“Two weeks ago, we competed against Iowa and we got handled pretty solidly,” head coach Tom Minkel said. “We learned some lessons (there).”

Since the meet was away, both teams wrestled at the Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa’s basketball court. Thousands attended the matchup and many of the MSU wrestlers had never been there.

“It’s an intimidating place to be if it’s your first time being there, and we had many guys who that was their first time,” Minkel said.

Minkel said his team gave Iowa “way too much respect” and were thinking too much about the Hawkeyes’ rankings instead of their individual wrestlers.

According to the head coach, wrestlers sometimes have the mindset that if someone is ranked higher than them, they are automatically better.

“Ranking is reputation,” he said.

The team’s main focus is to think of each competitor individually and not as a ranked wrestler or team, Minkel said, which will be essential to a victory.

“It matters who’s going the hardest and who’s being more aggressive,” he said. “They put on their shoes the same way we do.”

Forgetting that a competitor is ranked high in the country is a hard task to accomplish, but it’s something the Spartans hope to achieve on Friday.

“We can’t wrestle the guy’s rankings, their record or their reputation,” he coach said. We can’t wrestle anything but the guy.”

MSU has some key wrestlers that will help the team succeed and bring in a win before a home crowd.

One of them is senior Mike McClure, ranked at No. 9 in the nation in the heavyweight division.

Following him is John Rizqallah, who stepped up from No. 20 to No. 19 in the 184-pound division.

“Our top three weights have been good. This is where we’ve been strong,” Minkel said.

Other wrestlers who have been climbing the ladder to success are senior Robert Nash at 167 pounds and sophomore Nick Trimble, weighing 149 pounds.

The Spartans wrestle Minnesota at 7 p.m. Friday at Jenison Field House.