He was a three-time all-American, and had an unblemished record in dual meets.

Minkel also served on the coaching staff from 1977-1991.

“You always get the conflicting emotions with CMU because I have a lot of history there,” Minkel said. “When I see some of the people that come down for the dual that I know well, so it’s always good to see them, but at the same time, they’re pulling for the other team.”

After 10 straight losses, including a disappointing 30-10 defeat to Iowa State last Friday, Minkel said the team hopes to end the regular season on the right note.

“This is a resilient group and nobody’s faded away and nobody’s sorry for themselves,” he said. “Everybody’s working hard, and I expect a better performance this weekend.”

The Chippewas have beaten the Spartans 10 straight times, and the last time MSU came out on top was November 28, 2001.

Senior 149-pounder Dan Ostermansaid he feels the same way about Central Michigan as he does about Michigan, and he expects a close match.

“It’s a good test for us going into Big Tens,” Osterman said. “It’s also not like a Big Ten team. It’s an extremely tough dual, they’re a great team.”

The Chippewas have four wrestlers ranked in the InterMat Top 20, led by 184-pounder No. 2 Ben Bennett.

Sophomore 184-pounder John Rizqallah said the team needs to listen to what their coaches have been telling them all season and have 10 good matches to come out with the victory.

“We want to finish strong, it’s our last dual meet,” Rizqallah said. “Coming off a loss, or even if we were coming off of a win, we still need to have the same mentality. We’ve been expecting to win all year, and we just haven’t been able to pull through.”

Along with Osterman, senior 157-pounder David Cheza, and junior 133-pounder Chis Lyonwill be honored as they wrestle in Jenison Field House for the final time.

Rizqallah said the older people on the team have helped him through his first year in the starting lineup.

“Kids talk to me all the time, kids that are even younger than I am,” Rizqallah said. “A lot of times, I’ll try to come up with an answer, but a lot of times I won’t actually know the answer. I look to Dan and Cheza and ask them questions that I need help with.”

Osterman said his favorite memory as a Spartan was going to Ann Arbor and beating U-M his freshman year, but had a bigger take away from his time in Green and White.

“Overall, one of the best things is building the relationships with the teams throughout the years,” Osterman said. “The friendships that I’m going to have for a lifetime; that’s one of the best parts.”