No. 21 Michigan State (7-1, 2-1 B1G) vs. No. 14 Rutgers (12-2, 2-2 B1G)
Date: Friday, Jan. 21
Time: 6 p.m. ET
Location: Jenison Field House (East Lansing, Mich.)
Watch: Big Ten Plus
 
No. 21 Michigan State vs. No. 1 Penn State (11-0, 3-0 B1G)
Date: Sunday, Jan. 23
Time: 1 p.m.
Location: Jenison Field House (East Lansing, Mich.)
Watch: Big Ten Plus
 
Notes: Michigan State | Rutgers | Penn State
Program: Rutgers | Penn State                                          
 
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Coming off a pair of Big Ten road wins, the No. 21 Michigan State wrestling team returns home this weekend to host a pair of ranked conference opponents inside Jenison Field House.
 
MSU will welcome No. 14 Rutgers and six ranked wrestlers on Friday night, Jan. 21, before turning around to face No. 1 Penn State and four defending national champions on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 23. Former Spartan wrestler Eric Olanowski will cover all the action from both duals on Big Ten Plus.
 
Announced on January 1, Michigan State Athletics will require spectators at indoor athletic events to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the event. For more information on the policy, click HERE.
 
Masks are required indoors for all individuals. Michigan State University requires all campus visitors, faculty, staff and students to wear a mask while indoors.
 
LAST TIME OUT

• MSU went on its first Big Ten road trip, coming away with a pair of narrow dual victories in Indiana to move to 2-1 in the conference and 7-1 overall.
• The Spartans opened the weekend by taking a 17-16 win over No. 12 Purdue, MSU's first ranked win since Feb. 9, 2020 when it defeated No. 4 Wisconsin. The win over the Boilermakers featured redshirt senior Rayvon Foley earning a major decision for his 16th-straight victory at 133, while redshirt junior Layne Malczewski defeated No. 21 Max Lyon by a 4-2 decision in the 184-pound bout and redshirt senior Cameron Caffey followed him at 197 by taking down No. 13 Thomas Penola in a 8-1 decision. Tied 16-16 after ten matches, the Spartans won via criteria, holding a slim 50-49 advantage in total match points.
• At Indiana, MSU came out of the gates with sophomore Tristan Lujan scoring a major decision in the 125 opener and fellow sophomore Chase Saldate got his own major decision at 157 to stop a run of three-straight IU bout wins. Decisions by 165-pound sophomore Caleb Fish and Caffey at 197 set up a winner-take-all match at heavyweight, where redshirt senior Brad Wilton got a 2-1 decision against Jacob Bullock to give MSU a 17-15 victory.

ABOUT THE SPARTANS

• After picking up Big Ten wins at No. 12 Purdue and Indiana, Michigan State enters the week ranked No. 21 in the NWCA Coaches' Poll, the first time the team has been ranked this season.
• Saldate leads the team in total victories (20), falls (six) and major decisions (six), while Caffey's 8-0 dual record and 30 dual points both pace the Spartans.
• Foley is tied with Caffey for second on MSU with 19 overall wins, and also has a team-high four technical falls.
• Fish and Caffey were the lone MSU wrestlers to win both of their matches this past weekend.

RANKING MICHIGAN STATE

• The 21st-ranked Spartans are one of 11 Big Ten teams in the NWCA Top-25 this week, as Penn State, Iowa and Michigan hold the top-3 spots in the nation.
• MSU also appeared in the WIN Magazine and FloWrestling dual rankings on Tuesday, sitting at No. 18 for Flo and No. 20 for WIN. The Spartans hold a No. 23 dual ranking according to WrestleStat as well.
• Foley is ranked between No. 9 and No. 12 in all five publications, with WIN Magazine putting the former All-American at No. 9, while FloWrestling, WrestleStat and Open Mat all have him 11th and Intermat puts Foley No. 12.
• Picking up an honorable mention from Flowrestling, Saldate ranks as high as No. 13 on WrestleStat, also sitting No. 19 with Intermat and No. 20 for the Open Mat.
• Fish is receiving honorable mention by Flo and placed No. 31 according to WrestleStat.
• Coming in at No. 21 with FloWrestling, Malczewski holds the No. 24 spot on WrestleStat and the No. 27 ranking with Intermat.
• Caffey now sits at No. 13 on WrestleStat and No. 14 with Open Mat and WIN, also ranking 15th according to Intermat and 18th on Flo.

SCOUTING RUTGERS

• The No. 14 Scarlet Knights split last weekend, beating No. 21 Illinois by a 21-13 score on Jan. 14 at home before losing a 27-11 match at No. 1 Penn State two days later.
• Rutgers ranks as high as No. 12 nationally, with that coming via Intermat's tournament rankings.
• FloWrestling puts six Rutgers wrestlers in its individual rankings, as No. 3 Sebastian Rivera at 141 pounds leads the way with a 16-0 record. 184-pound John Poznanski ranks fifth nationally, while 197-pounder Greg Bulsak holds the No. 12 spot on Flo and Michael VanBrill sits No. 14 in the 149 rankings. At 125 pounds, Dylan Shawver ranks No. 23, and Joseph  Olivieri ranks No. 22 on the 133 list.
• Poznanski leads the team with 13 dual wins, with Rivera and VanBrill both trailing him at 12 dual victories.
• Bulsak paces Rutgers with six major decisions, while Rivera has team-high nine technical falls.

