The Michigan State football team continues to add to its 2024 roster through the preferred walk-on ranks. On Tuesday, class of 2024 in-state defensive tackle Mason Nickel announced his pledge to the Spartans as a PWO.

Nickel, out of of Herbert Henry Dow High School in Midland, Michigan, reported a preferred walk-on offer from Michigan State following a visit on Jan. 28. It did not take too long afterward for Nickel to commit to MSU.

"The main reason I chose MSU over other schools is because of the resources they have to offer (football and academic) that will help set me up for success on my current and future goals," Nickel told Spartans Illustrated.

More here:

Michigan State is adding another preferred walk-on to its roster, as 2024 tight end Charlie Baker pledged to the Spartans on Tuesday.

The moment is extra special for Baker. He attended East Lansing High School and has lived in the city his entire life.

While he won't be on scholarship right away, Baker will have an opportunity to earn one in the future, and in the meantime, he will fulfill a lifelong dream of suiting up for Michigan State.

"I committed to MSU because ever since I was a kid growing up here, I’ve always wanted to play football as a Spartan," Baker told Spartans Illustrated. "I was born here (in Lansing) and have lived here (in East Lansing) my whole life and been going to Michigan State games since I was born."

Jonathan Smith & the Spartans have added another PWO.

Details here:

East Lansing 2025 running back Jace Clariziohas an opportunity in the future to be a hometown hero and play his college football at Michigan State. He also has a chance to create his own path elsewhere as many schools across the country are interested in the talented athlete.

Clarizio, a standout at East Lansing High School, visited Michigan State in back-to-back weekends, and was most recently on campus for MSU's junior day event this past Saturday.

After being offered a scholarship by the previous staff in the fall, Clarizio quickly earned a re-offer from the new Michigan State brass under head coach Jonathan Smith and assistant head coach/running backs coach/co-special teams coordinator Keith Bhonapha while he was on campus on Jan. 26.

Following his most recent trip to campus, Clarizio spoke to Spartans Illustrated about the MSU visit, and explained what the re-offer from a school that he has grown up in very close proximity to means to him.

"I feel like the staff is on a mission to make the program great again," Clarizio said about Michigan State.

More here:

Ideally, I would issue a more formal update with an article, but the last week has been a little crazy for me. I am continuing to update the data/stats tracker every day or two depending on the Big Ten schedule. Here is where MSU stands heading into tonight's game at Minnesota.

With the Spartans' wins over Michigan and Maryland, Michigan State sits at 6-5 in the Big Ten standings in a tie with Northwestern and a half-game ahead of Nebraska. This is essentially exactly where the math has projected the Spartans will finish for a while now. The schedule has finally eased up enough to allow the actual record to catch up to the math.

Michigan State continues to be quite unlucky (-1.27 games) but that number has improved by over half a game since mid-January. Ohio State (-2.31) and Michigan (-1.90) are now much less lucky. Northwestern's luck (+1.82) also took a hit thanks to the Wildcats' loss to Minnesota and Purdue over the past two games. Nebraska (+0.60) also picked us losses to Illinois and Maryland.

Overall, this combination of events has allowed Michigan State (11.92) to pass both Northwestern (11.16) and Nebraska (11.03) in expected wins. The Spartans are once again favored to claim the No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. That said, the overall odds still say that a single bye in the BTT (56%) is slightly more likely than earning a top four seed (44%). Michigan State would be favored over both Northwestern and Nebraska on a neutral court (by about 4.5 points) but the Wildcats and especially the Huskers have much easier remaining schedules (by roughly a half game.)

The next four games, starting with tonight's game in Minneapolis, will tell us a lot about where this team will finish. The next four games (at Minnesota, versus Illinois, at Michigan and at Penn State) represent four of the five toughest games remaining (with the Purdue game being No. 1 with a bullet). That said, based on projected spreads, none of the next four games are as tough as the five Big Ten games that the Spartans lost with the exception of the home loss to Wisconsin. In this four-game span, the expected win total is just 2.65. If Michigan State can win three of the four, they are in great shape to finish at 12-8 or better. A 2-2 record would mean 11-9 might be the ceiling.

