Michigan State Wrestling Announces 2021 Team Awards
5/14/2021 4:30:00 PM | Wrestling
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State wrestling head coach Roger Chandler announced the Spartans' team award winners for the 2020-21 season.
MSU finished the COVID-19 pandemic shortened season with a 2-5 record, as the Spartans competed in a Big Ten Conference-only schedule, having two matches canceled due to student-athlete health and safety concerns.
The Spartans finished eighth at the 2021 Big Ten Championships, hosted by Penn State, and MSU had three individuals finish in the top four.
Michigan State ended in eighth-place with 73.5 points, MSU's both highest finish and most points under Chandler. The eighth-place finish is also the highest Michigan State finish since 2010 when the Spartans were seventh. The 73.5 points is the most since 92.5 points in 2003 when MSU was third.
Spartan wrestling sent eight wrestlers to the 2021 NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Missouri.
After seven Spartans, Rayvon Foley, Jordan Hamdan, Chase Saldate, Jake Tucker, Drew Hughes, Layne Malczewski and Cameron Caffey earned automatic berths at the Big Ten Championships, Peyton Omania was part of the 64 at-large selections.Â
The eight NCAA qualifying Spartans is the most since 2000 when MSU also sent eight.Â
Hamdan received the Tom Muir Most Improved Award, while Malczewski collected the Commitment Award. Saldate was tabbed as the Outstanding Freshman, while Nick Cooper earned the Grady Peninger Scholastic Achievement Award. Foley was the recipient of the Perseverance Award, as well as Co-Outstanding Wrestler Award, sharing the honor with Caffey, and Omania received the Special Moment Award. The Manager Awards were awarded to Kira Chandler and Maddie Coon.
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Tom Muir Most Improved Award: Jordan Hamdan
Hamdan, a redshirt-freshman from Hudson, Mich., made a smashing debut in the Spartan lineup, qualifying for the NCAA Championships at 133 pounds, and was the recipient of the MSU Tom Muir Most Improved. Hamdan earned All-Big Ten accolades after finishing seventh at the B1G Championships. Posting a 7-8 overall record for the 2020-21 season, Hamdan registered a 2-4 duals record, along with tallying one tech. fall and one major decision. Hamdan went 3-2 at the B1G Championships, defeated Boo Dryden of Minnesota, 9-2, in the seventh-place bout, avenging a 3-2 decision to Dryden in the opening match. At his first NCAA Championships, Hamdan was seeded No. 30, and went 1-2, losing to No. 3 seed Korbin Myers of Virginia Tech, but bouncing back to defeat No. 33 seed Bryce West of Northern Illinois in a 19-3 tech. fall, before getting knocked off by No. 19 seed Chance Rich of Cal. State-Bakersfield.Â
Muir began wrestling as a senior in high school and joined the Spartans as a walk-on. After a slow start to his wrestling career at Michigan State, Muir went on to become a Big Ten Champion his senior season in 1969. Muir attributes his improvement and success to his work ethic, his teammates and his enjoyment and love of the sport.
"With Jordan being a freshman, we expected big things out of him, but he got out of the gates a little slow during the season," Chandler said. "We just thought his improvement throughout the months of January and February leading up to the Big Ten championships, and he timed everything perfect and peaked at the right time and there's no doubt he was most improved wrestler our team. He beat some good guys and got to the national championships, and he's the type of guy that we look to, and the type of trend we want in our student-athletes as far as improving throughout the year."
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Commitment Award: Austen Malczewski
A redshirt-junior from Washington, Mich., Austen Malczewski, was the recipient of the Commitment Award. Malczewski wrestled at 197 pounds, competing in five of the extra matches coinciding with Big Ten duals, putting to use everything he learned in the practice gym. Malczewski's highlight of the season came in a 7-2 win over Nebraska's Brandyn Van Tassel at the Indiana Tri-Meet.
