EAST LANSING— Michigan State took down Northwestern in a B1G conference wrestling matchup at Jenison fieldhouse The Spartans were able to improve to 4-6 in the season and also picked up their first conference win to go 1-4 in the Big Ten. Meanwhile, the Wildcats fell to 3-6 overall and were handed their fifth conference loss of the season to be 1-5 in the Big Ten. 

The Spartans were able to take control of the match early by going 5-7 in their first seven matches of the dual. The action got started when Michigan State’s captain Kael Wisler (197) was able to get the victory by decision over Northwestern’s Alex Smith (197). 

Michigan State’s Josh Terrill (285) was also able to come up huge in his heavyweight matchup against Northwestern’s Gabe Christianson (285). Terri (MSU) was able to deliver a huge victory by fall when he pinned Christianson (NW) in 2 minutes and 11 seconds in the first period. This win gave Terrill (MSU) his fourth consecutive big ten win and extended MSU’s early lead to 9-0. 

The wildcats were able to rally with a push in the upper weight classes. This started when Northwestern’s 174 wrestler Eddie Enright (ranked No. 30) picked up a 19-6 major decision victory. Then immediately following Enright’s victory, Wildcat wrestler JD Perez (184) closed out with an 8-0 major victory to bring the final score within 2 points of the Spartans, bringing it to 22-20 Michigan State. 

The 22-20 dual meet victory for the Spartans was able to snap their 5-meet losing streak and also gave them their first conference win of the season. The Wildcats now move on to a 5-meet losing streak and like the Spartans, still only have one conference win, sitting- 1-5 in the B1G. 

The Spartans have their next dual meet back in East Lansing on February 8 against the No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes (9-4) (2-2 conference).