Overall, Michigan State's metrics remain very strong at No. 17 in Kenpom overall and in the top 30 of both offense and defense. As of Monday there were only 12 teams with this type of "championship resume." Michigan State is one of them. If the Spartans can win the next two... things will be looking up substantially.

Beeler chooses MSU.

Tom Izzo: “For us, it’s an incredible opportunity to go up there, to go on the road and see if we can sweep a team this year, like we did Maryland."

More on the matchup with Minnesota and the difficulty of winning on the road:

@DavidHarns is down in Ann Arbor at the Crisler Center covering the gymnastics meet between MSU and UM.

It is currently underway on Big Ten Network.

Four MSU players reach double figures in the win.​

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EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball built a huge 47-24 half time lead, and never looked back en route to a 76-65 win over Minnesota Monday night to celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day at the Breslin Center.

With the victory, the Spartans have now won four-straight games to improve to 17-5 overall and 7-4 in Big Ten action. The seven league wins matches the win total from last season when MSU was 7-10. Since defeating MSU on Jan. 20, Minnesota has now lost four-straight games, falling to 14-8 overall and 4-7 in Big Ten play.

Overall, four Spartans reached double figures in the victory, led by graduate guard Moira Joiner's 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Joiner has reached the 20-point mark four times this season. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault added 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and a game-high four blocks. Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann scored 13 points, while adding five helpers. Sophomore guard Theryn Hallock scored 10 points.

The Golden Gophers missed their first five attempts, as MSU jumped out to a 6-1 lead. Minnesota corrected and used a 7-0 run to take its first lead 8-6. Michigan State was hitting from long range early on with five treys in the first quarter alone. A 3-pointer by Tory Ozment made it a 20-12 game with 51.4 seconds remaining in the period to put MSU up 20-12.

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After an old-fashioned 3-pointer by Ayrault MSU took its first double-digit lead 26-16. The run extended to 9-0 to put the Spartans on top 29-16 with under seven left in the half. Michigan State ended the half on an 8-0 run to lead 47-24 at the break. MSU shot an eye-popping 50 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, going 9-for-18. Ayrault led the Spartans with 13 points, including 3-for-3 from long range.

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Minnesota scored the first nine points of the second half to trim the MSU advantage to 47-33, leading to a Spartan timeout at the 7:08 mark. Whenever the Spartans bounced back, the Gophers had an answer. Despite out-scoring MSU 22-13 in the period, Michigan State retained a 60-46 lead, heading into the fourth quarter. Mallory Heyer led Minnesota with seven points in the period, while Joiner scored eight for the Spartans.

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In the fourth quarter, the Gophers got it down to a single-digit deficit 71-62 after a Heyer 3-point play with two minutes left. Joiner drilled the Spartans 12 trey of the games to put MSU back up by double digits, 76-65 with 43 seconds remaining.

The 12 3-pointers were the most by the Spartans since drilling 13 against Northwestern at home on Jan. 17. MSU has reached double figures in treys 10 times this season.

The Spartans continue a busy week taking on No. 14 Indiana on Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. on Peacock. MSU concludes the week hosting No. 5 Ohio State on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 4 p.m. also on Peacock.

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Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick

Opening statement …

I'm really proud of our team for finding a way to beat a good Minnesota team. A team we played a few weeks ago, and really struggled against. I thought it was the tail of two halves. We had a really good second half. There's some things we can definitely learn moving forward, but I'm proud of our overall effort. I thought we did a lot of things better from a few weeks ago.


On the full court press …

The trick we had is that we hadn't scored. They scored 10 points in the second quarter and scored nine in the first two minutes to start the second half. It really helped us because we were able to score off our press set, and we scored when we got in our press set. I thought our ability to score helps us get our full court pressure where we want it to be.


On beating Minnesota without their best player …

There are no easy wins in this league. I think we were really focused on Minnesota. Just having to played them a few weeks ago and losing, we knew we had a physical and well coached team. That's where all of our time and effort has been. We got more big games this week, and we'll tackle those when they are in front of us. If there is one thing I've learned really quickly is that there are no easy wins in this league. Any win, you've got to savor it and get ready for the next one.


