Wrestling Hits Road at Northwestern, Wisconsin
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State wrestling is back on the road in B1G dual action this weekend heading to Northwestern for an 8:00 p.m. ET dual on Friday, February 7 and Wisconsin for a 1:00 p.m. ET dual on Sunday, February 9. It starts a stretch of three consecutive road B1G duals concluding at Rutgers next Friday, February 14. Both duals will stream live on B1G+.
The First Whistle
The Spartans are 28-23 all-time against Northwestern and 19-29-2 all-time against Wisconsin. MSU has not faced the Wildcats in dual action since Feb. 11, 2022, losing 24-16. Michigan State has won two-straight against the Badgers, including a 22-15 victory over the No. 17-ranked Badgers last season. Michigan State got falls from Chase Saldate and Josh Terrill in last season's dual, with Jordan Hamdan's decision at 141 securing the dual for MSU in Jenison Field House. MSU battled back in a 24-16 loss to Northwestern in East Lansing in 2022, with Rayvon Foley, Caleb Fish, Layne Malczewski and Cameron Caffey picking up wins. Caffey's decision cut the Wildcat lead to 19-16 late in the dual.
Michigan State is coming off of a 30-8 victory over Clarion last Sunday when MSU hosted its Senior Day. The Spartans honored their five graduating seniors prior to the dual, with all three seniors represented in the starting lineup picking up wins (Tristan Lujan, Jay Nivison, Marty Larkin). Lujan won in his return to the Spartan lineup after missing a month due to injury, picking up a 7-0 decision at 133. Larkin won his first dual appearance of the season picking up a tech fall at 174 with a 15-0 win over Brady Worthing. Nivison picked up his first dual win of the season with a 7-2 decision over Wesley Barnes. MSU trailed 8-3 after three weights but won the final seven bouts of the afternoon to earn the 30-8 victory.
Redshirt freshman Remy Cotton moved up two spots in the FloWrestling rankings this week to #24 after earning a 19-4 tech fall over Clarion's Ethan Wiant. At heavyweight, redshirt freshman Max Vanadia remained the #33 ranked wrestler via FloWrestling.
| MICHIGAN STATE PROBABLES |
| 125 | Caleb Weiand | R-Fr. |
| 133 | Andy Hampton | R-Jr. |
| OR | Tristan Lujan | R-Sr. |
| 141 | Jaden Crumpler | R-Fr. |
| 149 | Clayton Jones III | R-Fr. |
| 157 | Braden Stauffenberg | R-So. |
| OR | Jack Conley | R-Fr. |
| 165 | Jay Nivison | R-Sr. |
| 174 | Ceasar Garza | R-So. |
| OR | Marty Larkin | R-Sr. |
| 184 | Luke Daly | R-Jr. |
| OR | Cory Thomas | Fr. |
| 197 | #18/24/25 Remy Cotton | R-Fr. |
| HWT | #33/33/NR Max Vanadia | R-Fr. |
| OR | Josh Terrill | R-So. |
First Look: Northwestern and Wisconsin
Northwestern is 2-6 overall at 0-5 in B1G duals. The Wildcats have lost five straight and are coming off of a 25-13 loss to No. 23-ranked Indiana last weekend. Northwestern has four wrestlers ranked in the InterMat rankings led by #9 Trevor Chumbley at 157. Chumbley, Mayfield and Bates were NCAA qualifiers for the Wildcats last season with Mayfield advancing to the round of 16. Chris Cannon is a former All-American at Northwestern (2022, 2021) but has dealt with injuries late in his career.
The Spartans are 28-23 all-time against Northwestern and 19-29-2 all-time against Wisconsin. MSU has not faced the Wildcats in dual action since Feb. 11, 2022, losing 24-16. MSU battled back in a 24-16 loss to Northwestern in East Lansing in 2022, with Rayvon Foley, Caleb Fish, Layne Malczewski and Cameron Caffey picking up wins. Caffey's decision cut the Wildcat lead to 19-16 late in the dual.
Michigan State has won two-straight against the Badgers, including a 22-15 victory over the No. 17-ranked Badgers last season. The Spartans got falls from Chase Saldate and Josh Terrill in last season's dual, with Jordan Hamdan's decision at 141 securing the dual for MSU in Jenison Field House. Wisconsin enters the weekend 4-9 overall and 0-5 in B1G duals. The Badgers have lost five straight and are coming off of a 35-7 loss at Nebraska last Friday. Wisconsin will take on Purdue on Friday night prior to welcoming the Spartans to UW Field House.
The Badgers are led by a pair of ranked wrestlers in #17 Nicolar Rivera at 125 and #14 Zan Fugitt at 133 pounds. Wisconsin has no starters that qualified for the NCAA championships last season. Rivera owns a win over now No. 10-ranked Dean Peterson of Rutgers. Fugitt jumped up eight spots in the rankings this week after an 11-1 major decision victory over formerly No. 14-ranked Jacob Van Dee of Nebraska.
| NORTHWESTERN PROBABLES |
| 125 | Dedrick Navarro | R-Fr. |
| 133 | Massey Odiotti | R-So. |
| 141 | Chris Cannon | Sr. |
| OR | Giosue Hickman | Fr. |
| OR | Luiz Bazan | R-Fr. |
| 149 | #25 Sam Cartella | R-Fr. |
| 157 | #9 Trevor Chumbley | Sr. |
| 165 | #18 Maxx Mayfield | Sr. |
| 174 | Aiden Vandenbush | Jr. |
| 184 | Jon Halvorsen | Sr. |
| 197 | #13 Evan Bates | Fr. |
| HWT | Dirk Morley | R-Fr. |
| WISCONSIN PROBABLES |
| 125 | #17 Nicolar Rivera | So. |
| 133 | #14 Zan Fugitt | R-Fr. |
| 141 | Brock Bobzien | R-Fr. |
| 149 | Royce Nilo | R-Fr. |
| 157 | Luke Mechler | Jr. |
| 165 | Cale Anderson | Jr. |
| 174 | Lucas Condon | R-Fr. |
| 184 | Dylan Russo | R-Fr. |
| 197 | Niccolo Colucci | Jr. |
| HWT | Gannon Rosenfeld | So. |
Remy In The Rankings
Redshirt freshman Remy Cotton has spent most of his breakout season in the rankings with an 11-6 record this year. Cotton ranks #18 in the coaches' rankings, he's up two spots to #24 in the FloWrestling rankings and is #25 on InterMat. Cotton got back into the win column against Clarion last weekend earning a 19-4 tech fall over Ethan Wiant.
Cotton went 2-2 at the Black Knight Invitational losing to Lucas Cochran and Connor Mirasola of Penn State to place fourth. He wrestled back to place third at the MSU Open, winning two matches by bonus with a pin of Kent State's Blake Schaffer (1:22) and a major decision over Michigan's Hayden Walters (12-3). Cotton earned his first career dual victory in MSU's season opener at American with a tech fall over Liam Volk-Klos (21-6).
Up Next
It's a split weekend for the Spartans next weekend with a pair of ranked opponents on deck. MSU heads to Piscataway, N.J. to face No. 12-ranked Rutgers on Friday, Feb. 14 before returning home for Big Ten Network dual against No. 19-ranked Michigan on Sunday, Feb. 16.
Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.
