Wrestling Wins via Tiebreaker at No. 12 Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – In a battle that saw two bouts go to sudden victory, the Michigan State wrestling team sat tied with No. 12 Purdue after ten matches and had its win come down to a tiebreaker in total match points on Saturday night inside Holloway Gymnasium. With the team score even at 16-16 after the heavyweight bout, the Spartans came away with the 17-16 victory after officials tallied up a 50-49 edge for MSU in match points.

With the win, the Spartans moved to 6-1 in dual overall and 1-1 in the Big Ten, while the Boilermakers shifted to 7-3 on the season and 1-2 in conference duals.

MSU opened the night when freshman Tristan Lujan entered the third period tied at 0-0 with 12th-ranked Devin Schroder, but the Boilermakers' 125-pounder came out victorious with a 3-0 decision. The Spartans countered at 133, as redshirt senior Rayvon Foley picked up a 13-0 major decision over Matt Ramos for his 16th-straight win. Graduate student Matt Santos looked to have a sudden-victory decision in the 144 match, but officials overturned his takedown and Santos was eventually defeated in a 7-5 decision by No. 20 Parker Filius that put MSU in a 6-4 hole in team scoring.

Redshirt sophomore Peyton Omania retook the lead for the Spartans with a 5-2 decision over Alec White in the 149 bout, but Purdue went up 10-9 entering the intermission following No. 10 Kendall Coleman's 10-3 decision over sophomore Chase Saldate at 157. Fellow sophomore Caleb Fish came out of the break by winning a 5-3 sudden-victory decision over 165-pounder Hayden Lohrey and giving MSU another lead, although No. 16 Gerrit Nijenhuis scored an 11-3 major decision over redshirt junior Nathan Jimenez to make the team score 13-10 in Purdue's favor.

At 184, redshirt junior Layne Malczewski got a third-period takedown to get a 4-2 decision against No. 21 Max Lyon, and 197-pound redshirt senior Cameron Caffey followed it up with an 8-1 decision over No. 13 Thomas Penola to put the Spartans ahead, 16-13.

The heavyweight match saw redshirt senior Brad Wilton do just enough hold Michael Woulfe to a 10-4 decision over the MSU wrestler. That bout ended up making the difference in the final score, as another takedown from Woulfe would have flipped the tiebreaker and gave Purdue the conference victory.

In extras action, sophomore Eddie Homrock used a strong first period to knock off Trey Kruse in a 6-2 decision, closing out the evening.

Michigan State continues its road trip on Monday, Jan. 17 with a 3:30 p.m. battle at Indiana, with that match airing on the Big Ten Network.

Bout-By-Bout
125: No. 12 Devin Schroder (PUR) dec. Tristan Lujan (MSU), 3-0
Lujan and Schroder were called for a stalemate in a first period that ended scoreless and the second period went the same, but Schroder got an escape after starting down in the third and defended against a Lujan attack before responding with a takedown of his own. Schroder rode Lujan the rest of the period to earn the 3-0 decision.

133: No. 11 Rayvon Foley (MSU) maj. dec. Matt Ramos (PUR), 13-0
Foley avoided an early Ramos attack and got the Boilermaker on one leg, but Ramos broke free before Foley finally got his takedown near the end of the first period. A second-period escape after going down was followed by another Foley takedown to go up 5-0 entering the third. A two-point near-fall by Foley set him up for a four-point near-pin just a few ticks later, while a penalty point for Ramos' stalling and Foley's riding time gave the Spartan a 13-0 major decision,

141: No. 20 Parker Filius (PUR) dec. Matt Santos (MSU), 7-5 (SV-1)
Santos was able to work out of an attack attempt by Filius, rolling through a takedown of his own in the first period before Filius escaped and got a takedown himself to take a 3-2 lead. Filius escaped quickly in the second frame, but neither was able to convert on an attack the rest of the period. Santos got an escape 57 seconds into the third period and added a takedown, but Filius got the quick escape to tie it at 5-5 before time expired. In the sudden-victory period, Santos had a takedown that was taken off after a Purdue challenge, and Filius got a takedown of his own shortly after the restart for a 7-5 overtime decision.

149: Peyton Omania (MSU) dec. Alec White (PUR), 5-2
Two minutes of grappling in the first period led to White starting down in the second frame. White got the escape 17 seconds into the period and an Omania attack after ended in a stalemate, but Omania was able to land his next attack for a takedown and held White down for another 29 seocnds. In the third, Omania escaped to start after being on the bottom and added another takedown before White escaped, and the two grappled the rest of the way for Omania to earn the 5-2 decision.