On if the NCAA Tournament is the goal for this team …

I think that's the goal. I think that's a good target. I also think that's a hard target. We need to continue to stay in pursuit of that.


On the improvement of offense from the previous Minnesota loss …

The Minnesota game had a lot of elements to it. One of them was the first time around. We got derailed, and that's on me. Looking back, we got away from things that we knew would help us. And when you lose, you look really closely. It wasn't just that game, if you looked closely at how we are and how we've been successful, I thought we got back to that tonight. I thought that game zoomed in on us and made us look at things to do better.


On navigating a tough upcoming schedule …

You've got to have a good mix of rest and focus. The time that you get to prepare has to be really sharp and concise and easy to execute. So that's where we are. The reality is the whole league has different stretches of lots of games, consistency and toughness are really important if you want to be good. We are going to be tested, especially this week.


On it being a fast game …

It was a fast game. You got to be able to score multidimensionally, tonight we did that. We made threes, we scored off turnovers, which the first time we couldn't score off turnovers. We found ways to score inside.

Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.

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Got a line from Jackson WIley who visited this past weekend for Junior Day. He told me the visit was great. When asked what stood out the most he responded:

“I would say definitely the position meetings,” Wiley said. “It was good hearing from Coach Hawk and what he had to say about himself and Michigan State,”

Wiley is a player to watch heading into the spring before his senior year. We just recently rated him based on his junior film and I think there is good upside there.

Sources tell Spartans Illustrated that 2024 three-star defensive tackle Dimitry Nicolas is expected to take an official visit to Michigan State this weekend (Jan. 26 through Jan. 28). Nicolas is currently committed to Auburn, but is unsigned.

Nicolas has over 20 scholarship offers, including Michigan, Georgia, Florida, Miami (FL.), Oregon, Texas, Texas A&M, Tennessee and more.

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Update: Michigan State will also host 2024 three-star defensive tackle Mikeshun Beeler on an official visit this weekend as well.

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Tom Izzo is set to take the podium in a few minutes ahead of tomorrow's game at Minnesota.

Stay tuned here for some news and notes.

For some, Michigan State’s 63-54 win over Maryland was ugly. But for Tom Izzo, winning the “slugfest” was a key part of his team’s evolution.

“Sometimes you gotta go through these kinds of games to grow together.”

Coach Izzo also had a lot to say about Malik Hall's second half, which was the difference in the game.

I had a chance to ask Izzo a question at the very end of the presser about playing Kohler and Cooper together. He honestly did not address my question, but he did use the phrase "sample size," so I am going to go ahead and take the "W"

Check out my full article here:

Michigan State hosted 2025 defensive back/athlete James Finley IV for a junior day visit this past weekend. Finley had a great time in East Lansing and is looking forward to continuing to build a relationship with the MSU coaching staff.

This was Finley's second trip to Michigan State, but his first since newly-hired Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith took over the program. Finley also came to campus for a game-day visit on Oct. 21, 2023 when the Spartans lost to the rival Michigan Wolverines under then-interim head coach Harlon Barnett.

Finley, who attends Andrean High School in Merrillville, Indiana, currently has six Division I scholarship offers, but Michigan State is a school that has his attention.

Following the visit, Finley spoke with Spartans Illustrated about the trip and gave general updates about what is to come next in his recruitment.

"I got to see the new facilities and buildings, including the strength and conditioning and nutrition rooms," Finley said about about the visit. "I got to hear their coaching philosophies and schemes. My favorite part was asking specific DB questions to Coach Adams."

More here:

This is the second meeting of the season between the two teams.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball will open the month of February, hosting Minnesota on Monday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. The Spartans will be celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day along with other MSU sports. MSU enters the game winners of three straight. Kylen Mills and Christy Winters Scott will be on the call for the Big Ten Network.

• The Spartans improved to 16-5 overall and 6-4 in B1G play with an 82-64 victory over Rutgers on the road on Jan. 30. Minnesota comes to the Breslin Center with a 14-7 overall record and are 4-6 in league play. This is the second meeting this season between the Spartans and the Gophers, with Minnesota winning the game in Minneapolis, 69-50 on Jan. 20.