"Austen Malczewski earned the Commitment Award. Austen is a unique kid, because he does everything that we expect and one out of the student-athlete obviously," Chandler said. "But he's also a unique kid because he's not a starter within our program, but he's one of the best students within our program carries a GPA between 3.8 and 3.9, and he had an opportunity to step away this year, graduate early and he had an internship to move on to. We talked to him early on, and he committed to the program because we needed some depth, we needed training partners, and we truly appreciate his commitment to our program and to everybody, all the individuals and all the student-athletes in the program. There's no doubt that his commitment in the classroom and in the practice room is a great example and role model for what we expect from our Spartan wrestlers."
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Outstanding Freshman Award: Chase Saldate
Saldate, a Gilroy, Calif., native, wrestled at 157 pounds and erupted out of the gates as a Spartan, posting a pin in his very first collegiate match, and had a solid debut season to earn the Outstanding Freshman Award. Just 1:32 into his first match, Saldate pinned Lucas Cordio of Maryland in the season-opener. After a hard-fought, narrow 5-4 loss to No. 6 Brayton Lee of Minnesota, Saldate reeled off three-straight shutouts, including back-to-back 8-0 major decisions on the same day at the Indiana Tri-Meet with Nebraska. As the No. 7 seed at the B1G Championships, Saldate opened his first conference championship meet with a fall and went on to finish fourth. Saldate qualified for the NCAA Championships and was the No. 15 seed. He finished his first season in the Green & White with an 8-7 record with a 4-3 duals record. Saldate was fourth on the team in overall wins, tied for third in dual wins, second in dual points (17), as well as tying for the team lead with two falls and sharing top honors on the team with two major decisions, and his fall in 1:32 was the third-fastest of the season.
"Chase Saldate was a near obvious choice for Outstanding Freshman of the Year, he came in as a true freshman and knocked off several nationally ranked guys throughout the year, compounded with beating the number seven ranked guy at the Big Ten Championships that he lost to earlier during the dual meet season," Chandler said. "We expect big things out of Chase Saldate in the future, but undoubtedly, he was our outstanding freshman this year."
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Grady Peninger Scholastic Achievement Award: Nick Cooper
Cooper is a native of Albion, Mich., and has earned the Grady Peninger Scholastic Achievement Award for the second-straight year. Cooper graduated this spring with his degree in criminal justice, finishing with a 3.792 cumulative GPA. He is a two-time Winter Academic All-Big Ten Selection, and Cooper also earned MSU Athletics Highest Honors this spring. Cooper wrestled in two extra matches this season. He is the second spartan wrestler of his family, joining older brother Jacob Cooper.
"The Grady Peninger Scholastic Achievement Award goes to Nick Cooper," Chandler said. "Nick carries a cumulative GPA around a 3.8 and was right around a 4.0 this academic year alone. From an academic standpoint and commitment to the program, Nick is an obvious choice for this award named after Coach Peninger and the tradition he started here at Michigan State, and Nick is a great example of all of Coach Peninger's values that he looked for in a Spartan wrestler. Nick definitely exemplifies what we want from our kids in the classroom."
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Perseverance Award: Rayvon Foley
The MSU Wrestler Perseverance Award is awarded to Spartan wrestlers who have bounced back from setbacks in their wrestling careers to go on and have great success. Foley, a redshirt-junior from Ann Arbor, Mich., is the epitome of that definition. Foley redshirted the 2019-20 season with an injury, and had a smashing return to action in the 2020-21 season, holding a Top 10 ranking throughout the season, and entered the B1G Championships as the No. 5 seed, and went on to finish third. He opened the conference championship meet with an 11-1 major decision over Jacob Moran of Indiana, and then posted a 20-4 tech. fall over Dylan Shawyer of Rutgers, before being defeated by top-seed and eventual B1G and NCAA champion Spencer Lee of Iowa. Foley bounced back with a 6-2 decision over Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern and then an 8-2 decision over Malik Heinselman of Ohio State in the third-place bout. Qualifying for his third NCAA Championships, Foley earned the No. 8 seed and opened with a 14-0 major decision over Logan Treaster of Navy, before getting edged in a 2-1 decision by No. 9 seed Devin Schroder of Purdue. In a rematch with Heinselman, Foley posted a 6-3 decision, before being knocked off by Killian Cardinale of West Virginia. Foley finished the 2020-21 season with a 10-6 record, ranking second on the team in overall wins, as well as tied for third on the team with a 4-3 duals mark, and fourth with 15 dual points. He led the team with two tech. falls, as well as sharing the team lead with two major decisions.
