MSU Wrestling Travels to Illinois, Hosts Iowa on Senior Day

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State's wrestling team travels to Champaign to take on Illinois inside Huff Hall on Friday, Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. EST, before returning home to host No. 1 Iowa inside Jenison Field House on Sunday, Feb. 2 for Senior Day at 1 p.m. Both matches will air on BTN+.

Michigan State wrestling will recognize five wrestlers for Senior Day before Sunday's home dual with the Hawkeyes. Redshirt seniors Garrett Pepple (Angola, Indiana), Logan Griffin (Erie Township, Michigan) and redshirt juniors Austin Hiles (Brecksville, Ohio), Ethan Curtin (Holland, Michigan) and Danny Kruse (Lowell, Michigan) will be recognized before Sunday's match against Iowa inside Jenison Field House.

ABOUT THE SPARTANS

Michigan State has two shutouts on the season and hold a 6-6 (1-4 B1G) record on the season. The Spartans knocked off a ranked opponent for the first time since 2013 on Nov. 16 in Kent, Ohio, defeating No. 20 Oklahoma, 20-16. MSU's other wins include Kent State, Duke,Wyoming, The Spartans shutout Duke at the South Beach Duals on Dec. 29, 44-0, and followed with a shutout over Big ten foe Maryland, 36-0, on Jan. 19 in East Lansing.

The Spartans are led by redshirt junior Jake Tucker at 157 pounds, who leads the team with 21 wins. Tucker holds a 9-3 mark in duals and is 3-2 in the B1G . Tucker claimed a first-place finish at the Navy Classic, tallying a 5-0 record and capping the title with an 8-3 win over Ohio's Zac Carson in the final.

Redshirt sophomore Cameron Caffey, who has three top 5 finishes in tournament action, including a second-place finish at the Cougar Clash, holds an 19-6 record and leads the team with eight falls at 184 pounds. Caffey is 10-2 in duals and 4-1 in B1G duals. Caffey defeated No. 6 Taylor Venz of Nebraska on Jan. 26, No. 18 Owen Webster of Minnesota, 9-4, on Jan. 17 and secured a fall over Kyle Jasenski of Maryland on Jan. 19. Redshirt junior Christian Rebottaro is 7-5 in duals (2-3 B1G) and holds a 14-10 record overall at 285 pounds for the Spartans.

Redshirt freshman Layne Malczewski is third on the team with 18 wins, including a 3-2 mark in B1G action. Malczweski ranks No. 23 by TrackWrestling, No. 23 by FloWrestling and No. 24 byTheOpenMat at 174 pounds and has third-place finishes at the Navy Classic and Cougar Clash. Malczewski has posted two ranked wins in the B1G to go with his 3-2 record. Redshirt junior Drew Hughes, a two-time NCAA Qualifier, holds a 13-7 record on the season with eight dual wins and ranks No. 26 by TheOpenMat. Hughes won by decision over Tyler Meisiner of Michigan, 6-0, on Jan. 10, and finished with 5:44 of riding time and followed with a fall (4:04) over Dalton Peters of Nebraska on Jan. 26.

ABOUT ILLINOIS

Illinois enters the weekend ranked No. 15 by InterMat and No. 18 by FloWrestling. The Fighting Illini are 2-2 in B1G action and 5-3 overall with wins over UT-Chattanooga, No. 13 Missouri, Northern Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

The Fighting Illini have five wrestlers ranked in the top 25 of the latest FloWrestling rankings. Travis Piotrowski leads the way for Illinois with a 17-2 record and a perfect 8-0 mark in duals. Piotrowski, who ranks No. 7 is joined by Dylan Duncan (No. 12 at 141 pounds), Danny Braunagel (No. 15 at 165 pounds), Zac Braunagel (No. 13 at 184 pounds) and Joey Gunther (No. 22 at 174 pounds) in the top 25. Zac Braunagel defeated MSU redshirt sophomore Cam Caffey, 15-7, earlier this season at the MSU Open.

Michigan State and Illinois will meet for the 65th time on Friday, with MSU leading the all-time series, 40-20-4. The Spartans won 20-straight meetings over the Fighting Illini from 1965 to 1985. Illinois is 11-1 in its last 12 meetings against MSU, including a narrow 18-15 win over the Spartans on Jan. 11, 2019 in East Lansing.

