Saturday, January 16
East Lansing, Mich.
12 PM ET
Michigan State University
42
vs
0
Maryland
Photo by: Matthew Mitchell/MSU Athletic Communications
No. 25 Spartan Wrestling Splits Saturday Season-Opening Action
1/16/2021 9:04:00 PM | Wrestling
MSU opens with 42-0 blanking of Maryland, topped by No. 14 Minnesota in final of tri-meet.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- In its first competition in 314 days, No. 25 Michigan State wrestling split its two matches Saturday afternoon at Jenison Field House, blanking Maryland, 42-0, in the 2021 season-opener, before losing to No. 14 Minnesota, 28-6, in the final match of the tri-meet. Minnesota beat Maryland, 48-0, in the middle match of the day.
After the 2020 NCAA Championships and the early portion of the 2021 season were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MSU had its first action since the 2020 Big Ten Championships on March 8, 2020.
Saturday's Spartan shutout of the Terrapins was MSU's second-straight season with a shutout over Maryland, matching last season's 36-0 shutout on Jan. 19, 2020 in East Lansing. That was one of two blankings by the Spartans a year ago, with a 44-0 shutout of Duke earlier in the season.
The Spartans were led by redshirt-junior Cameron Caffey and redshirt-sophomore Layne Malczewski both going 2-0. Caffey, ranked No. 7 at 197 by FloWrestling, posted a 14-4 major decision over Kevin Makosy of Maryland and beat Garret Joles of Minnesota in a 12-5 decision. Malczewski, ranked No. 19 at 184 by Flo, logged a 7-1 decision over Kyle Cochran of Maryland and topped Minnesota's Owen Webster in a 9-6 decision in a hotly-contested battle.
MSU is now 1-1 on the season after its first weekend of action. Minnesota and Maryland opened last season, and the Golden Gophers improved to 2-1 with Saturday's sweep of their two matches, while the Terrapins are 0-3 with the two losses.
"It was a our first competition of the year and we haven't competed in about 10-and-a-half months, and I think a lot showed of what we need to work on is that, technically, and we have to look at our conditioning a little bit," MSU head coach Roger Chandler said. "You could tell in both matches that both those teams had matches last week and they were kind of adjusted already, I think that was the downside, between them being able to compete last week and us not being able to. But now we'll go back to work and make some adjustments for next week when we go to Penn State."
Caffey got off to a 2-0 start to the season, but the 2020 NCAA Qualifier and NWCA All-American knows it was something to build on moving forward the rest of the year.
"I definitely didn't win them the way that I wanted to, they were definitely a lot closer today than I was expecting them to be ... so it was definitely a little bit harder than I expected it to be," Caffey said. "I'm happy I won, but pretty obvious there's some stuff for me to work on."
Other highlights from Saturday included freshman Chase Saldate making a smashing Spartan debut, pinning Lucas Cordio of UMD in just 1:32.
"It was pretty exciting, I was pretty nervous going out, being one of two freshmen starting, and I didn't really know what to expect, wrestling in one of the toughest conferences in the country. After I got that first pin, in kind of set in and reality hit, that yeah, I can wrestle here and I'll be fine," Saldate said.
In his second match, which was arguably the match of the day, Saldate matched up with Minnesota's Brayton Lee, who is ranked No. 6 by Flo and was an NCAA qualifier last season after finishing fourth in the Big Ten. Saldate and Lee battled to a scoreless first period, before Saldate took a 2-0 lead late in the second stanza. Lee countered with a takedown, but Saldate got an escape for a 3-2 advantage with just over a minute left in the period. Another takedown by Lee gave the Gopher a 4-3 lead with 50 seconds to go, and Lee later yielded an escape to Saldate with 15 seconds left for a 4-4 score, but Lee had the riding time advantage for the 5-4 decision.
"Going into the second match, I was pretty confident in myself, especially coming off not being able to compete in a long time, it felt good to be back in competition mode. I was confident and ready to wrestle a full seven minutes," Saldate said. "I knew it was going to be a brawl, Brayton Lee is a very tough kid and ranked very high, so I was just ready to go out there and scrap and see what happened."
