Three Spartans Clinch NCAA Bids on Day 1 of B1G Wrestling Championships

LINCOLN, Neb. – Redshirt senior Cameron Caffey made a run to the semifinal round in the 197-pound bracket but could not pull off his second win this season over second-seeded Max Dean of Penn State, as Michigan State had three wrestlers earn NCAA bids by the end of the first two sessions at the 2022 Big Ten Wrestling Championships inside Pinnacle Bank Arena on Saturday.

MSU saw Caffey, 133-pound redshirt senior Rayvon Foley and 184-pound redshirt junior Layne Malczewski all earned qualification to the NCAA Championships in two weeks, with each guaranteed a placement within the Big Ten's allocated spots for the national tournament being held in Detroit on March 17-19.

Caffey's journey to the semifinals began when he avenged an early-season loss with a 15-3 major decision over Illinois' Matt Wroblewski in the first round. He then beat Thomas Penola of Purdue for the second time this year via 4-2 decision in the quarterfinals, locking up one of the conference's 11 spots in the NCAAs. The pursuit of a B1G title for Caffey ended when Dean got a first-period takedown and never let up, securing the Nittany Lion's spot in the finals with a 5-2 decision. Caffey will now face Jacob Warner of Iowa in the consolation semifinals on Sunday morning, with a spot in the third-place match on the line.

It was a loud start for Foley, as he put together a 17-1 technical fall over Maryland's King Sandoval in the opening round of the tournament, but lost in a rematch with rival Michigan's Dylan Ragusin from last month, as Ragusin notched the 3-1 decision in the quarterfinals. Foley then had two more close matches in the consolation rounds, putting up a 5-2 decision over Wisconsin's Kyle Burwick and then getting an overtime takedown to pick up a 4-2 sudden-victory decision against Matt Ramos from Purdue. The win over Ramos put Foley in the consolation semifinals opposite of Illinois' Lucas Byrd, and gave the Spartan an auto bid to his fourth NCAA Championships.

Sophomore Chase Saldate posted a 2-2 record for the first day, drawing Derek Gilcher of Indiana in the first round and coming away with a 7-4 decision over the Hoosier to matchup with Michigan's Will Lewan in the quarterfinal round. Lewan sent Saldate to the consolation bracket with a 3-1 decision, but the Spartan responded by racking up an 8-0 major decision against Joseph Roberts of Illinois in the second consolation round. The third consolation round saw Saldate run into Iowa's Kaleb Young, as the Hawkeye scored a 5-3 decision over the Spartan, sending Saldate to face Garrett Model of Wisconsin in Sunday's seventh-place match, with the winner set to earn a bid to Detroit in two weeks.

Picking up his first career B1G Championships win with a 6-3 decision over Rutgers' Andrew Clark, 165-pound sophomore Caleb Fish ran into a tough bout in the quarterfinals in the form of Michigan's Cameron Amine, as the Wolverine notched an 11-1 major decision over the rival Spartan. Sent to the consolation bracket, Fish then got his own major decision at 10-2 over Maryland's Gaven Bell in another rematch from the dual-meet season, but lost in a 5-2 decision to the hometown Huskers' Clayton Wilson, sending Fish to tomorrow's seventh-place match against Cael Carlson of Minnesota with a spot in the NCAAs on the table.

Sophomore Tristan Lujan began the 125-pound bracket facing Iowa's Drake Ayala, as the Hawkeye edged out a 4-0 decision over Lujan. The Spartan then picked up a win in the consolation bracket when he had a 14-2 major decision over Zach Spence of Maryland for his second victory of the season over the Terrapin, but Lujan then lost via 10-2 to Ohio State's Malik Heinselman. Lujan then put himself within one win of a NCAA bid with a 10-3 decision over Spence in the first round of the ninth-place bracket.

Redshirt sophomore Peyton Omania was 1-2 in his second B1G Championships, as Iowa's 149-pounder Max Murin took a 12-0 major decision over the Spartan in their first match. Omania then built up a lead against Michael North of Maryland in consolation action, but the Terrapin erased that advantage and Omania had to get a third-period reversal to win by a 13-12 decision. The podium chase for Omania ended when he lost to Rutgers' Michael Van Brill by a 9-3 decision in the second consolation round.

An early upset knocked Malczewski into the consolation bracket, as Wisconsin's Christopher Weiler beat the MSU wrestler in an 8-4 decision to open the day. Malczewski then got his second major decision over Jack Jessen of Northwestern this season, a 13-4 score, in the final consolation match of Session I, but then dropped a 9-0 major decision to Iowa's Abe Assad in the night session to miss the podium. Malczewski did earn a spot in Detroit when he received a bye in the ninth-place bracket, securing a top-12 finish in the B1G.