"The Perseverance Award goes to Rayvon Foley," Chandler said. "He went through quite a bit this year. Coming off a redshirt year last year after a couple surgeries, he was primed for a big year, but then going into this year he started having some shoulder pain and he just chose to deal with the pain all season long and didn't have it really looked at until after the season, and we found out after the postseason at NCAA championships that he had a pretty severely injured shoulder and he never complained, he was willing to put it on the line each and every day for his team and for himself to try to get on the podium again, but that's why he was named the Perseverance Award Winner."
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Co-Outstanding Wrestler Award: Cameron Caffey and Rayvon Foley
Foley and Cameron Caffey share the Outstanding Wrestler Award. While Foley earned his first MSU Wrestling Outstanding Wrestler Award for his aforementioned accomplishments, Caffey is the recipient of the accolade for the second year in row.Â
This season, Caffey registered a team-leading 11 wins, and was ranked in the Top 10 for a majority of the season. Caffey finished with an 11-6 record, with five of his losses coming to opponents ranked in the Top 5. He opened the season with four-straight wins, before a narrow, hard-fought tight, 6-5, battle with No. 2 Eric Schultz of Nebraska. Caffey entered the B1G Championships as the No. 4 seed and opened the conference meet with a 7-1 decision over Nick Willham of Indiana, then notched a 6-5 decision over fifth-seeded Lucas Davison of Northwestern, before another one-point decision loss to Schultz, this time a 2-1 decision in the semifinals. Caffey bounced back with a 6-5 win over Michael Beard of Penn State, before being defeated by third-seeded Jacob Warner of Iowa, 8-3, in the consolation final. Caffey earned the No. 10 seed at the NCAA Championships, becoming a three-time NCAA Qualifier, and opened with a 14-6 major decision over Bryan McLaughlin of Drexel, before getting upset by No. 26 seed Jake Woodley of Oklahoma in a tough, 4-3 decision. Caffey bounced back with a vengeance, posting back-to-back falls over No. 24 seed Benjamin Smith (Cleveland State) and No. 31 Owen Pentz (North Dakota State), before a hard-fought, 4-1 loss to No. 5 seed Jacob Warner of Iowa. Caffey finished with a 5-2 duals record, ranking second on the team, as well as third on the team with 16 dual points. He also shared the team lead in both falls and major decisions, with two of each.
"Our Outstanding Wrestler Award goes to both Cameron Caffey and Ravyon Foley, they led the way all year long, and they both have unique qualities and both compete at the absolute highest levels of what we want out of each and every one of our guys," Chandler said. "While they came up short of being on the podium at the NCAA Championships, there's no doubt that both of these guys have led the way from a competitive and success standpoint this season, and they pushed deep into the NCAA Tournament, which is what we want out of our program, and each and every one of our guys."
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Special Moment Award: Peyton Omania
Omania is the recipient of the Special Moment Award. A redshirt-freshman, Omania is a native of Concord, Calif., and wrestled at 149 pounds. In MSU's dual vs. No. 4 Michigan on Feb. 19, as a special tribute to his De La Salle High School and Greco-Roman coach, Mark Halvorson, who unexpectedly passed away the previous week, Omania upset No. 5 Kanen Storr of Michigan, 15-8. After the win, Omania collapsed on the mat in emotion, then celebrated, pointing up at his dad who traveled from California. The Spartan used a frenzied start complete with two headlocks to open a 12-1 lead in the first period, as Omania scored a pair of takedowns and ensuing four-point nearfalls. Omania's 15 points was a new season-high for him and he now has double-digit points in all three wins. The 15 points were nearly twice as many as Storr's previous high for points allowed against him, after an 8-1 loss on Feb. 12. Omania, unranked in four of the five rankings and No. 32 in TheOpenMat rankings at the time, upset the two-time All-American Storr, who was ranked in the top eight in all five rankings, including No. 5 in InterMat and TheOpenMat. The emotional win was recognized by both NCAA Wrestling and USA Wrestling, and Omania was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week on Feb. 24.