While he didn't get the win, Saldate's effort and performance in his second match of the day wasn't lost on his coaches or teammates.
"He was huge for us today. I'd say what was even bigger than his pin in the first match today, was his second match, even though he lost, that kid from Minnesota that he was up against is really good, I've seen that kid beat some other really good kids, and Chase lost by this much," Caffey said holding his fingers very close together. "I think that that says a lot about a lot more about him than that pin was just he's arguably right there with some of the best guys at his weight and he has another potentially four years to go, that's huge for Michigan State and for him. I definitely was happy to see him go out there and wrestle the way he did."
Other notable wins for the Spartans was redshirt-junior Rayvon Foley, making his return to action at 125 pounds, after redshirting the 2019-20 season with an injury. Foley, who entered the season ranked No. 2 in nearly all of the rankings, had a successful return to the mat, with a 17-0 technical fall over UMD's King Sandoval in the first match of the day, jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead with a takedown and four-point nearfall and never looking back. Foley was edged by No. 22 Patrick McKee in a hard-fought battle, 10-6.
Additionally, redshirt-senior Jake Spiess and redshirt-junior Brad Wilton picked up pins in their respective 141-pound and heavyweight bouts. Spiess pinned Maryland's Danny Bertoni in just 57 seconds, while Wilton pinned the Terps' Connor Bowes at 3:14 to close out the 42-0 victory for MSU.
No. 13 Jake Tucker picked up a 6-3 decision over Maryland's Jonathan Spadafora, but was edged in a ranked-showdown with No. 16 Andrew Sparks of Minnesota, 8-7.
Michigan State hits the road for its next three dates, beginning on Sunday, Jan. 24 at Penn State, then Friday, Jan. 29 at Ohio State. The road stretch wraps up with a quad meet hosted by Indiana, taking on the host Hoosiers, along with Nebraska and Rutgers, on Saturday, Feb. 6.
"I think the main thing that we've got to focus on each individual up and down the lineup, and what we've got to work on," Chandler said. "That's what we talked about in the locker room after that last match today, is that everybody's got different issues that we have to address, and that's a great thing about the sport of wrestling is nobody's invincible and everybody's beatable, and we saw that today. We're not far off, I think we just have to fix a few technical issues through a positional standpoint, and know what I believe in my guys and I think they'll respond well."
The Spartans return home to host Purdue on Friday, Feb. 12, before wrapping up regular-season action with Michigan on Friday, Feb. 19.
No. 25 Michigan State 42, Maryland 0
125: No. 2 Rayvon Foley (MSU) tech. fall over King Sandoval (UMD), 17-0 at 4:35; MSU leads, 5-0
133: Jordan Hamdan (MSU) dec. Jackson Cockrell (UMD), 13-12, MSU leads, 8-0
141: Jacob Spiess (MSU) fall over Danny Bertoni (UMD), 0:57, MSU leads, 14-0
149: Peyton Omania (MSU) dec. Michael North (UMD), 13-9; MSU leads, 17-0
157: Chase Saldate (MSU) fall over Lucas Cordio (UMD), 1:32; MSU leads, 23-0
165: No. 13 Jake Tucker (MSU) dec. Jonathan Spadafora (UMD), 6-3; MSU leads, 26-0
174: No. 17 Drew Hughes (MSU) dec. Philip Spadafora (UMD), 4-2; MSU leads, 29-0
