roger Chandler, the officials reviewed the action and changed the call, wiping off the takedown. Warner later scored a takedown with 38 seconds left in the first for a 2-0 lead. Caffey cut the deficit in half with an escape at the 56 seconds mark, and the score remained 2-1 through the rest of the second. Warner countered with an escape of his own at 1:20 of the third and Caffey was unable to counter, with Warner adding the riding time advantage for the 4-1 decision.

Cons. Round Four
After Caffey started off with a takedown just 18 seconds into the bout, Pentz countered with an escape a few ticks later, before Caffey collected another takedown with 27 seconds left, which Caffey continued into a fall, with the ref slapping the mat at 2:40, for Caffey's second pin of the day, and both within the span of about an hour.

Cons. Round Three
In the match-up with Smith, after a scoreless first 1:53 of the frame, Caffey racked up points in a frenzy. The Spartan got a takedown at 1:07, before Smith scored on an escape with 19 seconds to go, but then Caffey quickly countered with a takedown with 17 seconds left and tacked on a four-point nearfall a few seconds later to end the first period with an 8-1 lead. Caffey earned an escape out of the second stanza start, then a takedown and another four-point nearfall for a 15-1 lead, before Smith got an escape, but another takedown in the final seconds of the period continued into a fall just before the final horn at 5:00.

Foley squared off with No. 17 seed Killian Cardinale of West Virgina, and the opening period was scoreless. Foley got on the board first with an escape at 1:15, but Cardinale countered with a takedown just 22 seconds later for a 2-1 lead after two periods. Cardinale posted a takedown with 35 seconds left for a 4-1 advantage, and Foley couldn't counter, with the Mountaineer adding the riding time point for the 5-1 decision.

Cons. Round Two
Foley and Heinselman wrestled to a scoreless first frame, before Foley got on the board with an escape out of the second stanza starting position, but Heinselman came back with a takedown just before going out of the ring a few seconds later for a 2-1 lead. Foley countered with an escape from the ensuing restart, and the score stayed 2-2 the rest of the second period. The Spartan tallied a takedown just over 30 seconds into the third, before Heinselman registered an escape to close to 4-3, but Foley secured the victory for MSU with a takedown with 32 ticks on the clock and rode out the win.

Foley improved to 2-1 this season against Heinsleman, after dropping a 5-4 decision during the regular-season, but then Foley posted an 8-2 win in the third-place bout of the Big Ten Championships.

Tucker was taken down by Wittlake at the 1:11 mark for the only scoring in the first frame, and Wittlake added two more points on a reversal midway through the second stanza, for a 4-0 lead after two. Tucker got an escape out of the third period start to get within, 4-1, but Wittlake tallied a takedown, before Tucker countered with an escape to close to 6-2 with 1:08 left. Tucker was later hit with a stalling penalty for a point for a 7-2 score. The Cowboy added another takedown and tacked on the riding point win for the 10-2 final score.

Team Standings
After Day 2, Michigan State is tied for 29th with 13.0 points, tying Cal Poly.

Coach Chandler On The Other Spartan NCAA Qualifiers
"I thought Jordan Hamdan hit his stride and was competing very well at Big Tens and that carried over to the National Tournament. He had a tough draw with the number three seed and battled hard. Then in the consolation bracket, he was able to pick up a win but then just got caught in his second consolation bout.

Peyton Omania's results aren't indicative of how he performed. He lost to the number five seed in his opening bout in sudden victory, that I thought could have easily gone his way. Peyton is made for the spotlight and I'm excited to get him back here again next year.

Chase Saldate is a special talent that I know didn't compete the way he wanted but as a true freshman to come to the national tournament in the big ten only conference schedule speaks volumes about who he is and what he will do in the future. With a little mental maturity this guy will be competing for national titles.

Drew Hughes is a four-time national qualifier and he has a lot to be proud of. He came into this tournament and got a win and scored some points for us. He was one of my first recruits that I signed and he helped change the direction of where this program is headed.

Layne Malczewski came into the tournament hindered by an injury suffered at the Big Tens. I know if healthy, he could have very easily been on the podium here in St. Louis. I give him a lot of credit for toeing the line and giving himself a chance to compete at his first National Tournament. He could have very easily said he was not healthy and not competed but came in here in battled without being 100 percent."

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cameron Caffey

Rayvon Foley

Jordan Hamdan

Drew Hughes

Layne Malczewski

Peyton Omania

Chase Saldate

Jake Tucker