Illinois Probable Lineup

125 - Justin Cardani, (11-5)

133 - No. 7 Travis Piotrowski, (17-2)

141 - No. 12 Dylan Duncan, (13-6)

149 - Mousa Jodeh, (2-10)

157 - Eric Barone, (8-9)

165 - No. 15 Danny Braunagel, (16-5)

174 - No. 22 Joey Gunther, (12-4)

184 - No. 13 Zac Braunagel, (14-6)

197 - Matt Wroblewski, (7-10)

285 - Luke Luffman, (11-6)

*Rankings by FloWrestling

ABOUT IOWA

Iowa comes into the weekend with a No. 1 overall ranking and an 8-0 overall record. The Hawkeyes have wins over Tennessee at Chattanooga, No. 11 Iowa State, No. 6 Wisconsin, Princeton, Indiana, No. 18 Purdue, No. 7 Nebraska and No. 4 Ohio State.

Iowa finished fourth at the 2019 NCAA Championships and crowned six All-Americans, including junior Spencer Lee, who claimed his second NCAA title at 125 pounds. The Hawkeyes are led this season by Lee and juniors Austin DeSanto and Alex Marinelli, who rank No. 2 at 133 pounds and 165 pounds, respectively. Iowa has 10 wrestlers in the lineup ranked in the top-10 of the InterMat Rankings and seven in the top-5. Lee, along with Alex Marinelli, 174 pounder Michael Kemerer and heavyweight Tony Cassioppi are undefeated in dual matches on the season.

The Spartans and Hawkeyes will meet for the 57th time on Sunday, with Iowa holding a 39-15-2 edge over the Spartans. MSU's last win over Iowa came on Feb. 2, 2006, 19-17, when the Spartans upset the No. 7 Hawkeyes in East Lansing.

Iowa Probable Lineup

125 - No. 2 Spencer Lee (10-0)

133 - No. 2 Austin DeSanto (12-1)

141 - Carter Happel (6-4)

149 - No. 3 Pat Lugo (13-1)

157 - No. 5 Kaleb Young (11-2)

165 - No. 2 Alex Marinelli (14-0)

174 - No. 2 Michael Kemerer (8-0)

184 - No. 6 Abe Assad (19-3)

197 - No. 7 Jacob Warner (10-3)

285 - No. 3 Tony Cassioppi (13-0)

*Rankings by InterMat

CAFFEY CONTINUES TO DOMINATE

Redshirt sophomore Cameron Caffey has been on a tear as of late, winning eight of his last 10 matches and three bonus point wins. Caffey is coming off an 11-6 win over No. 6 Taylor Venz of Nebraska on Jan. 26. The Spartan trailed 5-1 in the third period on his way to the win. Caffey ranks No. 15 by InterMat and is 19-6 on the season and 10-2 in duals. Caffey leads the team with 46 dual points, highlighted by six bonus point wins in duals and a team-best eight wins by fall. A 2019 NCAA Qualifier and Junior Greco-Roman World Team member, Caffey hopes to return to the NCAA Championships for a second-straight year after a stellar 32-9 freshman campaign.

SPARTAN SHUTOUT

MSU recorded one of its most dominant performances in recent history on Sunday, Jan. 19, blanking the Maryland Terrapins 36-0 in East Lansing. The Spartans picked up three bonus point wins over the Terrapins, highlighted by a technical fall by Jake Tucker and a fall for Cameron Caffey. MSU's shutout over Maryland was its first Big Ten shutout in 36 years, the last coming on Jan. 20, 1984 in a 44-0 blanking of Illinois. The Spartans blanked Duke, 44-0, earlier this season at the South Beach Duals.

Up Next

After the weekend, the Spartans are on the road for two duals on Friday, Feb. 7 at Northwestern and Sunday, Feb. 9 at Wisconsin. Action is will air live on BTN+.

MSU Wrestling Travels to Illinois, Hosts Iowa on Senior Day

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cameron Caffey

Ethan Curtin

Logan Griffin

Austin Hiles

Drew Hughes

Danny Kruse

Layne Malczewski

Garrett Pepple

Christian Rebottaro

Jake Tucker

MSU Wrestling Travels to Illinois, Hosts Iowa on Senior Day

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cameron Caffey

Ethan Curtin

Logan Griffin

Austin Hiles

Drew Hughes

Danny Kruse

Layne Malczewski

Garrett Pepple

Christian Rebottaro

Jake Tucker

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