Omania finished with four wins this season, and was the No. 9 seed at the B1G Championships, opening with a 9-6 upset of No. 8 seeded Mike Van Brill of Rutgers, before a loss to top-seeded and eventual B1G Champion Sammy Sasso of Ohio State, and Omania was knocked off by Graham Rooks of Indiana. Qualifying for his first NCAA Championships, Omania was the No. 28 seed, being defeated by No. 5 seed Ridge Lovett of Nebraska, and then getting knocked off by Rooks again for the second time in as many postseason championships meet. Omania ended with a 3-4 duals record, and was tied for second on the team with one major decision.
"Our Special Moment Award was another obvious choice, going to Peyton Omania," Chandler said. "Coming off his high school coach and mentor, Coach Halverson, passing away during the middle of our season. I know he truly looks up to Coach Halverson, and is probably one of the biggest influences in Peyton's life and for Peyton to come back from finding out about his death during the week of practice leading up to his match against the number five guy in the country and almost get a major decision against our in-state rival, I think it says it all. That was a special moment of the year for not only Payton, but for our program as well."
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Manager Awards: Kira Chandler and Maddie Coon
Chandler and Coon were an integral part of the Spartan wrestling program, doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work, including practice and meet set up, equipment and gear maintenance, statistics and scoring during a meet, filming practice and competitions, among many other responsibilities.
"Obviously, in this unique year, having Kira Chandler and Maddie Coon step up and help along the way with everything from issuing team gear to arranging team meals when we're on the road," Coach Chandler said. Â "It was a big undertaking throughout the season, and they committed to the testing and everything that went along with that, and we truly appreciate, and we know we couldn't do our jobs effectively without their support."
Michigan State Wrestling 2021 Team Awards
Tom Muir Most Improved Award: Jordan Hamdan
Commitment Award: Austen Malczewski
Outstanding Freshman Award: Chase Saldate
Grady Peninger Scholastic Achievement Award: Nick Cooper
Perseverance Award: Rayvon Foley
Co-Outstanding Wrestler Award: Cameron Caffey & Rayvon Foley
Special Moment Award: Peyton Omania
Managers Award: Kira Chandler & Maddie Coon
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MSU finished the COVID-19 pandemic shortened season with a 2-5 record, as the Spartans competed in a Big Ten Conference-only schedule, having two matches canceled due to student-athlete health and safety concerns.
The Spartans finished eighth at the 2021 Big Ten Championships, hosted by Penn State, and MSU had three individuals finish in the top four.
Michigan State ended in eighth-place with 73.5 points, MSU's both highest finish and most points under Chandler. The eighth-place finish is also the highest Michigan State finish since 2010 when the Spartans were seventh. The 73.5 points is the most since 92.5 points in 2003 when MSU was third.
Spartan wrestling sent eight wrestlers to the 2021 NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Missouri.
After seven Spartans, Rayvon Foley, Jordan Hamdan, Chase Saldate, Jake Tucker, Drew Hughes, Layne Malczewski and Cameron Caffey earned automatic berths at the Big Ten Championships, Peyton Omania was part of the 64 at-large selections.Â
The eight NCAA qualifying Spartans is the most since 2000 when MSU also sent eight.Â
Hamdan received the Tom Muir Most Improved Award, while Malczewski collected the Commitment Award. Saldate was tabbed as the Outstanding Freshman, while Nick Cooper earned the Grady Peninger Scholastic Achievement Award. Foley was the recipient of the Perseverance Award, as well as Co-Outstanding Wrestler Award, sharing the honor with Caffey, and Omania received the Special Moment Award. The Manager Awards were awarded to Kira Chandler and Maddie Coon.