• With a 16-5 overall record, Michigan State tied its win total from the 2022-23 season. That season the Spartans ended with a 16-14 record. MSU is one Big Ten win away from tying the its win last year, as the Spartans were 7-10 last season.

• The Spartans have reached the 80-point mark for three-straight games. Michigan State has scored at least 80 points in 15 of the 16 victories so far this season, as Michigan State improved to 15-0 when scoring 80+ points.

• Junior guard Dee Dee Hagemann's seven total assists against Rutgers gives her 384 for her career, closing in on becoming the eighth Spartan women's basketball player with 400 career assists and closing in on the No. 8 spot held by Brittney Thomas (2007-11) with 401 helpers.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA
Minnesota comes to the Breslin Center with a 14-7 overall record and are 4-6 in league contests. The Gophers have lost three-straight games with their last win coming against MSU on Jan. 20. Minnesota suffered a setback when sophomore Mara Braun got hurt against Illinois on Jan. 28. Her foot injury required foot surgery. Braun has been one of the Big Ten's top scorers at 17.8 points per game, which is fourth in the league.

Minnesota is second in the Big Ten in scoring defense, allowing only 61.5 ppg. The Gophers are fourth in rebound margin (+5.14), while also standing fourth in steals (8.43 spg).

Mallory Heyer is four in the B1G in rebounding with 8.1 rpg. Amaya Battle is fourth in assists with 5.4 helpers per game, while also standing 11th in steals with 1.8 spg.

Minnesota head coach Dawn Plitzuweit in her first year leading the Gophers, posting a 14-7 record so far, and is in her 17th overall season as a collegiate head coach, amassing a 379-148 mark. Plitzuweit came to Minneapolis after one season at West Virginia.

Plitzuweit has ties to the state of Michigan, as she played at Michigan Tech, earning back-to-back GLIAC Player of the Year awards in 1994 and 1994. She started her coaching career as an assistant at her alma mater (1995-97), as well as at Michigan (2007-12) and was also head coach at Grand Valley State (2002-07).

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE GOLDEN GOPHERS
Michigan State leads the overall series with Minnesota, 47-25. The Spartans have won four of the last six meetings, including last season's Senior Day game in East Lansing, 71-67. MSU is on top in the series at home 27-7, while the series is tied in Minneapolis 17-17. On neutral ground, the Spartans are ahead 3-1. In the first meeting this season, the Gophers had the hot hand, defeating the Spartans 69-50.

LAST TIME VS MINNESOTA
Michigan State women's basketball fell to Minnesota on the road, 69-50, on Jan. 20 at Williams Arena.

Michigan State had its worst shooting performance of the season going 20-for-61 from the field for 32.8 percent in scoring a season-low points. Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann led the Spartans with 18 points and seven rebounds, as the only Spartan to reach double figures. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault added nine points and eight rebounds for MSU.

Minnesota was led by Mallory Heyer who scored 18 points and added a game-high 15 rebounds.

NET RANKING
Through Feb. 1, Michigan State holds a NET ranking of No. 20, which is fourth-best in the Big Ten. Iowa is first at No. 5, followed by Indiana at No. 11 and Ohio State at No. 14.

BY THE NUMBERS VS. RUTGERS
• It was the second time in the last three games that MSU had five players in double-figures, with those same five Spartans scoring 10+ points in the win over Purdue (1/24/24). Michigan State is now 7-1 when five or more score in double-figures.

• Sophomore guard Abbey Kimball drained four 3-pointers for her 11th game with multiple triples, including the second time in the last three games and fourth in the last six outings. The four treys was one shy of her season and career-high of five triples vs James Madison (11/23/23).

• Sophomore guard Theryn Hallock's 16 points was her second double-digit outing in the last three games as part of the ninth time this season and 10th in her career. Hallock made seven field goals, tying her second-most this season for the fourth time this season, behind her career-high 10 field goals vs. Purdue (1/24/24).

