EAST LANSING – On Friday evening, the Michigan State wrestling team took on the Wisconsin Badgers, with both teams looking to pick up their first conference win.
When the final period of the last match ended, it was the Spartans who came out on top, defeating the Badgers by a final score of 22-15.
“Well [the win] is great because they’re nationally ranked as a program,” MSU head coach Roger Chandler said. “I said this at the beginning of the year…we have a sneaky good team that nobody knows about.”
The duel started in the 157-pound division, with No. 21 MSU senior Chase Saldate (16-4) taking the mat against redshirt sophomore Luke Mechler (6-10). This match was all Saldate, as he started with a vicious takedown to take an early three-point lead then continued to drag Mechler through the mud. To cap it off, Saldate took full control and pinned Mechler at the start of the third period to give MSU an early 6-0 lead.
Moving on to the 165-pound weight class, the Jenison crowd got to witness a top-10 matchup with No. 9 ranked senior Caleb Fish (18-5) for MSU grappling with No. 5 ranked junior Dean Hamiti (16-1) for Wisconsin. After an early takedown from Hamiti to go up by three, Fish refused to let Hamiti extend his lead. Fish clawed back and knotted it up at four, but an official review would take away the takedown for Fish. After a back-and-forth third period, Hamiti took the match 4-3 to cut the Badgers deficit to three.
“Caleb Fish got pinned by that kid at the Michigan State Open,” Chandler said. “We figured out some things tactically, and when we see him at the Big Ten Championships, I think we can flip the script there.”
In the 174-pound division, MSU redshirt senior DJ Shannon (9-12) got the nod to take on No. 12-ranked graduate Max Maylor (10-3). Going up against a nationally ranked opponent, Shannon was unable to muster much of anything in his match. The effort was there, but Shannon ultimately fell 4-0 and allowed the Badgers to tie the duel up at six a piece.
In another ranked matchup, No. 21 graduate Layne Malczewski (6-5) took on No. 16 graduate Shane Liegel for the Badgers. Malczewski picked up an early takedown to go up 3-0 and he never looked back. Liegel escaped twice for two points, but another takedown and escape for Malczewski solidified his win 7-2 and put MSU up in the duel 9-6.
Moving on up to the 197-pound class, No. 29 redshirt freshman Kael Wisler (20-10) for MSU matched up against redshirt senior Josh Otto (1-5). Wisler maintained full control of the match, notching a few takedowns and a couple of escapes to win 9-1 and grab the bonus points for MSU to go up 13-6.
Next was the heavyweight division, with Michigan State’s redshirt freshman Josh Terrill (23-9) taking on Wisconsin’s redshirt freshman Gannon Rosenfeld (1-8). In what started out as a standstill match, Rosenfeld took down Terrill for three points late in the match, but Terrill came back instantly, pinning Rosenfeld to the mat and getting the Spartans’ second pin of the night to give them a commanding 19-6 advantage.
The 125-pound division was up next, with MSU senior Tristan Lujan (12-9) taking on No. 3 ranked senior Eric Barnett (16-2). Lujan fended off Barnett for the entirety of the first period, keeping it scoreless. A two-point near fall for Barnett gave him a 2-0 lead, but Lujan came right back with a reversal to tie it up. Lujan hung right in there with the third-ranked Barnett, but two escapes for Barnett gave him the victory and cut the deficit for Wisconsin.
At 133 pounds, redshirt sophomore Andy Hampton (4-15) lined up with Nicolar Rivera (9-5) looking to extend MSU’s lead. Rivera had his way with Hampton early, leading 6-1 at the end of the first period. Hampton did all he could, getting a takedown with 26 seconds left to make it 8-6 in favor of Rivera, but it was too little too late as Rivera picked up the win and cut into the Spartan lead even more.
In the penultimate match of the evening, it was No. 29-ranked redshirt senior Jordan Hamden (15-6) facing off against freshman Felix Lettini (3-11). A quick takedown from Hamden put him up 3-0 early, but that was the bulk of the scoring. A few escapes for both sides ended this match with a 4-2 victory for Hamden and solidifying the win for Michigan State.
One final match remained to be seen however, as sophomore Braden Stauffenberg (6-13) took on No. 23 junior Joseph Zargo (12-5) for the Badgers. In what was a close match, the two sides went into the third period knotted up at three, but Zargo pulled away at the end to get the late win.
After starting 0-3 in Big Ten play, the victory finally gets Michigan State in the win column and gives them some momentum going into their next duel versus Illinois.
“We haven’t started looking at Illinois. I’ve preached this all year that we aren’t going to be looking ahead,” said Chandler. “We looked at Wisconsin all the way through tonight and I’m going to let these guys enjoy it.”
The MSU matchup versus Illinois will take place in Champaign, Ill. on Feb. 2 at 8 pm EST.
