No. 16 Wrestling Hosts No. 21 Central Michigan on Senior Night

No. 16 Michigan State (9-4) vs. No. 21 Central Michigan (12-2)
Date: Friday, Feb. 18
Time: 6 p.m ET
Location: Jenison Field House (East Lansing, Mich.)
Watch: Big Ten Plus
Program: PDF
Notes: Michigan State | Central Michigan

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Closing out its regular season, the 16th-ranked Michigan State wrestling team welcomes in-state rival No. 21 Central Michigan to Jenison Field House on Friday, Feb. 18 for the Spartans' Senior Night.

The 6 p.m. match will serve as the final dual match for MSU this season before preparing for the Big Ten Championships. Friday night will also take time to honor the Spartans' eight graduating seniors before the match and recognize returning alumni during the intermission. Seniors being honored prior to Friday's match are Jaden Enriquez, Nathan Jimenez, Stone Moscovic, Christian Rebottaro, Julian Saldana, Matt Santos, Jake Tucker and Brad Wilton.

Former Spartan wrestler Eric Olanowski will call the action alongside Cy Nardone and Mara McKenzie on Big Ten Plus.

Announced on January 1, Michigan State Athletics will require spectators at indoor athletic events to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the event. For more information on the policy, click HERE.

Masks are required indoors for all individuals. Michigan State University requires all campus visitors, faculty, staff and students to wear a mask while indoors.

ABOUT THE SPARTANS

MSU suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season last weekend, dropping a 24-16 match to Northwestern at home on Feb. 11 before falling by a 24-13 score at No. 3 Michigan two days later.
The Spartans had redshirt senior Rayvon Foley pick up a top-10 victory at 133 pounds, defeating No. 8 Chris Cannon in a 6-2 decision, but Northwestern won four of the first five decisions on Friday. Sophomore Caleb Fish gave the Green and White momentum at 165 when he pinned David Ferrante in 2:20 to counter No. 2 Ryan Deakin's fall over sophomore Chase Saldate in the 157-pound bout.
Redshirt junior Layne Malczewski captured a 15-2 major decision over Jack Jessen at 184 and redshirt senior Cameron Caffey followed with a 4-3 decision against No. 22 Andrew Davison in the 197 match, putting MSU down by only three points, 19-16, heading into the heavyweight bout. In the final match, No. 10 Lucas Davison got the technical fall over Wilton to lock up the Wildcats' victory.
In the rivalry showdown, Foley notched his second top-10 win of the weekend by defeating No. 7 Dylan Ragusin with a 7-2 decision, but Michigan would win the next six bouts (five by decision).
The Spartans' next win came at 197, when Caffey racked up seven takedowns to beat Bobby Striggow in a 16-7 major decision. Wilton followed that up with a 1:34 pin against Wolverine heavyweight Zachery Nemec, ending the match.
Foley's pair of top-10 victories earned him Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors on Wednesday, the second Spartan to win the award this season (Caffey on Jan. 26).
Caffey and Foley now share the team lead with 24 overall victories, while Caffey has a team-best 13-0 duals record. Saldate paces the Spartans at seven falls and is tied with Caffey for the team lead with seven major decisions.
Caffey leads MSU with 47 dual points, while Foley has 44 and Malczewski has 42. The MSU 197-pounder also enters Friday on a 10-match winning streak.