HISTORY HAS ITS EYE ON YOU
First-year Michigan State head coach Robyn Fralick is the first Spartan head coach to post a Victory for MSU over Michigan in their first meeting since Karen Langeland's first season of 1976-77 in a 63-62 triumph on Jan. 24, 1977. Overall, Fralick is the third MSU head coach to do so, joining inaugural head coach Mikki Baile in the first-ever meeting between the Spartans and Wolverines on Feb. 3, 1973.

AROUND THE BIG TEN
This season, Michigan State is second in the Big Ten in scoring margin (+20.1) and second in assists (19.6 apg). The Spartans are also second in the league in 3-point field goals made, averaging 9.40 per game. MSU is first in turnover margin (+7.40) and first in assist/turnover ratio (1.78).

Graduate guard Moira Joiner leads the Spartans in scoring, averaging 14.9 points per game, which is 13th, while graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault is 13th with 14.86 ppg. Ayrault is also sixth in rebounding with 7.5 rpg. Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann is seventh in the league in assists, averaging 4.7 apg and first in assist/turnover ratio (2.9). Joiner is third in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.405). Ayrault is also second in the conference in blocks, averaging 2.3 bpg, behind Wisconsin's Serah Williams.

DID YOU KNOW?
Minnesota is the first of four teams that Michigan State will play twice this season. After losing in Columbus, MSU looks to get revenge against Ohio State on Feb. 11. MSU will then take on Michigan on the road (Feb. 18) and Purdue (Feb. 21). Finally, the Spartans will host Rutgers on

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State used a balanced attack with five players in double figures to defeat Rutgers, 82-64, at Jersey Mike's Arena on Tuesday night.

With the win, the Spartans have now won three-straight games to improve to 16-5 overall and 6-4 in Big Ten action. Rutgers falls to 6-17 overall and 0-10 in league play. MSU has now won three-straight against the Scarlet Knights.

Overall, five Spartans reached double figures in the victory. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault scored 19 points for the second-straight game, adding six rebounds. Sophomore guards Abbey Kimball and Theryn Hallock both scored 16 points for MSU. Graduate guard Moira Joiner added 10 points and tied her career high with six assists, while graduate guard/forward Tory Ozment also scored 10.

Hagemann's seven total assists on the night gives her 384 for her career, closing in on becoming the eighth Spartan women's basketball player with 400 career assists and closing in on the No. 8 spot held by Brittney Thomas (2007-11) with 401 helpers.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Saturday's victory wasn’t the prettiest of wins for Michigan State basketball. It was sloppy, physical and, at times, hard to watch.

The Spartans won a defensive battle against Maryland 63-54. The teams shot a combined 38% from the field and 25% from beyond the 3-point arc. There were a combined 25 turnovers, 10 blocks, and 12 steals.

But this is the type of game that the Spartans may have needed to take the next step.

More of my thought's on Saturday's win for Michigan State:

Michigan State brought in 2025 Ohio three-star linebacker Grant Beerman for an unofficial visit during junior day on Saturday, and he is feeling a lot of love from the Spartans.

The Lakota West High School (West Chester Township, Ohio) standout had a previous relationship with Michigan State defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Joe Rossi from when Rossi previously held the same title at Minnesota. Now Rossi, head coach Jonathan Smith and the rest of the of the new MSU staff are heavily pursuing Beerman.

Beerman received an offer from Michigan State on Jan. 17 and he has been building a bond with the coaches ever since then.

"I think Coach Rossi is one of the smartest coaches I have interacted with and he seems like a great guy," Beerman said. "I am thankful I got to have had a chance to spend a good amount of time with him on the visit.

"I have enjoyed meeting with Coach Smith and really like his idea of building within the four-hour window from Michigan State. He brought a great staff with him from Oregon State and I feel really good about his vision for the program at MSU."

More here:

Michigan State football will be hosting a "junior day" on Saturday, Feb. 3. There will likely be a lot of visitors that day and we will begin tracking them here.

This is a running list that will be constantly updated as we confirm more attendees.