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Tom Muir Most Improved Award: Jordan Hamdan
Hamdan, a redshirt-freshman from Hudson, Mich., made a smashing debut in the Spartan lineup, qualifying for the NCAA Championships at 133 pounds, and was the recipient of the MSU Tom Muir Most Improved. Hamdan earned All-Big Ten accolades after finishing seventh at the B1G Championships. Posting a 7-8 overall record for the 2020-21 season, Hamdan registered a 2-4 duals record, along with tallying one tech. fall and one major decision. Hamdan went 3-2 at the B1G Championships, defeated Boo Dryden of Minnesota, 9-2, in the seventh-place bout, avenging a 3-2 decision to Dryden in the opening match. At his first NCAA Championships, Hamdan was seeded No. 30, and went 1-2, losing to No. 3 seed Korbin Myers of Virginia Tech, but bouncing back to defeat No. 33 seed Bryce West of Northern Illinois in a 19-3 tech. fall, before getting knocked off by No. 19 seed Chance Rich of Cal. State-Bakersfield.Â
Muir began wrestling as a senior in high school and joined the Spartans as a walk-on. After a slow start to his wrestling career at Michigan State, Muir went on to become a Big Ten Champion his senior season in 1969. Muir attributes his improvement and success to his work ethic, his teammates and his enjoyment and love of the sport.
"With Jordan being a freshman, we expected big things out of him, but he got out of the gates a little slow during the season," Chandler said. "We just thought his improvement throughout the months of January and February leading up to the Big Ten championships, and he timed everything perfect and peaked at the right time and there's no doubt he was most improved wrestler our team. He beat some good guys and got to the national championships, and he's the type of guy that we look to, and the type of trend we want in our student-athletes as far as improving throughout the year."
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Commitment Award: Austen Malczewski
A redshirt-junior from Washington, Mich., Austen Malczewski, was the recipient of the Commitment Award. Malczewski wrestled at 197 pounds, competing in five of the extra matches coinciding with Big Ten duals, putting to use everything he learned in the practice gym. Malczewski's highlight of the season came in a 7-2 win over Nebraska's Brandyn Van Tassel at the Indiana Tri-Meet.
"Austen Malczewski earned the Commitment Award. Austen is a unique kid, because he does everything that we expect and one out of the student-athlete obviously," Chandler said. "But he's also a unique kid because he's not a starter within our program, but he's one of the best students within our program carries a GPA between 3.8 and 3.9, and he had an opportunity to step away this year, graduate early and he had an internship to move on to. We talked to him early on, and he committed to the program because we needed some depth, we needed training partners, and we truly appreciate his commitment to our program and to everybody, all the individuals and all the student-athletes in the program. There's no doubt that his commitment in the classroom and in the practice room is a great example and role model for what we expect from our Spartan wrestlers."
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Outstanding Freshman Award: Chase Saldate
Saldate, a Gilroy, Calif., native, wrestled at 157 pounds and erupted out of the gates as a Spartan, posting a pin in his very first collegiate match, and had a solid debut season to earn the Outstanding Freshman Award. Just 1:32 into his first match, Saldate pinned Lucas Cordio of Maryland in the season-opener. After a hard-fought, narrow 5-4 loss to No. 6 Brayton Lee of Minnesota, Saldate reeled off three-straight shutouts, including back-to-back 8-0 major decisions on the same day at the Indiana Tri-Meet with Nebraska. As the No. 7 seed at the B1G Championships, Saldate opened his first conference championship meet with a fall and went on to finish fourth. Saldate qualified for the NCAA Championships and was the No. 15 seed. He finished his first season in the Green & White with an 8-7 record with a 4-3 duals record. Saldate was fourth on the team in overall wins, tied for third in dual wins, second in dual points (17), as well as tying for the team lead with two falls and sharing top honors on the team with two major decisions, and his fall in 1:32 was the third-fastest of the season.
"Chase Saldate was a near obvious choice for Outstanding Freshman of the Year, he came in as a true freshman and knocked off several nationally ranked guys throughout the year, compounded with beating the number seven ranked guy at the Big Ten Championships that he lost to earlier during the dual meet season," Chandler said. "We expect big things out of Chase Saldate in the future, but undoubtedly, he was our outstanding freshman this year."
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Grady Peninger Scholastic Achievement Award: Nick Cooper
Cooper is a native of Albion, Mich., and has earned the Grady Peninger Scholastic Achievement Award for the second-straight year. Cooper graduated this spring with his degree in criminal justice, finishing with a 3.792 cumulative GPA. He is a two-time Winter Academic All-Big Ten Selection, and Cooper also earned MSU Athletics Highest Honors this spring. Cooper wrestled in two extra matches this season. He is the second spartan wrestler of his family, joining older brother Jacob Cooper.
