Michigan State University
Maryland
No. 28 Spartans Wrap Up Road Dual Season in Maryland
2/10/2024 1:15:00 PM | Wrestling
EAST LANSING, Mich. – With the regular season winding down, the No. 28-ranked Michigan State wrestling team travels on the road to College Park, Maryland, for its final road dual of the season. The Spartans take on Maryland (3-6, 1-5 B1G) inside Xfinity Center Pavilion on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 1 p.m.
Against common opponents, the Terps are 1-3 with a win over American (30-7). Maryland's three common opponent losses came against No. 13-ranked Michigan (38-3), Indiana (21-15) and No. 1-ranked Penn State (42-6).
HEAD COACH ROGER CHANDLER
"There's no doubt that this week is going to be another challenge. Maryland has a very talented team. We need to bounce back from last Sunday's loss to Indiana and get back to being gritty tough in certain positions."
THREE SPARTANS AMONG DIVSION I LEADERS
No. 21-ranked 157-pound senior Chase Saldate is among the best in Division I at racking up falls. The Gilroy, California, native has a career-high 10 falls this season and ranks No. 6 in Division 1 in 36:13. Saldate has four wins by fall in B1G action and has three straight.
No. 30-ranked 197-pound redshirt freshman Kael Wisler and heavyweight redshirt freshman Josh Terrill each are ranked top four in Division 1 wins. Terrill leads the country with 25 hand raises while Wisler is not far behind with 22 that ties for fourth.
LAST TIME OUT
The Green and White had a busy weekend in their last outing, as they traveled to No. 26-ranked Illinois on Feb. 2 and downed the Illini 29-10. MSU would then visit No. 28-ranked Indiana but fell in a heartbreaking 23-18 defeat to the Hoosiers.
IN THE RANKINGS
In the latest InterMat dual rankings, Michigan State jumped up two spots to No. 28 and is second in receiving votes in the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
On an individual basis, five separate Spartans are represented in the InterMat rankings. Redshirt senior Jordan Hamdan moved up one spot to No. 29 at 141, Saldate maintained his position at No. 21 in the 157-weight class, senior Caleb Fish still sits in the Top 10 at No. 9 at 165-pounds, graduate Layne Malczewski enters at No. 15 at 184 and 197-pounder Wisler rounds out the list at No. 30.
KNOW THE FOE: MARYLAND
At the helm for Maryland is fifth-year head coach Alex Clemsen. The Terps enter the week with a 3-6 overall record and an 1-5 mark in Big Ten play, dropping their last four matches (No. 7 Ohio State, Indiana, No. 1 Penn State and No. 10 Minnesota) all against B1G opponents with three of the four ranked in the Top 10. In its last outing, Maryland fell last week in No. 6 Ohio State (36-6) and No. 2 Iowa (36-6). This will mark the 10th meeting between the Spartans and Maryland. The Green and White have the upper hand in the all-time series, 7-2, with MSU winning the last five meetings with a combined score of 172-27. Five Terp wrestlers are nationally ranked in their respective weight classes on InterMat: Braxton Brown (No. 17 | 133), Kal Miller (No. 21 | 141), Ethen Miller (No. 13 | 149), Jaxon Smith (No. 5 | 197) and Seth Nevills (No. 26 | HWT).
Players Mentioned