Class of 2025:

• Linebacker Charles White (Michigan)
• Wide receiver Jackson Wiley (Ohio)
• Three-star offensive lineman Darrin Strey (Michigan)
• Three-star wide receiver/defensive back Elijah Dotson (Michigan)
• Athlete Bryson Williams (Michigan)
• Four-star defensive end Xavier Newsom (Michigan)
• Defensive back Josh Johnson (Ohio)
• Running back Noah Sanders (Michigan)
• Tight end/defensive end John Baker IV (Michigan)
• Athlete James Finley (Indiana)
• Running back Jace Clarizio (Michigan)
• Three-star outside linebacker Grant Beerman (Ohio)
• Defensive end Pierre Allen Jr. (Nebraska)
• Four-star outside linebacker Dante McClellan (Ohio)
• Three-star guard Antonio Johnson (Michigan)
• Four-star offensive tackle Avery Gach (Michigan)
• Defensive lineman Danilo Guberinich (Michigan)
• Defensive tackle Brendon Rice (Michigan)
• Quarterback Luke Beiermeister (Michigan)
• Linebacker Cameron Summerour (Michigan)
• Cornerback Joshua Tuchek (California)
• Offensive lineman Justin Bell (Michigan)
• Offensive lineman Nolan Miller (Michigan)
• Defensive lineman Logan Howell (Michigan)
• Defensive end Warren Cain (Michigan)
• Quarterback Lawerence Wells II (Michigan)
• Defensive end Vory Peacock (Michigan)
• Offensive tackle Cam Clark (Michigan)
• Quarterback Josh Moody (West Virginia)
• Offensive tackle Jay Gardenhire (Michigan, previously New Jersey)
• Cornerback Jordyn Woods (Georgia)
• Kicker George Sanchez (Michigan)
• Wide receiver/safety Santino Cicarella (Michigan)
• Offensive lineman Jaylen Pitts (Michigan)
• Defensive tackle Dior Garner (Ohio)
• Defensive end Cal Thrush (Ohio)
• Three-star safety Desmond Straughton (Michigan)
• Defensive tackle Chris Climes (Pennsylvania)
• Offensive tackle Lucas Barnes (Michigan)
• Safety/athlete Terris Dudley (Ohio)
• Three-star wide receiver Eric Slater (Michigan)
• Three-star quarterback Leo Hannan (California)
• Two-star linebacker Denim Cook
• Quarterback Kam Montgomery (Ohio, formerly Texas)
• Four-star safety Alex Graham (Florida/Michigan)
• Defensive end Javeon Campbell

Class of 2026:

• Tight end Jack Janda (Michigan)
• Offensive lineman Ben Nichols (Michigan)
• Quarterback/athlete Geno Seets (Michigan)
• Wide receiver William Jones-Terrell (Michigan)
• Linebacker Nathan Gersh (Michigan)
• Offensive lineman Gregory Patrick (Michigan)
• Running back Kyshawn Robinson (Pennsylvania)
• Offensive lineman Andrew Trout (Minnesota) - has since committed to Minnesota
• Cornerback Victor Singleton (Ohio)
• Tight end Lincoln Watkins (Michigan)
• Defensive back/athlete Marcus Jennings (Michigan)
• Offensive lineman Owen Winder (Michigan)
• Offensive lineman Khalief Canty (Michigan)
• Running back Tomarion Steward (Michigan)

Class of 2027:

• Quarterback Kayden Edwards (Ohio)

Feb. 2 visitors:

• 2026 running back Kory Amachree (Michigan)

East Lansing, Mich. – Junior Katie Lu fired a 2-under par 70 in the opening round and is tied for eighth place individually and Michigan State's women's golf team shot a 5-over par 293 to tie for 11th place among 18 teams after the first round of play at the UCF Challenge, being played at Eagle Creek Country Club in Orlando, Fla.

The tournament, being played on Eagle Creek's par-72, 6,367-yard course, was originally slated to start on Sunday, but inclement weather moved the first round to Saturday.

North Carolina leads the field at 9-under par 279, three shots of ahead of the College of Charleston, in second place at 6-under par 282. Kentucky is third at 2-under par 286, with Miami and Kansas rounding out the top-five teams, tied for fourth place at 1-under par 287.