184: No. 19 Layne Malczewski (MSU) dec. Kyle Cochran (UMD), 7-1; MSU leads, 32-0
197: No. 7 Cameron Caffey (MSU) maj. dec. Kevin Makosy (UMD), 14-4; MSU leads, 36-0
HWT: Brad Wilton (MSU) fall over Connor Bowes (UMD), 3:14; MSU wins, 42-0
Extra Matches:
125: Tristan Lujan (MSU) maj. dec. Dainon Kapes (UMD), 17-6
133: Andrew Chambal (MSU) dec. Nathan Porter (UMD), 3-1
149: Hunter Baxter (UMD) dec. Jackson Renicker (MSU), 8-3
174: Dominic Solis (UMD) maj. dec. Nathan Jimenez (MSU), 9-1
No. 14 Minnesota def. Maryland, 48-0
125: No. 22 Patrick McKee (MINN) maj. dec. King Sandoval (UMD), 19-6; MINN leads, 4-0
133: No. 24 Boo Dryden (MINN) fall over Jackson Cockrell (UMD), 5:53; MINN leads, 10-0
141: Marcus Polanco (MINN) dec. Danny Bertoni (UMD), 6-0; MINN leads, 13-0
149: No. 19 Michael Blockus (MINN) inj. default over Michael North (UMD) at 1:27; 6-0; MINN leads, 19-0
157: No. 6 Brayton Lee (MINN) fall over Lucas Cordio (UMD), 5:00: MINN leads, 25-0
165: No. 16 Andrew Sparks (MINN) maj. dec. Jonathan Spadafora (UMD), 14-3; MINN leads, 29-0
174: Jake Allar (MINN) fall over Dominic Solis (UMD), 1:28; MINN leads, 35-0
184: Owen Webster (MINN) maj. dec. Kyle Cochran (UMD), 11-2; MINN leads, 39-0
197: Garrett Joles (MINN) dec. Jaron Smith (UMD), 9-6; MINN leads, 42-0
HWT: No. 1 Gable Steveson (MINN) fall over Connor Bowes (UMD), 0:13; MINN wins, 48-0
Extra Matches:
133: Jake Gliva (MINN) maj. dec. Nathan Porter (UMD), 14-5
141: Brent Jones (MINN) dec. Jaden Enriquez (MSU), 4-0
149: Jake Bergeland (MINN) dec. Hunter Baxter (UMD), 7-2
157: Cael Carlson (MINN) dec. Nathan Atienza (MSU), 10-3
165: Caleb Fish (MSU) dec. Bailee O'Reilly (MINN), 3-1
165: Miles Hoey (MSU) dec. Baylor Fernandes (MINN), 13-8
184: Isaiah Salazar (MINN) maj. dec. Wyatt Cool (MSU), 15-2
197: Rowan Morgan (MINN) dec. Austen Malczewski (MSU), 5-4
197: Dylan Anderson (MINN) dec. Kevin Makosy (UMD), 7-2
HWT: Keaton Kluever (MINN) dec. Nick Cooper (MSU), 5-2
No. 14 Minnesota 28, No. 25 Michigan State 6
125: No. 22 Patrick McKee (MINN) dec. No. 2 Rayvon Foley (MSU), 10-6; MINN leads, 3-0
133: No. 24 Boo Dryden (MINN) dec. Tristan Lujan (MSU), 6-1; MINN leads, 6-0
141: Marcos Polanco (MINN) dec. Jacob Spiess (MSU), 7-1; MINN leads, 9-0
149: No. 19 Michael Blockhus (MINN) maj. dec. Peyton Omania (MSU), 16-4; MINN leads, 13-0
157: No. 6 Brayton Lee (MINN) dec. Chase Saldate (MSU), 5-4; MINN leads, 16-0
165: No. 16 Andrew Sparks (MINN) dec. No. 13 Jake Tucker (MSU), 8-7; MINN leads, 19-0
174: Jake Allar (MINN) maj. dec. No. 17 Drew Hughes (MSU), 13-1; MINN leads, 23-0
184: No. 19 Layne Malczewski (MSU) dec. Owen Webster (MINN), 9-6; MINN leads, 23-3
197: No. 7 Cameron Caffey (MSU) dec. Garret Joles (MINN), 12-5; MINN leads, 23-6
HWT: No. 1 Gable Steveson (MINN) tech. fall over Brad Wilton (MSU), 23-8 at 3:10; MINN wins, 28-6
Extra Matches:
133: Jake Gliva (MINN) maj. dec. Andrew Chambal (MSU), 13-3
149: Jake Bergeland (MINN) maj. dec. Eddie Homrock (MSU), 12-4
197: Dylan Anderson (MINN) dec. Austen Malczewski (MSU), 11-6
165: Caleb Fish (MSU) fall over Baylor Fernandes (MINN), fall at SV 7:41
Attendance: 157
*Extra Matches: Due to only wrestling within the conference, the Big Ten will permit schools to hold extra matches on competition dates. Though they will not count towards dual scoring, they will count towards an individual's varsity record for purposes of seeding for the conference and national tournament.