RANKING THE SPARTANS

MSU fell two spots in the NWCA Coaches Poll, sitting No. 16 this week. The team cracked the Top-25 on Jan. 18, initially being ranked 21st and moving up to 18th, 17th and 14th over the next three weeks.
Head coach Roger Chandler's squad had been receiving votes every week this season prior to Jan. 18, with MSU also being ranked in all but one week last season.
The team also holds the No. 16 spot in dual rankings from FloWrestling, 21st on Intermat and 19th with WIN Magazine.
MSU sits No. 16 in WrestleStat's tournament rankings, No. 25 in the Flo tournament ranking and No. 26 in the WIN Tournament Power Index.
In the second NCAA Coaches Rankings for the 2022 National Championships unveiled on Jan. 21, five Spartans appeared in among the top-33 names in their respective weight class. Foley ranked No. 10 for the 133-pounders, while Saldate was No. 19 among 157-pound wrestlers, Fish came in 30th at 165 pounds, Malczewski ranked No. 20 in the 184 class and Caffey appeared at No. 8 for the 197-pounders.
The team also put seven wrestlers in the initial NCAA RPI rankings, as 125-pound sophomore Tristan Lujan sat No. 23, Foley ranked No. 4, 141-pound Santos came in 26th, Saldate was No. 12, Fish was 15th, Malczewski sat No. 9 and Caffey ranked No. 7.
Foley is a consensus No. 7 in all five weekly rankings (Flo, WrestleStat, Intermat, Open Mat and WIN).
Saldate has moved to No. 14 on WrestleStat, No. 17 on Intermat and No. 19 on The Open Mat, still receiving honorable mention from FloWrestling.
Fish holds an honorable mention from Flo Wrestling and ranks No. 28 according to WrestleStat.
Malczewski has continued to climb in the rankings, going to No. 11 on WrestleStat, 18th on Open Mat, 20th on Flo, and No. 22 for Intermat.
Caffey enters the week ranked in the Top-10 of every 197-pound list, as high as No. 3 on WrestleStat while sitting No. 5 on Intermat, 6th on Open Mat, and No. 7 with Flo and WIN.

SCOUTING CENTRAL MICHIGAN

The Chippewas wrapped up the MAC West championship on Sunday with a 28-10 dual meet victory over Buffalo and is looking to claim its first MAC Tournament title since 2012 at the league championship tourney March 4-5 in Athens, Ohio.
CMU is 12-2 and finished 7-0 in MAC duals, having won 11-consecutive dual meets.
The team is ranked No. 21 in the NWCA Intermat Top 25 dual-meet national polls, also coming in third on the NWCA's mid-major poll.
Brock Bergelin holds 33rd on the 125-pound rankings by Intermat, Dresden Simon ranks 12th for 141-pounders, Johnny Lovett sits 16th at 157 pounds, and Matt Stencel ranks No. 8 among heavyweights.
The 149-pound starter, Corbyn Munson, leads the team with 20 overall wins, while Lovett paces the Chippewas at a 12-2 dual record. A 2021 MAC individual champion, Stencel has a team-high 10 pins and 165-pound Tracy Hubbard leads CMU with five major decisions.

SERIES HISTORY

Central Michigan leads the all-time series between the two schools by a 21-14 margin, winning eight of the last 10 matches.
The most recent meeting came on Feb. 21, 2020, as CMU pulled off a 21-15 win despite Malczewski defeating Jake Lowell in a 9-4 decision at 174 and Caffey pinned Ben Cushman in 2:01 during the 184-pooud bout.
MSU's most recent win over the Chippewas was on Feb. 22, 2019, when Wilton's 0:15 pin of Landon Pelham in the 197-pound battle secured a 24-15 Spartan victory.

No. 16 Wrestling Hosts No. 21 Central Michigan on Senior Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cameron Caffey

Jaden Enriquez

Caleb Fish

Rayvon Foley

Jordan Hamdan

Eddie Homrock

Nathan Jimenez

Marty Larkin

Tristan Lujan

Layne Malczewski

Stone Moscovic

Peyton Omania

Christian Rebottaro

Julian Saldana

Chase Saldate

Matt Santos

Jake Tucker

Brad Wilton

No. 16 Wrestling Hosts No. 21 Central Michigan on Senior Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cameron Caffey

Jaden Enriquez

Caleb Fish

Rayvon Foley

Jordan Hamdan

Eddie Homrock

Nathan Jimenez

Marty Larkin

Tristan Lujan

Layne Malczewski

Stone Moscovic

Peyton Omania

Christian Rebottaro

Julian Saldana

Chase Saldate

Matt Santos

Jake Tucker

Brad Wilton

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