Wrestling to Compete in 2022 Garden State Grapple

NEWARK, N.J. – Michigan State wrestling joins an eight-team field for the 2022 edition of the Garden State Grapple, hosted at the Prudential Center on Sunday, Dec. 4, head coach Roger Chandler and Prudential Center announced Wednesday.

This exciting dual meet event will feature Rutgers, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Indiana from the Big Ten Conference facing off against Binghamton, Drexel, Penn, and Princeton from the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association.

Garden State Grapple, New Jersey's premier collegiate wrestling dual meet event, will feature five teams who were ranked in the final top-25 NWCA Coaches Poll of the 2021-22 season: Wisconsin (7), Rutgers (14), Michigan State (15), Penn (18), and Princeton (22). Additionally, Binghamton (9) and Drexel (16) were ranked in the final NWCA/NDS Mid-Major Top-20 poll.

The Garden State Grapple will feature 45 previous NCAA Tournament qualifiers. Headlining that group are 13 previous All-Americans including a program record for Wisconsin who will return their most All-Americans to start a season with five. Rutgers returns three previous All-Americans, John Poznanski (2021), Jackson Turley (2021), and Sammy Alvarez (2020). Princeton is led by two 2022 National Championship runner-ups, including Patrick Glory, who is a three-time All-American, and Quincy Monday, who is a two-time All-American. Binghamton, Michigan State, and Penn each have one previous All-American.

Tickets for "Garden State Grapple, presented by Spartan Combat" start at $25.00, and are available starting Wednesday, September 7th at TicketMaster.com and Prudential Center's box office. For Group Sales opportunities for 9 or more people, call (973) 757-6000 or email GroupEvents@PruCenter.com; for Premium Seating opportunities, visit PruCenter.com/Premium.

"This is a great opportunity for our guys to compete against very good teams and also be in a big-time venue like Prudential Center," Chandler said. "I'm a big believer in dual-meet competition and this is a great event that will have a great atmosphere for our team."

"Spartan Combat is extremely excited to return as Presenting Partner for the second annual Garden State Grapple event," said Joe De Sena, Founder and CEO of Spartan Combat. "Coming off an extremely successful first event last year we look forward to continuing to work with Prudential Center to build the sport of College Wrestling in the great State of New Jersey. The talent that will be on display for this year's unique dual meet event will deliver an action-packed afternoon of wrestling that you will not want to miss."

"Building off the momentum from our initial foray into college wrestling last season, we are proud to host once again one of the nation's marquee dual meet events," Prudential Center President Jake Reynolds said. "This year's format of the Big Ten versus the EIWA promises to deliver non-stop action at every weight class. Kudos to Coach Goodale at Rutgers for his vision to try to pull together such an ambitious project, and we are extremely thankful to all eight teams for their flexibility to create the most exciting matchups for the sport. We were thrilled to host the stars of the entertainment world with the recent VMA's, and now we cannot wait for college wrestling to be back on center stage at Prudential Center."

EVENT SCHEDULE
Garden State Grapple
Sunday, December 4, 2022
Approximately 2:00 p.m. – Dual Meet Round #1
Mat 1 - Indiana vs. Drexel
Mat 2 - Rutgers vs. Penn
Mat 3 – Wisconsin vs. Princeton
Mat 4 – Michigan State vs. Binghamton

Approximately 4:00 p.m. – Dual Meet Round #2
Mat 1 - Indiana vs. Binghamton
Mat 2 - Rutgers vs. Drexel
Mat 3 – Wisconsin vs. Penn
Mat 4 – Michigan State vs. Princeton

ABOUT PRUDENTIAL CENTER
Prudential Center is a world-class sports and entertainment venue located in downtown Newark, New Jersey. Opened in October 2007, the state-of-the-art arena is the home of the National Hockey League's (NHL) three-time Stanley Cup Champion New Jersey Devils, Seton Hall University's NCAA Division I Men's Basketball program, and more than 175 concerts, family shows and special events each year. The arena is also home to the GRAMMY Museum Experience Prudential Center, which opened its doors to the public in October 2017. The 8,200-square-foot experience marks the first GRAMMY Museum outpost on the East Coast and features a dynamic combination of educational programming and interactive permanent and traveling exhibits, including a spotlight on legendary GRAMMY winners from New Jersey. Ranked in the Top 10 nationally by Pollstar, Billboard and Venues Today, Prudential Center is recognized as one of the premier venues in the United States, and hosts over 2 million guests annually. For more information about Prudential Center, visit PruCenter.com and follow the arena on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @PruCenter. Prudential Center is a Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment property.

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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