After the 2020 NCAA Championships and the early portion of the 2021 season were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MSU had its first action since the 2020 Big Ten Championships on March 8, 2020.
Saturday's Spartan shutout of the Terrapins was MSU's second-straight season with a shutout over Maryland, matching last season's 36-0 shutout on Jan. 19, 2020 in East Lansing. That was one of two blankings by the Spartans a year ago, with a 44-0 shutout of Duke earlier in the season.
The Spartans were led by redshirt-junior Cameron Caffey and redshirt-sophomore Layne Malczewski both going 2-0. Caffey, ranked No. 7 at 197 by FloWrestling, posted a 14-4 major decision over Kevin Makosy of Maryland and beat Garret Joles of Minnesota in a 12-5 decision. Malczewski, ranked No. 19 at 184 by Flo, logged a 7-1 decision over Kyle Cochran of Maryland and topped Minnesota's Owen Webster in a 9-6 decision in a hotly-contested battle.
MSU is now 1-1 on the season after its first weekend of action. Minnesota and Maryland opened last season, and the Golden Gophers improved to 2-1 with Saturday's sweep of their two matches, while the Terrapins are 0-3 with the two losses.
"It was a our first competition of the year and we haven't competed in about 10-and-a-half months, and I think a lot showed of what we need to work on is that, technically, and we have to look at our conditioning a little bit," MSU head coach Roger Chandler said. "You could tell in both matches that both those teams had matches last week and they were kind of adjusted already, I think that was the downside, between them being able to compete last week and us not being able to. But now we'll go back to work and make some adjustments for next week when we go to Penn State."
Caffey got off to a 2-0 start to the season, but the 2020 NCAA Qualifier and NWCA All-American knows it was something to build on moving forward the rest of the year.
"I definitely didn't win them the way that I wanted to, they were definitely a lot closer today than I was expecting them to be ... so it was definitely a little bit harder than I expected it to be," Caffey said. "I'm happy I won, but pretty obvious there's some stuff for me to work on."
Other highlights from Saturday included freshman Chase Saldate making a smashing Spartan debut, pinning Lucas Cordio of UMD in just 1:32.
"It was pretty exciting, I was pretty nervous going out, being one of two freshmen starting, and I didn't really know what to expect, wrestling in one of the toughest conferences in the country. After I got that first pin, in kind of set in and reality hit, that yeah, I can wrestle here and I'll be fine," Saldate said.
In his second match, which was arguably the match of the day, Saldate matched up with Minnesota's Brayton Lee, who is ranked No. 6 by Flo and was an NCAA qualifier last season after finishing fourth in the Big Ten. Saldate and Lee battled to a scoreless first period, before Saldate took a 2-0 lead late in the second stanza. Lee countered with a takedown, but Saldate got an escape for a 3-2 advantage with just over a minute left in the period. Another takedown by Lee gave the Gopher a 4-3 lead with 50 seconds to go, and Lee later yielded an escape to Saldate with 15 seconds left for a 4-4 score, but Lee had the riding time advantage for the 5-4 decision.
"Going into the second match, I was pretty confident in myself, especially coming off not being able to compete in a long time, it felt good to be back in competition mode. I was confident and ready to wrestle a full seven minutes," Saldate said. "I knew it was going to be a brawl, Brayton Lee is a very tough kid and ranked very high, so I was just ready to go out there and scrap and see what happened."
While he didn't get the win, Saldate's effort and performance in his second match of the day wasn't lost on his coaches or teammates.
"He was huge for us today. I'd say what was even bigger than his pin in the first match today, was his second match, even though he lost, that kid from Minnesota that he was up against is really good, I've seen that kid beat some other really good kids, and Chase lost by this much," Caffey said holding his fingers very close together. "I think that that says a lot about a lot more about him than that pin was just he's arguably right there with some of the best guys at his weight and he has another potentially four years to go, that's huge for Michigan State and for him. I definitely was happy to see him go out there and wrestle the way he did."
