Sunday, December 29
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
11 a.m.
Michigan State University
vs
Duke
Michigan State Grapplers Set to Compete in Four Dual Meets in Two Days at South Beach Duals
12/27/2019 11:48:00 AM | Wrestling
East Lansing, Mich. - Michigan State wrestling returns to the mat this weekend for four dual meets in two days on Sunday, Dec. 29 and Monday, Dec. 30 at the South Beach Wrestling Experience in Fort Lauderdale, Fla inside the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center.
"The South Beach Duals has always had great teams and this year is no exception," said MSU wrestling head coach Roger Chandler. "Even though we are headed to warm weather that I'm sure the team will enjoy, we have to have a business-minded approach to the couple days of wrestling. We will face four teams that all have major talent and we need to be ready to go."
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The Spartans will begin action on Sunday, Dec. 29 with matches against Duke at 11 a.m. followed by No. 19 Cornell at 1 p.m. MSU will continue action on Monday, Dec. 30 against South Dakota State at 11 a.m. and (RV) Wyoming at 1 p.m. TrackWrestling will be covering all of the action at the South Beach Duals. Click HERE for live results, brackets and information on the event.
The South Beach Wrestling Experience is a five-day event that features Division I duals, Division I individual tournaments, a Division III tournament, and high school dual tournaments.Â
About the Spartans
Caffey leads the way for the Spartans with a team-best 12 wins and six wins by fall. Caffey has three top-5 finishes in tournament action and is 2-0 in duals with two falls. Tucker, who claimed a first-place finish at the Navy Classic at 157 pounds, is 11-2 on the season and leads the team with four major decisions. At 285 pounds, Rebottaro sits at 10-5 overall and 2-0 in dual meets. Hughes recorded two falls against Oklahoma and Kent State at 165 pounds and is 7-4 overall, while Griffin is 2-0 in duals and has three falls, three major decisions, and is tied with a team-best two tech falls on the year. Malczewski sports an 11-6-1 record at 174 pounds for the Spartans.
"On day one, we will face both Duke and Cornell who both finished in the top 25 at the NCAA Championships last year," said Chandler. "Both teams are very well coached and we need to be ready to wrestle and look to put points on the board. On day two, we will see South Dakota State and Wyoming. Both of these teams have a lot of good guys and we need to be ready. They both have a lot of talent that have been and will be represented at the NCAA Championships.We talk a lot about taking the next step as a program. These upcoming couple days is another opportunity and we need to take advantage of it by constantly looking to score points and looking for those bonus points whenever we can get them."
Scouting the Opponents
MSU's matchup with Duke will be the Blue Devils' first dual meet of the season. The Blue Devils have competed in three tournaments, most recently finishing ninth at the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia, Pa. Duke has no wrestlers currently ranked in the top 20 (InterMat). MSU and Duke will meet for the third time, with the Blue Devils holding a 2-0 advantage.Â
Cornell enters the weekend 0-2 and ranked No. 18 in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll. Both losses came to top 10 opponents, No. 9 North Carolina State (25-9) and No. 8 Ohio State (23-9). The Big Red have three ranked wrestlers by InterMat in No. 3 Chas Tucker at 133 pounds, No. 7 Brandon Womack at 184 pounds and No. 18 Brandon Womack at 174 pounds. Darmstadt leads Cornell with 13 wins, while Tucker holds a perfect 12-0 record at 133 pounds. Cornell and Michigan State will meet for the 13th time on Sunday, with the Big Red holding a 7-5 advantage in the series. Michigan State's last win came on Jan. 18, 2003 in the last meeting.Â
Monday's matchup with South Dakota State will be the first meeting between the programs. The Jackrabbits are 1-1 on the season and recently competed at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6 and 7. Zach Carlson leads South Dakota State with a 9-3 record and is ranked No. 16 in the InterMat 184 pound rankings. Tanner Sloan ranks No. 14 at 197 pounds and holds a 5-3 record.Â
Wyoming is receving votes in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll after claiming a first-place finish at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 15. The Cowboys crowned three individual champions in Reno. Montorie Bridges (No. 7. 133 pounds)) and Brian Andrews (No. 19, 174 pounds) are ranked in the latest InterMat top 20 rankings. MSU and Wyoming will meet for just the second time, the last being on Dec. 30, 2018, when No. 18 Wyoming dropped MSU in a close one, 20-13, at the South Beach Duals.Â
Last Time Out
MSU had one of its strongest performances of the season at the Cougar Clash Invite on Dec. 7. The Spartans finished in third place with 114.5 points, behind No. 19 Missouri and No. 8 Wisconsin.Â
Michigan State had nine wrestlers finish in the top four, including a trio of second-place finishes from redshirt junior Jake Tucker at 157 pounds, redshirt junior Drew Hughes at 165 pounds and redshirt junior Christian Rebottaro at 285 pounds. Redshirt sophomore Cameron Caffey compiled a 3-1 record in the 184 pound round robin bracket. Redshirt seniors Garrett Pepple and Logan Griffin finished in third and fourth, respectively.Â
Several other Spartans stood out in Edwardsville, including 197 pound redshirt junior Nick May, redshirt freshman Layne Malczewski at 174 pounds and redshirt junior Alex Hrisopoulos at 149 pounds. May and Malczewski, who finished 4-1 and 3-1 respectively, claimed third-place finishes for their second-straight tournament of the season. Hrisopoulos went 3-1 and Hughes earned a berth in the finals for the first time this year, falling to No. 3 Evan Wick of Wisconsin.
Spartans in the Rankings
Rankings by: InterMat / FloWrestling / TrackWrestling / TheOpenMat (Dec. 16)
133 - Garrett Pepple NR / 24 / NR / NR
157 - Jake Tucker 18 / 20 / 16 / 16
174 - Layne Malczewski NR / 25 / 27 / NR
184 - Cameron Caffey NR / 23 / 20 / 15
285 - Christian Rebottaro NR /NR / 32 / NR
Players Mentioned
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