Seniors 125-pounder Eric Olanowski, 157-pounder Anthony Jones Jr., 165-pounder David Cheza, 174-pounder Curran Jacobs and 184-pounder Ian Hinton all will be honored and compete in their final dual in East Lansing. Senior 197-pounder Tyler Dickenson also will be honored, but his career was ended prematurely after he was injured during the Reno Tournament of Champions in December.

Head coach Tom Minkel wrestled at Central Michigan in the early 1970s and has seen a number of seniors leave the program during his 21 years with the program.

“I think the last dual in a college career is important,” Minkel said. “It kind of sneaks up on everybody. You’ve been in college for four, five years, and when you came in, you felt like it was never going to end. And all of a sudden it’s the last dual, and it’s, ‘Wow, when did that happen? Where did the time go?’”

Olanowski said he is excited to put on a show for the crowd, and he expects to get emotional when his name is called. He’ll likely face No. 16 Johnni DiJulius of Ohio State, but said he had not scouted his opponent.

“I don’t know much about him,” he said. “I just like going in there blind. I feel like it’s better for me, because if I know what they’re going to do, I wrestle to their tendencies, so I just go out and wrestle my style, I don’t have to fall into their game. I just do what I do.”

While some of his fellow seniors are sentimental about their final match at home, Jacobs said wrestling takes priority in his mind, and he’s working to not get psyched out by the senior day festivities.

“I try not to think about it,” he said. “I don’t want it to interfere with my game plan. I just am really excited and honored that I had the privilege to wrestle here, and I want to go out with a bang.”

Minkel said Ohio State’s loss to No. 2 Penn State last weekend showed that the Buckeyes aren’t invincible, and he is confident that the meet between the two teams will be evenly matched. He expects his team to get after it and “not show them too much respect.”

However, when it’s all said and done, Minkel wants to make sure he gets the win for his seniors.

“The last home dual is an important one for our seniors,” he said. “We’ve got six guys who have really been the backbone of our team for some time, and I think it’ll be a special day for them.”