By Matthew Argillander
margillander@statenews.com
The sports schedule may seem sparse on campus following MSU football’s win in the Cotton Bowl. Most fans will turn their attention to basketball and ice hockey, but there are plenty of other options for sports fans this semester.
The men’s and women’s swimming team will be competing in the USA Winter Nationals for the remainder of the month through the beginning of February. Both teams will look to rebound after suffering losses to Purdue on Saturday, with the men losing 203-242 and the women losing 193-248. The women’s team has a meet against Bowling Green this upcoming Friday. Both teams meet against conference foe Ohio State in East Lansing Jan. 23.
The men’s and women’s tennis teams will be kicking it into gear this month as well. The men’s team plays against Duke on Friday and both teams have two matches a piece on Jan. 18. The men’s team will play against North Carolina State and North Carolina A&T on the road while the women’s team will take on Eastern Michigan and Oakland at home in East Lansing.
The future of the tennis teams are trending in the right direction as the women’s team has secured commitments from four-star recruits Emily Metcalf and Davina Nguyen. The men’s team has received commitments from five-star recruit William Shisler and four-star recruits Ivan Rakic and Colin Harvey.
The women’s gymnastics team opened up their season last Saturday falling short against Bowling Green 194.775-194.075. However, junior Lisa Burt provided a silver lining in the loss, winning the all-around title. The team returns to play on Jan. 18 against Iowa.
The men’s wrestling team (3-6 overall, 0-3 Big Ten) is coming off of a 28-9 loss to Michigan on Sunday. The team returns to action to take on Ohio State on Friday in East Lansing. The team had 10 matches in the loss to Michigan, losing 7 of 10, but the Spartan seniors showed promise, with three of the four seniors who played earning wins. The team will need to build momentum off of the performances of seniors Nick Proctor, John Rizqallah and Nick McDiarmid.
While some of the more popular sports MSU has to offer have come to an end this school year, there are still plenty of opportunities to check out Spartan athletics.
