East Lansing— The Michigan State wrestling team prepares for its season finale as they travel to Mount Pleasant to take on the Central Michigan Chippewas.
The Spartans suffered a 12-27 loss against rival No. 19 Michigan on Sunday, February 16. MSU kept it close the entire duel and had the score at 12-16 before the 197lb match.
Redshirt freshman Remy Cotton the 197lb for MSU would suffer an injury after the first takedown ending the match early at 3-0 and awarding Michigan six points. The heavyweight match would end up being a 21-5 blowout cementing a huge Michigan win.
The 8-9 Chippewas, 6-1 in conference, are currently on a four-game winning streak for the season and topping the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They also own a 4-1 record while at home, in contrast MSU is 2-5 on the road.
Michigan State has a three-game win streak against Central Michigan but has struggled over the course of the series having the record at 7-5 in favor of CMU. These teams have done a great job defending home turf throughout the series, combining for an 8-4 home record.
The Spartans are 2-5 in Mount Pleasant and looking to match what they did in the 2022-23 season when they took the match 20-13. The Spartans only have two wrestlers from that starting team, them being redshirt sophomore Ceasar Garza and redshirt senior Tristan Lujan.
Central Michigan has eight of their ten starting wrestlers with winning records in duels, the best being their 174lb wrestler Alex Cramer who is 15-2. Cramer, the sixth-year senior, has only participated in the duel against MSU once. Winning his match against Ceasar Garza 3-0. Garza will get his rematch against Cramer as they will likely line up on Friday.
MSU finished at the bottom of the Big Ten with an 0-8 conference record and may be looking to prove something before the Big Ten Championship. It will be a tough road for any of the Michigan State wrestlers to make the NCAA Tournament.
That road begins tomorrow night at 7 p.m. ET streaming live on ESPN+ as the Spartans look for some much needed confidence.