In the 141-pound bracket, graduate student Matt Santos was on the losing end of a 3-2 decision against Jakob Bergeland in the first round. Santos then nearly came back against Nebraska's Chad Red when he made it 7-6, but Red later pinned Santos at the 6:38 mark.

Redshirt junior Nathan Jimenez went 0-3 on Day 1, first losing by 15-5 major decision to Mikey Labriola of Nebraska to open the bracket and then suffering a 9-0 major decision to Wisconsin's Andrew McNally in his first consolation match. Jimenez then lost in the ninth-place bracket, as Nick South from Indiana got a 6-3 decision.

For redshirt senior heavyweight Brad Wilton, he opened the day against the fourth-seeded Mason Parris from Michigan, as Parris scored an 18-3 technical fall over the Spartan. Wilton then injury defaulted 45 seconds into his consolation bout with Rutgers' Boone McDermott.

For the team score, MSU sits in 11th place with 33 points, just 1.5 points behind 10th-place Purdue (34.5) and four back of ninth-place Rutgers (37). Michigan leads the way at 116 points, while PSU is second with 111.5 and Iowa sits third at 109 points.

Michigan State will continue action at the Big Ten Championships at 11 a.m. CT on Sunday with Session III (consolation semifinals and seven-place matches). The first-place, third-place and fifth-place matches are set for 3:30 p.m. CT as part of Session IV.

Big Ten Championships Day 1
Round 1:
125: Drake Ayala (Iowa) dec. Tristan Lujan (MSU), 4-0
133: Rayvon Foley (MSU) tech. fall over King Sandoval (UMD), 17-1
141: Jakob Bergeland (MINN) dec. Matt Santos (MSU), 3-2
149: Max Murin (IOWA) major dec. Peyton Omania (MSU), 12-0
157: Chase Saldate (MSU) dec. Derek Gilcher (IU), 7-4
165: Caleb Fish (MSU) dec. Andrew Clark (RU), 6-3
174: Mikey Labriola (NEB) major dec. Nathan Jimenez (MSU), 15-5
184: Christopher Weiler (WIS) dec. Layne Malczewski (MSU), 8-4
197: Cameron Caffey (MSU) major dec. Matt Wroblewski (ILL), 15-3
285: Mason Parris (UM) tech. fall over Brad Wilton (MSU), 18-3

Quarterfinals:
133: Dylan Ragusin (UM) dec. Rayvon Foley (MSU), 3-1
157: Will Lewan (UM) dec. Chase Saldate (MSU), 3-1
165: Cameron Amine (UM) major dec. Caleb Fish (MSU), 11-1
197: Cameron Caffey dec. Thomas Penola (PUR), 4-2

Semifinals:
197: Max Dean (PSU) dec. Cameron Caffey (MSU), 5-2

Consolation Round 1:
125: Tristan Lujan (MSU) major dec. Zach Spence (UMD), 14-2
141: Chad Red (NEB) pinned Matt Santos (MSU), 6:38
149: Peyton Omania dec. Michael North (UMD), 13-12
174: Andrew McNally (WIS) major dec. Nathan Jimenez (MSU), 9-0
184: Layne Malczewski major dec. Jack Jessen (NU), 13-4
285: Boone McDermott (RU) injury def. Brad Wilton, 0:45

Consolation Round 2:
125: Malik Heinselman (OSU) major dec. Tristan Lujan (MSU), 10-2
133: Rayvon Foley (MSU) dec. Kyle Burwick (WIS), 5-2
149: Michael Van Brill (RU) dec. Peyton Omania (MSU), 9-3
157: Chase Saldate (MSU) major dec. Joseph Roberts (ILL), 8-0
165: Caleb Fish (MSU) major dec. Gaven Bell (UMD), 10-2
184: Abe Assad (IOWA) major dec. Layne Malczewski (MSU), 9-0

Consolation Round 3:
133: Rayvon Foley (MSU) dec. Matt Ramos (PUR), 4-2 (SV-1)
157: Kaleb Young (IOWA) dec. Chase Saldate (MSU), 5-3
165: Clayton Wilson (NEB) dec. Caleb Fish (MSU), 5-2

Ninth-Place Bracket (First Round):
125: Tristan Lujan (MSU) dec. Zach Spence (UMD), 10-3
174: Nick South (IU) dec. Nathan Jimenez (MSU), 6-3
197: Layne Malczewski (MSU), BYE

Three Spartans Clinch NCAA Bids on Day 1 of B1G Wrestling Championships

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Players Mentioned

Cameron Caffey

Caleb Fish

Rayvon Foley

Nathan Jimenez

Tristan Lujan

Layne Malczewski

Peyton Omania

Chase Saldate

Matt Santos

Brad Wilton