Other notable wins for the Spartans was redshirt-junior Rayvon Foley, making his return to action at 125 pounds, after redshirting the 2019-20 season with an injury. Foley, who entered the season ranked No. 2 in nearly all of the rankings, had a successful return to the mat, with a 17-0 technical fall over UMD's King Sandoval in the first match of the day, jumping out to a quick 6-0 lead with a takedown and four-point nearfall and never looking back. Foley was edged by No. 22 Patrick McKee in a hard-fought battle, 10-6.
Additionally, redshirt-senior Jake Spiess and redshirt-junior Brad Wilton picked up pins in their respective 141-pound and heavyweight bouts. Spiess pinned Maryland's Danny Bertoni in just 57 seconds, while Wilton pinned the Terps' Connor Bowes at 3:14 to close out the 42-0 victory for MSU.
No. 13 Jake Tucker picked up a 6-3 decision over Maryland's Jonathan Spadafora, but was edged in a ranked-showdown with No. 16 Andrew Sparks of Minnesota, 8-7.
Michigan State hits the road for its next three dates, beginning on Sunday, Jan. 24 at Penn State, then Friday, Jan. 29 at Ohio State. The road stretch wraps up with a quad meet hosted by Indiana, taking on the host Hoosiers, along with Nebraska and Rutgers, on Saturday, Feb. 6.
"I think the main thing that we've got to focus on each individual up and down the lineup, and what we've got to work on," Chandler said. "That's what we talked about in the locker room after that last match today, is that everybody's got different issues that we have to address, and that's a great thing about the sport of wrestling is nobody's invincible and everybody's beatable, and we saw that today. We're not far off, I think we just have to fix a few technical issues through a positional standpoint, and know what I believe in my guys and I think they'll respond well."
The Spartans return home to host Purdue on Friday, Feb. 12, before wrapping up regular-season action with Michigan on Friday, Feb. 19.
No. 25 Michigan State 42, Maryland 0
125: No. 2 Rayvon Foley (MSU) tech. fall over King Sandoval (UMD), 17-0 at 4:35; MSU leads, 5-0
133: Jordan Hamdan (MSU) dec. Jackson Cockrell (UMD), 13-12, MSU leads, 8-0
141: Jacob Spiess (MSU) fall over Danny Bertoni (UMD), 0:57, MSU leads, 14-0
149: Peyton Omania (MSU) dec. Michael North (UMD), 13-9; MSU leads, 17-0
157: Chase Saldate (MSU) fall over Lucas Cordio (UMD), 1:32; MSU leads, 23-0
165: No. 13 Jake Tucker (MSU) dec. Jonathan Spadafora (UMD), 6-3; MSU leads, 26-0
174: No. 17 Drew Hughes (MSU) dec. Philip Spadafora (UMD), 4-2; MSU leads, 29-0
184: No. 19 Layne Malczewski (MSU) dec. Kyle Cochran (UMD), 7-1; MSU leads, 32-0
197: No. 7 Cameron Caffey (MSU) maj. dec. Kevin Makosy (UMD), 14-4; MSU leads, 36-0
HWT: Brad Wilton (MSU) fall over Connor Bowes (UMD), 3:14; MSU wins, 42-0
Extra Matches:
125: Tristan Lujan (MSU) maj. dec. Dainon Kapes (UMD), 17-6
133: Andrew Chambal (MSU) dec. Nathan Porter (UMD), 3-1
149: Hunter Baxter (UMD) dec. Jackson Renicker (MSU), 8-3
174: Dominic Solis (UMD) maj. dec. Nathan Jimenez (MSU), 9-1
