Spartans Continue Road Trek at American, Navy Classic

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State wrestling continues its season-opening road trek away from East Lansing this weekend, as the Green & White challenge American before taking part in the Navy Classic.

The Spartans continue their dual slate following a 2-0 start to the campaign against the American University Eagles, on Friday, Nov. 18, at 6 p.m., with streaming available via ESPN+. MSU follows that up with a 9 a.m. start on Saturday, Nov. 19, as the Green & White return to the Navy Classic to challenge an 11-team field highlighted by B1G foe Nebraska.

HEAD COACH ROGER CHANDLER SAID…
"I'm really looking forward to seeing our guys compete again this weekend. I like the fact that we have back-to-back weigh-ins two weeks in a row, as it puts our guys in uncomfortable situations that they will have to persevere through early in the year. They will weigh in twice within a 14-hour period, which isn't an ideal situation, but seeing how they respond to the short turnaround will be a good thing. We also plan to wrestle some of our true freshmen as I know they are hungry to get out and compete. They have limited opportunities to compete this year due to the new freshman rules, so I look forward to seeing them make the most of their opportunities."

RANK 'EM
The Green & White remained in the receiving votes category for the second consecutive week. The Spartans spent multiple weeks ranked in last season's NWCA Top-25, coming in at No. 16 in the last week of the dual season and rising up to the No. 15 position in the final rankings of the year, released on Feb. 2. The year prior in 2020-21, MSU earned its first regular sesaon NWCA ranking since the 2009 campaign when the Green & White surged up to the No. 21 slot in the Nov. 11, 2009 poll.

Individually, a total of five Spartans maintain rankings according to InterMat, highlighted by graduate 133-pounder Rayvon Foley coming in at No. 9. At 197 pounds, graduate Cameron Caffey boasts the No. 16 national ranking, while junior Chase Saldate comes in at No. 17 in the 157-pound weight class. Redshirt-senior Layne Malczewski earned the No. 20 spot at 184 pounds, while junior Caleb Fish rounded out the individually-ranked Spartans at No. 33 in the 165-pound category.

ROAD DUALIN'
MSU defeated the Davidson Wildcats by a historic 52-0 margin in its season opener, notching a program record in team points that surpassed a 51-0 outing against Cuyahoga Community College on Dec. 9, 1995. The 52-point margin of victory also surpassed the meeting against Cuyahoga CC for the largest scoring margin in program history. Against Division I opponents, Michigan State's 52-point outing Friday night broke the previous record of 47, totaled against Western Michigan on Jan. 19, 1982. Against Presbyterian the following evening, Michigan State published an impressive 46-3 win over the Blue Hose highlighted by graduate Cameron Caffey surpassing the 100-win threshold, one of the most coveted individual accolades in collegiate wrestling.

ABOUT AMERICAN
American boasts a 2-1 overall record through its first three duals of the season, opening the year with an impressive 21-15 victory over the Duke Blue Devils before logging a convincing win against Bloomsburg later in the day. The Eagles suffered a road defeat at Big Ten challenger Maryland before participating in the Citadel Open on Sunday, Nov. 13.The marquee matchup of Friday evening's bout features ninth-ranked Spartan graduate Rayvon Foley taking on American's sophomore Jack Maida at 133 pounds. MSU's highest-ranked individual wrestler, Foley has booked a pair of wins in dual action with a couple of tech falls, while Maide holds a 6-1 ledger overall.

AT THE NAVY CLASSIC
Michigan State will take part in the 2022 Navy Classic against some of the most talented teams in collegiate wrestling. MSU and Big Ten foe Nebraska highlight a field that includes Air Force, American, Bucknell, The Citadel, Davidson, Kent State, Lock Haven, Navy, Ohio and VMI. Tristan Lujan and Benny Gomez will compete for MSU at 125, while Jordan Hamdan and Blake Noonan prepare for action at 141. Peyton Omania, Eddie Homrock and Braden Stauffenberg will wrestle at 149, Chase Saldate will get to work at 157, and the tandem of Caleb Fish and Miled Hoey will compete at 165. Luke Daly and Ceasar Garza will hit the mat at 174, while Layne Malczewski and Kael Wisler will challenge foes at 184. Caffey will hold things down at 197, and the pairing of Ryan Vasbinder and Nick West will take on opponents at 285.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Friday evening's contest against American will be streamed live to a worldwide audience via ESPN+ with access available by clicking here. Saturday afternoon's action will have live scoring available via FloArena, but no streaming access has been provided. As always, fans are encouraged to follow the Spartans on Twitter @MSU_Wrestling for score updates throughout each event.

FOLLOW THE SPARTANS
Visit MSUSpartans.com for more information on Michigan State wrestling. Fans can keep up to date with the Spartan wrestling team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter by following @MSU_Wrestling.

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Players Mentioned

Cameron Caffey

Caleb Fish

Rayvon Foley

Jordan Hamdan

Eddie Homrock

Tristan Lujan

Layne Malczewski

Blake Noonan

Peyton Omania

Chase Saldate