157: No. 10 Kendall Coleman (PUR) dec. No. 24 Chase Saldate (MSU), 10-3
Saldate almost had a takedown early, but Coleman had a successful attack with 11 seconds left to grab a 2-0 lead after one period. Coleman then got free after starting down in the second, and neither side could score a takedown in the middle frame. In the third, Saldate escaped quickly but Coleman had a takedown that Saldate escaped from in short order. Coleman had another takedown with about a minute left in the bout, while a Saldate escape was countered by Coleman's fourth takedown, as the riding time gave Coleman a 10-3 decision.

165: Caleb Fish (MSU) dec. Hayden Lohrey (PUR), 5-3 (SV-1)
A back-and-forth opening minute nearly ended with a Fish takedown, but Lohrey held off the attack and later got a penalty point on a Fish stall towards the end of the first period. Fish then escaped in the first couple seconds of the middle period, and resisted a Lohrey attack before time ended in the second frame. A Lohrey escape in the third set up a Fish takedown later on, but Lohrey escaped again to end the period and force sudden victory. In the extra period, Fish finished the bout with a takedown to give himself a 5-3 decision.

174: No. 16 Gerrit Nijenhuis (PUR) maj. dec. Nathan Jimenez (MSU), 11-3
Nijenhuis scored an early takedown over Jimenez, but the MSU wrestler escaped before Nijenhuis took him down again in the opening period and built up 1:25 of riding time. The Boilermaker then got the escape after choosing down in the second and added another takedown following a stalemate to take a 7-1 lead. A Jimenez escape opened the third, Nijenhuis got his fourth takedown before Jimenez got free with a minute left. A stalemate was followed by a stalling call on Jimenez, as that penalty point and a riding time bonus handed Nijenhuis an 11-3 major decision.

184: Layne Malczewski (MSU) dec. No. 21 Max Lyon (PUR), 4-2
The Spartan and Boilermaker grapplers both had shots in during the first, but neither scored a takedown, and Malczewski got the second period escape to go up 1-0 heading into the third frame. Malczewski reversed the riding time in the third before Lyon escaped, but Malczewski got the first takedown of the match in the final minute, as a Lyon escape before the buzzer gave Malczewski the 4-2 decision with riding time.

197: No. 23 Cameron Caffey (MSU) dec. No. 13 Thomas Penola (PUR), 8-1
A scoreless first period put Penola down to start the second frame, who escaped after Caffey built up 27 seconds of riding time. Caffey's takedown in the fourth minute set him up to score a four-point near-fall, and his escape to start the third period gave him a 7-1 edge. Caffey attacked several times in the final two minutes, but could not get another takedown, as riding time handed him an 8-1 decision.

285: Michael Woulfe (PUR) dec. Brad Wilton (MSU), 10-4
Woulfe got the first-period takedown and built his riding time to 1:15 before an out-of-bounds call put the two back in the center where Wilton escaped before the end of the frame. In the second, Woulfe went down to start and escaped 14 ticks in, adding on a takedown right before time expired in the period. The third period started with Wilton down, who got the reversal but Woulfe countered with his own reversal a few seconds later. Wilton escaped, but Woulfe added another takedown and the riding time for a 10-4 decision.

Michigan State 17, No. 12 Purdue 16 (MSU via tiebreaker)
125: No. 12 Devin Schroder (PUR) dec. Tristan Lujan (MSU), 3-0; PUR leads, 3-0
133: No. 11 Rayvon Foley (MSU) maj. dec. Matt Ramos (PUR), 13-0; MSU leads, 4-3
141: No. 20 Parker Filius (PUR) dec. Matt Santos (MSU), 7-5 (SV-1); PUR leads, 6-4
149: Peyton Omania (MSU) dec. Alec White (PUR), 5-2; MSU leads, 7-6
157: Kendall Coleman (PUR) dec. No. 24 Chase Saldate (MSU), 10-3; PUR leads, 9-7
165: Caleb Fish (MSU) dec. Hayden Lohrey (PUR), 5-3 (SV-1); MSU leads, 10-9
174: No. 16 Gerrit Nijenhuis (PUR) maj. dec. Nathan Jimenez (MSU), 11-3; PUR leads, 13-10
184: Layne Malczewski (MSU) dec. No. 21 Max Lyon (PUR), 4-2; Tied at 13-13
197: No. 23 Cameron Caffey (MSU) dec. No. 13 Thomas Penola (PUR), 8-1; MSU leads, 16-13
285: Michael Woulfe (PUR) dec. Brad Wilton (MSU), 10-4; Tied at 16-16
***MSU wins via tiebreaker with 50-49 total match points***

Extra Matches:
149: Eddie Homrock (MSU) def. Trey Kruse (PUR), 6-2

Individual Rankings are based on FloWrestling

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Players Mentioned

Cameron Caffey

Caleb Fish

Rayvon Foley

Eddie Homrock

Nathan Jimenez

Tristan Lujan

Layne Malczewski

Peyton Omania

Chase Saldate

Matt Santos

Brad Wilton