SCOUTING PENN STATE

•  The top-ranked Nittany Lions moved to 3-0 in the Big Ten with its 27-11 win over Rutgers last Sunday, getting victories in every weight class except for 141, 149 and 157-pounds. PSU got bonus points from a Carter Starocci tech. fall at 174, a major decision by Aaron Brooks at 184 and a pin from Greg Kerkvliet in the heavyweight match.
• Starocci and Brooks, along with 133-pound Roman Bravo-Young and 141-pound Nick Lee, are all back in the Penn State lineup after claiming individual NCAA titles last season.
• FloWrestling ranks all four returning champions No. 1 in their respective weight classes. 125-pound Drew Hildebrandt ranks No. 10 and Beau Bartlett sits at No. 15 in the 149-pound rankings, while 165-pounder Brady Berge holds the No. 17 spot in that class, Max Dean is No. 2 for 197-pounders and Kerkvliet stands No. 4 among heavyweights.
• Dean and Starocci pace the Nittany Lions with 11 wins apiece, as both are 11-0 this season overall, with all their bouts coming in dual meets.
• Brooks leads PSU with five major decisions, while Starocci, Dean and Michael Beard all have a team-best four technical falls.

SERIES HISTORIES

• Rutgers leads the all-time series with MSU at 5-0-1, with the first dual between the two schools occurring in 2010, a 16-16 tie in East Lansing.
• The Scarlet Knights are 4-0 against the Spartans since joining the Big Ten in 2014, and last season's meeting between the two teams was cancelled when RU withdrew from the Indiana quad-meet due to COVID-19 protocols.
• Penn State holds a 22-9 edge all-time against Michigan State, winning 13-straight in a series that dates back to 1974.
• The last MSU win over the Nittany Lions came on Jan. 15, 2005, a 19-12 victory by the Spartans.
• The 2021 meeting between MSU and PSU was postponed and never rescheduled after both teams agreed to postponement due to student-athlete health and safety concerns

UP NEXT
Michigan State heads into a week-long break, picking up its Big Ten season again at Maryland on Friday, Feb. 4. That match is set for 7 p.m. on Big Ten Plus.
 
MICHIGAN STATE PROBABLE LINEUP
125: Tristan Lujan (SO | 8-6)
133: #11 Rayvon Foley (R-SR | 19-2)
141: Matt Santos (GRAD | 7-7) -OR- Jordan Hamdan (R-SO | 8-8)
149: Eddie Homrock (SO | 10-5) -OR- Peyton Omania (R-SO | 7-5)
157: Chase Saldate (SO | 20-3)
165: Caleb Fish (SO | 17-6) -OR- Miles Hoey (R-SO | 6-6)
174: Nathan Jimenez (R-JR | 7-10) -OR- Marty Larkin (SO | 8-8)
184: No. 21 Layne Malczewski (R-JR | 17-6)
197: No. 18 Cameron Caffey (R-SR | 19-4)
285: Brad Wilton (R-SR | 8-10)
 
RUTGERS PROBABLE LINEUP
125: No. 23 Dylan Shawver (FR | 14-4)
133: No. 22 Joseph Olivieri (FR | 14-5) -OR- Devon Britton (R-FR | 7-6)
141: No. 3 Sebastian Rivera (GRAD | 16-0)
149: No. 14 Michael VanBrill (R-SR | 12-1)
157: Robert Kanniard (R-FR | 8-6) -OR- Al DeSantis (FR | 10-6)
165: Andrew Clark (FR | 9-13)
174: Connor O'Neill (FR | 9-9)
184: No. 5 John Poznanski (FR | 13-1)
197: No. 12 Greg Bulsak (GRAD | 15-1)
285: Boone McDermott (R-SO | 9-7) -OR- Alex Esposito (R-JR | 4-3)
 
PENN STATE PROBABLE LINEUP
125: No. 10 Drew Hildebrandt (SR | 3-0)
133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (SR | 9-0)
141: No. 1 Nick Lee (SR | 8-0)
149: No. 15 Beau Bartlett (SO | 8-3)
157: Tony Negron (JR | 1-5) -OR- Terrell Barraclough (SO | 6-4)
165: No. 17 Brady Berge (SR | 1-0) -OR- Creighton Edsell (JR | 7-3)
174: No. 1 Carter Starocci (SO | 11-0)
184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks (JR | 9-0)
197: No. 2 Max Dean (JR | 11-0)
285: No. 4 Greg Kerkvliet (SO | 9-0)