First Round Results

Lu finished her round with four birdies, including three on the back nine, to finish at 2-under par 70 and tied for eighth place in the field of 95 golfers.

Sophomore Paula Balanzategui is tied for 32nd place at 1-over par 73, playing the front nine in 1-over par with a birdie, and then playing the back nine in even par.

Junior Brooke Biermann shot a 2-over par 74 and is tied for 43rd place. Biermann finished her round with a pair of birdies and 12 pars.

Junior Shannon Kennedy is tied for 62nd place at 4-overp ar 76 and senior Leila Raines is tied for 83rd place with a score of 6-over par 76.

Playing as an individual, freshman Ana Sofia Murcia is tied for 14th place at 1-under par 71. She played the front nine in even par with one birdie and finished the back with a trio of birdies and four pars.

Michigan State will tee off in Sunday's second round starting at 1 p.m. on the seventh hole, playing alongside Kentucky and the College of Charleston. The final round will start at 8:30 a.m. on Monday.

Courtesy of MSU Athletics.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Michigan State throwers wrapped up their two-day competition at the Meyo Invite on Saturday afternoon, highlighted by freshman Jess Stieb breaking her own school record in the shot put.

Stieb originally broke the indoor shot put school record at 16.60m in her first career collegiate try on Dec. 8, 2023 at the GVSU Holiday Open. On her third try of the day Friday, the Loup City, Neb. native reset the record at 16.63m.

Another highlight of the meet for the Spartans was three podium finishes, led by Stieb's second place finish. Placing third in the men's and women's shot put was sophomore Colby Morlock at 18.29m and junior Opal Jackson at 16.10m.

Next, MSU Track and Field will be split up between three meets on Friday and Saturday Feb. 9-10. The majority of the varsity athletes will be competing at the Windy City Invite in Chicago, Ill., others will be at the GVSU Big Meet in Allendale, Mich. and four of the top Spartan women's distance runners will be competing at the Dave Hemery Valentine Invite on Boston University's 'world's fastest indoor track'.

Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Michigan State wrestling won seven matches, including three with bonus points, on Friday night to down No. 26 Illinois for the first time since 2011, 29-10, inside the State Farm Center. It's MSU's second-straight victory over a ranked opponent after defeating then No. 17-ranked Wisconsin last Friday night.

The Spartans improve to 9-3 overall and 2-3 in B1G matches while Illinois drops to 3-6 overall and 0-3 in conference duals.

"This win speaks on the depth of this program," said head Michigan State wrestling coach Roger Chandler. "What I'm most pleased with, is we have upperclassmen leadership, and we have young freshmen who are out there competing and wanting to be a part of that crew. That's just the next line of leadership, that's how you build a great team and we got that going for us right now."

Action began at 141 pounds with No. 29-ranked redshirt senior Jordan Hamdan taking on No. 27-ranked Danny Pucino. Hamdan snapped got on the board first in period two with a quick escape, but Pucino's scored two takedowns en route to an 8-2 decision.

Michigan State took the next three bouts at 149, 157 and 165 pounds. Freshman Clayton Jones got the call at 149 pounds to make his B1G dual debut against Jake Harrier. Jones used a quick takedown to begin the match and a second period takedown extended his lead 6-3 going into the final two minutes. Harrier earned a takedown in the third, but a pair of escapes by Jones secure himself is first B1G victory by decision, 8-6.

"You saw some of the fire power that Clayton possesses," Chandler said. "We were excited to roll him out tonight and he was excited to get his first Big Ten dual win. As a true freshman that is impressive. Obviously he has a lot to develop but we're excited about him."

At 157 pounds, No. 21-ranked senior Chase Saldate gave MSU its first lead of the match, pinning Braeden Scoles at the 6:32 mark. It's Saldate's second consecutive victory by fall and his ninth win by fall this season. Friday night's fall marks a career high for Saldate, who ranks fifth in the country in wins by fall.

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In a ranked match-up at 165 pounds, No. 9-ranked senior Caleb Fish gritted his way to a 4-2 victory over No. 30 Chris Moore. Neither wrestler gave up much defensively, but a third period takedown by the Eaton Rapids, Michigan, native proved to be the difference maker.