"The Grady Peninger Scholastic Achievement Award goes to Nick Cooper," Chandler said. "Nick carries a cumulative GPA around a 3.8 and was right around a 4.0 this academic year alone. From an academic standpoint and commitment to the program, Nick is an obvious choice for this award named after Coach Peninger and the tradition he started here at Michigan State, and Nick is a great example of all of Coach Peninger's values that he looked for in a Spartan wrestler. Nick definitely exemplifies what we want from our kids in the classroom."
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Perseverance Award: Rayvon Foley
The MSU Wrestler Perseverance Award is awarded to Spartan wrestlers who have bounced back from setbacks in their wrestling careers to go on and have great success. Foley, a redshirt-junior from Ann Arbor, Mich., is the epitome of that definition. Foley redshirted the 2019-20 season with an injury, and had a smashing return to action in the 2020-21 season, holding a Top 10 ranking throughout the season, and entered the B1G Championships as the No. 5 seed, and went on to finish third. He opened the conference championship meet with an 11-1 major decision over Jacob Moran of Indiana, and then posted a 20-4 tech. fall over Dylan Shawyer of Rutgers, before being defeated by top-seed and eventual B1G and NCAA champion Spencer Lee of Iowa. Foley bounced back with a 6-2 decision over Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern and then an 8-2 decision over Malik Heinselman of Ohio State in the third-place bout. Qualifying for his third NCAA Championships, Foley earned the No. 8 seed and opened with a 14-0 major decision over Logan Treaster of Navy, before getting edged in a 2-1 decision by No. 9 seed Devin Schroder of Purdue. In a rematch with Heinselman, Foley posted a 6-3 decision, before being knocked off by Killian Cardinale of West Virginia. Foley finished the 2020-21 season with a 10-6 record, ranking second on the team in overall wins, as well as tied for third on the team with a 4-3 duals mark, and fourth with 15 dual points. He led the team with two tech. falls, as well as sharing the team lead with two major decisions.
"The Perseverance Award goes to Rayvon Foley," Chandler said. "He went through quite a bit this year. Coming off a redshirt year last year after a couple surgeries, he was primed for a big year, but then going into this year he started having some shoulder pain and he just chose to deal with the pain all season long and didn't have it really looked at until after the season, and we found out after the postseason at NCAA championships that he had a pretty severely injured shoulder and he never complained, he was willing to put it on the line each and every day for his team and for himself to try to get on the podium again, but that's why he was named the Perseverance Award Winner."
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Co-Outstanding Wrestler Award: Cameron Caffey and Rayvon Foley
Foley and Cameron Caffey share the Outstanding Wrestler Award. While Foley earned his first MSU Wrestling Outstanding Wrestler Award for his aforementioned accomplishments, Caffey is the recipient of the accolade for the second year in row.Â
This season, Caffey registered a team-leading 11 wins, and was ranked in the Top 10 for a majority of the season. Caffey finished with an 11-6 record, with five of his losses coming to opponents ranked in the Top 5. He opened the season with four-straight wins, before a narrow, hard-fought tight, 6-5, battle with No. 2 Eric Schultz of Nebraska. Caffey entered the B1G Championships as the No. 4 seed and opened the conference meet with a 7-1 decision over Nick Willham of Indiana, then notched a 6-5 decision over fifth-seeded Lucas Davison of Northwestern, before another one-point decision loss to Schultz, this time a 2-1 decision in the semifinals. Caffey bounced back with a 6-5 win over Michael Beard of Penn State, before being defeated by third-seeded Jacob Warner of Iowa, 8-3, in the consolation final. Caffey earned the No. 10 seed at the NCAA Championships, becoming a three-time NCAA Qualifier, and opened with a 14-6 major decision over Bryan McLaughlin of Drexel, before getting upset by No. 26 seed Jake Woodley of Oklahoma in a tough, 4-3 decision. Caffey bounced back with a vengeance, posting back-to-back falls over No. 24 seed Benjamin Smith (Cleveland State) and No. 31 Owen Pentz (North Dakota State), before a hard-fought, 4-1 loss to No. 5 seed Jacob Warner of Iowa. Caffey finished with a 5-2 duals record, ranking second on the team, as well as third on the team with 16 dual points. He also shared the team lead in both falls and major decisions, with two of each.
