Two Spartan Wrestlers Stay Alive After First Day of NCAA Championships

DETROIT, Mich. – Redshirt seniors Rayvon Foley and Cameron Caffey were both able to move on to Friday's second consolation round, as five members of the Michigan State wrestling team wrapped up action Thursday night on the first day of the NCAA Championships at Little Caesars Arena.

With an attendance of 17,207 watching the tournament's opening session, the Spartans saw Caffey advance on to the second championship round with a comeback victory in his 197-pound bout, while the four other Spartans moved to the consolation bracket with first-round defeats.

In the night session in front of 17,433 fans, a medical forfeit by his opponent advanced Foley to Friday, while Caffey dropped his Round-of-16 matchup to also land in tomorrow's second consolation round. For redshirt junior Layne Malczewski and sophomores Caleb Fish and Chase Saldate, all three had their tournament runs end prematurely during Thursday's first consolation round with losing decisions.

Seeded at No. 8, Foley drew the 25th-seeded Brian Courtney in the first round at 133 pounds, taking an early lead with a first-period takedown before suffering the 4-2 upset when Courtney scored a reversal and near-fall in the third frame. The Spartan then advanced out of the first consolation round after No. 24 Ramazan Attasauov from Iowa State medically forfeited their match, setting Foley up for a rematch with No. 26 Matt Ramos of Purdue. Foley is 2-0 this season against his fellow Big Ten wrestler, scoring a major decision over Ramos in dual-meet action and a sudden-victory decision at the B1G Championships.

The 157-pound Saldate got No. 12 Jacob Wright in the opening bout, as the Wyoming wrestler defeated Saldate in a 6-1 decision. The first round of consolations saw Saldate face No. 28 Connor Brady of Virginia Tech, but Saldate was unable to score a late takedown in the third period to overcome Brady's 3-2 victory by decision, ending Saldate's season.

In the 165 bracket, Fish went up against Missouri's Keegan O'Toole and fell to the No. 2-seeded wrestler via a 0:52 pin. Fish then wrestled No. 15 Austin Yant out of Northern Iowa, attempting to comeback late by ultimately dropping a 6-2 decision to exit the tournament.

Malczewski began the 184-pound bracket against No. 11 Jonathan Loew of Cornell, as the Ivy Leaguer went on to win an 11-4 decision over the MSU 184-pounder, while Malczewski's consolation bout saw him got down 8-1 early to No. 27 Keegan Moore of Oklahoma and eventually lose an 11-5 decision to the Sooner to close out his campaign.

The lone Spartan to win his first-round bout, the 197-pound Caffey needed two third-period takedowns to beat No. 24 Evan Bockman (Utah Valley) via 6-4 decision. Caffey next met No. 8 Lou Deprez, a 2021 All-American from Binghamton, in the second championship round, as Deprez edged out Caffey in a 5-4 decision to send Caffey to the consolation ladder and a Friday morning battle against Wisconsin's Braxton Amos (seeded #23).

Michigan State opens the second day of the NCAA Championships at 11 a.m. Friday morning.

HEAD COACH ROGER CHANDLER QUOTABLE
"Tough day overall based on the expectations that have been created by this team. This is the national tournament and it's important that each and every guy be at their absolute best both mentally and physically."

"I'm very proud of Layne, Chase, and Caleb for the effort they gave this season. They are a huge part of ourcore and are very much leaders within our program. No doubt they are disappointed because I know they have very high goals individually. The good thing is I know they will adjust and become better during the off-season."
"Tomorrow, Rayvon and Cam get to move forward and wrestle to get on the podium. Pressure is a privilege and they get an opportunity to stamp their spot. If they seize the moment and leave their best effort out there, then I know they will be in a great position."

FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
133: #25 Brian Courtney (Virginia) dec. #8 Rayvon Foley (MSU), 4-2
Foley built up 1:47 of riding time after a first-period takedown, but Courtney negated that when he stayed on top for the duration of the second frame. Foley built up his riding time again to start the third, but Courtney got a reversal and a two-point near-fall late in the period to get the 4-2 upset decision.

157: #12 Jacob Wright (Wyoming) dec. #21 Chase Saldate (MSU), 6-1
A scoreless first period led to a second-period where Wright escaped and got a takedown, riding Saldate the rest of the frame. Wright built up riding time past 2:00 before Saldate escaped, but Wright took down Saldate once again and picked up the RT bonus for a 6-1 decision.

165: #2 Keegan O'Toole (Missouri) fall over #31 Caleb Fish (MSU), 0:52
O'Toole was able to score a quick takedown and turned Fish for the pin in the opening minute.

184: #11 Jonathan Loew (Cornell) dec. #22 Layne Malczewski (MSU), 11-4
Loew got three takedowns in the opening period, as Malczewski escaped from two of them but Loew built up 1:39 of riding time. Malczewski then got an escape in the second, while Loew got a reversal in the third period before Malczewski escaped again, but Loew got a another takedown and secured RT for an 11-4 decision.

197: #9 Cameron Caffey (MSU) dec. #24 Evan Bockman (Utah Valley), 6-4
Bockman had a first-period takedown that Caffey was later able to escape from, but Bockman then escaped in the second after starting down. Caffey got the escape quickly in the third after beginning on bottom, and added a takedown to take the lead, but Bockman escaped himself, setting up Caffey's second takedown that earned him the 6-4 comeback decision and advanced him on.

SECOND CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
197: #8 Lou Deprez (Binghamton) dec. #9 Cameron Caffey (MSU), 5-4
Deprez got a first period takedown, but Caffey was able to escape in 49 seconds. Caffey then escaped quickly in the second period after going down, but Deprez added another takedown that was upheld after a review before the period ended. Caffey then cut Deprez's RT under a minute after starting on top in the third, but Deprez eventually escaped to go up 5-2, as a late takedown by Caffey was not enough in Deprez's 5-4 winning decision.

CONSOLATION – FIRST ROUND
133: #8 Rayvon Foley (MSU) medical forfeit over #24 Ramazan Attasauov (Iowa State)
Foley advanced to the second consolation round Friday morning after Attasauov exited out of the tournament via medical forfeit after suffering an injury in the first round.

157: #28 Connor Brady (Virginia Tech) dec. #21 Chase Saldate (MSU), 3-2
The two wrestled to a scoreless first period, and Brady escaped early into the second frame and added a takedown, but Saldate escaped within seconds. Saldate then went down in the third, getting free quickly but was unable to get anymore points, as Brady took a 3-2 decision to end Saldate's run.

165: #15 Austin Yant (Northern Iowa) dec. #31 Caleb Fish (MSU), 6-2
A first-period takedown by Yant was the only scoring in the opening frame, and Yant added an escape in the second period before getting a second takedown in the final moments of the period. Fish had his own takedown in the third period, but Yant escaped to take a 6-2 decision and eliminating Fish.

184: #27 Keegan Moore (Oklahoma) dec. #22 Layne Malczewski (MSU), 11-5
Moore used a takedown and two-point near-fall in the first period to take a lead before Malczewski escaped. Another first-period takedown and two-point near-fall from Moore closed out the first, while Malczewski went down to begin the second. The Spartan escaped in short order, but another Moore takedown led to another Malczewski escape in the middle frame. Malczewski then got a takedown in the third, but Moore escaped to make it 11-5, and the score would stay that way to end Malczewski's season.

Two Spartan Wrestlers Stay Alive After First Day of NCAA Championships

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Players Mentioned

Cameron Caffey

Caleb Fish

Rayvon Foley

Layne Malczewski

Chase Saldate