No. 14 Minnesota def. Maryland, 48-0
125: No. 22 Patrick McKee (MINN) maj. dec. King Sandoval (UMD), 19-6; MINN leads, 4-0
133: No. 24 Boo Dryden (MINN) fall over Jackson Cockrell (UMD), 5:53; MINN leads, 10-0
141: Marcus Polanco (MINN) dec. Danny Bertoni (UMD), 6-0; MINN leads, 13-0
149: No. 19 Michael Blockus (MINN) inj. default over Michael North (UMD) at 1:27; 6-0; MINN leads, 19-0
157: No. 6 Brayton Lee (MINN) fall over Lucas Cordio (UMD), 5:00: MINN leads, 25-0
165: No. 16 Andrew Sparks (MINN) maj. dec. Jonathan Spadafora (UMD), 14-3; MINN leads, 29-0
174: Jake Allar (MINN) fall over Dominic Solis (UMD), 1:28; MINN leads, 35-0
184: Owen Webster (MINN) maj. dec. Kyle Cochran (UMD), 11-2; MINN leads, 39-0
197: Garrett Joles (MINN) dec. Jaron Smith (UMD), 9-6; MINN leads, 42-0
HWT: No. 1 Gable Steveson (MINN) fall over Connor Bowes (UMD), 0:13; MINN wins, 48-0
Extra Matches:
133: Jake Gliva (MINN) maj. dec. Nathan Porter (UMD), 14-5
141: Brent Jones (MINN) dec. Jaden Enriquez (MSU), 4-0
149: Jake Bergeland (MINN) dec. Hunter Baxter (UMD), 7-2
157: Cael Carlson (MINN) dec. Nathan Atienza (MSU), 10-3
165: Caleb Fish (MSU) dec. Bailee O'Reilly (MINN), 3-1
165: Miles Hoey (MSU) dec. Baylor Fernandes (MINN), 13-8
184: Isaiah Salazar (MINN) maj. dec. Wyatt Cool (MSU), 15-2
197: Rowan Morgan (MINN) dec. Austen Malczewski (MSU), 5-4
197: Dylan Anderson (MINN) dec. Kevin Makosy (UMD), 7-2
HWT: Keaton Kluever (MINN) dec. Nick Cooper (MSU), 5-2
No. 14 Minnesota 28, No. 25 Michigan State 6
125: No. 22 Patrick McKee (MINN) dec. No. 2 Rayvon Foley (MSU), 10-6; MINN leads, 3-0
133: No. 24 Boo Dryden (MINN) dec. Tristan Lujan (MSU), 6-1; MINN leads, 6-0
141: Marcos Polanco (MINN) dec. Jacob Spiess (MSU), 7-1; MINN leads, 9-0
149: No. 19 Michael Blockhus (MINN) maj. dec. Peyton Omania (MSU), 16-4; MINN leads, 13-0
157: No. 6 Brayton Lee (MINN) dec. Chase Saldate (MSU), 5-4; MINN leads, 16-0
165: No. 16 Andrew Sparks (MINN) dec. No. 13 Jake Tucker (MSU), 8-7; MINN leads, 19-0
174: Jake Allar (MINN) maj. dec. No. 17 Drew Hughes (MSU), 13-1; MINN leads, 23-0
184: No. 19 Layne Malczewski (MSU) dec. Owen Webster (MINN), 9-6; MINN leads, 23-3
197: No. 7 Cameron Caffey (MSU) dec. Garret Joles (MINN), 12-5; MINN leads, 23-6
HWT: No. 1 Gable Steveson (MINN) tech. fall over Brad Wilton (MSU), 23-8 at 3:10; MINN wins, 28-6
Extra Matches:
133: Jake Gliva (MINN) maj. dec. Andrew Chambal (MSU), 13-3
149: Jake Bergeland (MINN) maj. dec. Eddie Homrock (MSU), 12-4
197: Dylan Anderson (MINN) dec. Austen Malczewski (MSU), 11-6
165: Caleb Fish (MSU) fall over Baylor Fernandes (MINN), fall at SV 7:41
Attendance: 157
*Extra Matches: Due to only wrestling within the conference, the Big Ten will permit schools to hold extra matches on competition dates. Though they will not count towards dual scoring, they will count towards an individual's varsity record for purposes of seeding for the conference and national tournament.
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Wednesday, December 21