"Our Outstanding Wrestler Award goes to both Cameron Caffey and Ravyon Foley, they led the way all year long, and they both have unique qualities and both compete at the absolute highest levels of what we want out of each and every one of our guys," Chandler said. "While they came up short of being on the podium at the NCAA Championships, there's no doubt that both of these guys have led the way from a competitive and success standpoint this season, and they pushed deep into the NCAA Tournament, which is what we want out of our program, and each and every one of our guys."
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Special Moment Award: Peyton Omania
Omania is the recipient of the Special Moment Award. A redshirt-freshman, Omania is a native of Concord, Calif., and wrestled at 149 pounds. In MSU's dual vs. No. 4 Michigan on Feb. 19, as a special tribute to his De La Salle High School and Greco-Roman coach, Mark Halvorson, who unexpectedly passed away the previous week, Omania upset No. 5 Kanen Storr of Michigan, 15-8. After the win, Omania collapsed on the mat in emotion, then celebrated, pointing up at his dad who traveled from California. The Spartan used a frenzied start complete with two headlocks to open a 12-1 lead in the first period, as Omania scored a pair of takedowns and ensuing four-point nearfalls. Omania's 15 points was a new season-high for him and he now has double-digit points in all three wins. The 15 points were nearly twice as many as Storr's previous high for points allowed against him, after an 8-1 loss on Feb. 12. Omania, unranked in four of the five rankings and No. 32 in TheOpenMat rankings at the time, upset the two-time All-American Storr, who was ranked in the top eight in all five rankings, including No. 5 in InterMat and TheOpenMat. The emotional win was recognized by both NCAA Wrestling and USA Wrestling, and Omania was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week on Feb. 24.
Omania finished with four wins this season, and was the No. 9 seed at the B1G Championships, opening with a 9-6 upset of No. 8 seeded Mike Van Brill of Rutgers, before a loss to top-seeded and eventual B1G Champion Sammy Sasso of Ohio State, and Omania was knocked off by Graham Rooks of Indiana. Qualifying for his first NCAA Championships, Omania was the No. 28 seed, being defeated by No. 5 seed Ridge Lovett of Nebraska, and then getting knocked off by Rooks again for the second time in as many postseason championships meet. Omania ended with a 3-4 duals record, and was tied for second on the team with one major decision.
"Our Special Moment Award was another obvious choice, going to Peyton Omania," Chandler said. "Coming off his high school coach and mentor, Coach Halverson, passing away during the middle of our season. I know he truly looks up to Coach Halverson, and is probably one of the biggest influences in Peyton's life and for Peyton to come back from finding out about his death during the week of practice leading up to his match against the number five guy in the country and almost get a major decision against our in-state rival, I think it says it all. That was a special moment of the year for not only Payton, but for our program as well."
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Manager Awards: Kira Chandler and Maddie Coon
Chandler and Coon were an integral part of the Spartan wrestling program, doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work, including practice and meet set up, equipment and gear maintenance, statistics and scoring during a meet, filming practice and competitions, among many other responsibilities.
"Obviously, in this unique year, having Kira Chandler and Maddie Coon step up and help along the way with everything from issuing team gear to arranging team meals when we're on the road," Coach Chandler said. Â "It was a big undertaking throughout the season, and they committed to the testing and everything that went along with that, and we truly appreciate, and we know we couldn't do our jobs effectively without their support."
Michigan State Wrestling 2021 Team Awards
Tom Muir Most Improved Award: Jordan Hamdan
Commitment Award: Austen Malczewski
Outstanding Freshman Award: Chase Saldate
Grady Peninger Scholastic Achievement Award: Nick Cooper
Perseverance Award: Rayvon Foley
Co-Outstanding Wrestler Award: Cameron Caffey & Rayvon Foley
Special Moment Award: Peyton Omania
Managers Award: Kira Chandler & Maddie Coon
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