A tight knit contest at 184 pounds ended in favor of the Spartans as No. 15-ranked graduate Layne Malczewski defeated No. 28-ranked Dylan Connell. Malczewski came out on top, 2-0, with an escape in the beginning of the second and 1:54 of riding time after he controlled Connell for the entirety of the third period.

Redshirt freshman Kael Wisler put on a dominant performance at 197 pounds with an 18-2 tech fall over Chase Waggoner.

Adding to his nation-high win total was redshirt freshman heavyweight Josh Terrill, who pinned Pete Marinopoulos in 17 seconds. It was the quickest pin of the season for a Spartan as Terrill put six points on the board for MSU to secure the victory. Terrill's season victory total improves to 25.

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Senior Tristan Lujan earned the final win of the night for Michigan State at 125 pounds, posting a 2-0 victory with an escape and 1:40 of riding time over Justin Cardani.

Illinois also took matches at 174 and 133 pounds. Making his return to Champaign, redshirt senior 174-pounder DJ Shannon was defeated by No. 9-ranked Edmond Ruth in a close battle. Shannon pushed Ruth to the limits in a back-and-forth bout as each wrestler recorded a takedown through seven minutes in a deadlocked 6-6 tie. The Madison, Illinois, native fought hard but a takedown by Ruth in sudden victory closed the match.

Also making his B1G dual debut was freshman 133-pounder Jaden Crumpler who went head-to-head with No. 33-ranked Tony Madrigal but dropped in a 13-2 major decision. Despite the score Chandler took it as a learning experience for the true freshman.

"Crumpler hasn't had much mat time this year due to injuries, but I wanted to let him get a real feel of what Big Ten wrestling is about," said Chandler.


BOUT-BY-BOUT

No. 25/30 Michigan State 29, No. 26 Illinois 10

February 2, 2024 – Champaign, Ill.

141 | No. 27 Danny Pucino (UI) dec. No. 29 Jordan Hamdan (MSU) 8-2 | UI leads 3-0

149 | Clayton Jones (MSU) dec. Jake Harrier (UI) 8-6 | Tied 3-3

157 | No. 21 Chase Saldate (MSU) fall over Braeden Scoles (UI) 6:32 | MSU leads 9-3

165 | No. 9 Caleb Fish (MSU) dec. No. 30 Chris Moore (UI) 4-2 | MSU leads 12-3

174 | No. 9 Edmond Ruth (UI) dec. DJ Shannon (MSU) SV-1 9-6 | MSU leads 12-6

184 | No. 15 Layne Malczewski (MSU) dec. No. 28 Dylan Connell (UI) 2-0 | MSU leads 15-6

197 | No. 29 Kael Wisler (MSU) tech fall over Chase Waggoner (UI) 18-2 | MSU leads 20-6

HWT | Josh Terrill (MSU) fall over Peter Marinopoulos (UI) 0:17 | MSU leads 26-6

125 | Tristan Lujan (MSU) dec. Justin Cardani (UI) 2-0 | MSU leads 29-6

133 | No. 33 Tony Madrigal (UI) major dec. Jaden Crumpler (MSU) 13-2 | MSU wins 29-10

Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.

By Ross Dellenger of Yahoo! Sports

The Howard watch is in full swing, pun intended

Michigan State's new coaching staff is making a lot of progress building relationships with in-state prospects and schools and one 2026 target who looks to be a priority for the Spartans moving forward is offensive lineman Ben Nichols.

Nichols currently attends Davison High School and was back on Michigan State's campus on Saturday for a junior day visit.

After receiving a scholarship offer from Michigan State's previous coaching staff in June of 2023, the new regime under head coach Jonathan Smith, offensive line coach/run game coordinator Jim Michalczik and the rest of the staff recently re-offered Nichols, which he publicly announced on Feb. 2.

Following the trip to East Lansing, Nichols discussed the re-offer and the visit with Spartans Illustrated.

"Seeing the kind of offense Coach Smith runs is something special," Nichols explained. "I think this MSU offense will be great in the upcoming season."

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