“We’re going to set the tone, set the pace, set the tempo,” he said. “What you’re doing is saying this is how the game is going to go and try to stay with us.

“You can see what happens, or you can go out and decided what’s going to happen, and we need to be on the offensive side of things.”

This week, Minkel has pushed that mindset on his wrestlers, which has turned around and given them an extra confidence boost.

Also contributing to the confident Spartan mindset is knowing how their conditioning has carried them through matches and believing it will continue to help them put pressure on their opponents, junior 174-pounder Curran Jacobs said.

“(We) want to constantly put the pressure on our opponents by moving him, snapping him (and) taking shots because we believe that our conditioning is above and beyond anyone else,” Jacobs said. “Every team we’ve wrestled in the past, it appears that they just can’t stick with us in the third period.”

Minkel’s strategy and MSU’s conditioning will be put to the test this weekend when it hosts in-state rival No. 21 Central Michigan at 7 p.m. Friday and No. 19 Northwestern at 2 p.m. Sunday. Both matches will be held at Jenison Field House.

With a 13-12 overall series record with the Chippewas (3-7), the Spartans are ready for every element that goes along with an in-state rivalry.

“It just gets everyone pumped, and everyone gets amped for it because no one wants to lose to Central in any sport at Michigan State,” junior Ian Hinton said. “Everyone just gets really pumped to wrestle in that match.”

Adding another aspect to the rivalry is Minkel’s long history with Central Michigan, dating back to when he wrestled as a Chippewa and eventually served as an assistant and head coach.

“I wrestled there and coached there and have a lot of ties to CMU,” Minkel said. “I know a lot about their team and their program and their school … so I think there’s an element there, too, that kind of helps the rivalry.”

Central Michigan has four nationally ranked wrestlers — two in the top five, including No. 5 174-pounder Ben Bennett, who will be Jacobs’ opponent.

“I’m going to go in there and put the heat on and see if he can deal with my conditioning and pressure,” Jacobs said.

Northwestern will prove to be another challenging match for the Spartans. Leading the way for the Wildcats (14-0, 2-0) at 125 pounds is Brandon Precin, who currently is ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Although the Spartans are going into the weekend focusing on one match at a time, they know they have to uphold Minkel’s aggressive mentality through both matches in order to win.

“Both duals are real winnable,” Hinton said. “We should win, and that’s the mindset for everyone going in. We just need to keep training like we have been.

“We’re right there. We’ve just got to go out and execute, and everyone’s got to do their part.”