MSU senior Robert Nash wrestles Illinois 165-pounder Jackson Morse on Jan. 26, 2014, at Jenison Field House. Nash lost the match, 6-2. Betsy Agosta/The State News
Another tough weekend is ahead for the Spartan wrestling team as it takes on No. 1 Penn State on Friday at Jenison Field House.
Penn State’s 10 starters all are nationally ranked, but Nittany Lions junior heavyweight Jimmy Lawson, who is ranked No. 12, will be out and junior Jon Gingrich will step up in at heavyweight to wrestle against MSU senior Michael McClure.
MSU is coming off a tough stretch, including losses to Iowa and Minnesota earlier this year.
Gingrich and McClure have wrestled in the past.
“We’re doing what we normally do with an emphasis on always wrestling as well as we can and not Penn State’s reputation, rankings, school or coach,” head coach Tom Minkel said.
Although he recognizes that the Nittany Lions are a very good team, to Minkel, it is just one of his wrestlers and “another guy” out on the mat, and he wants the team to “wrestle fundamentally.”
“You don’t win three national titles in a row if you’re not good,” he said. “We know the level of wrestling we’re up against and we know we have to wrestle our very best.”
Senior Robert Nash, who wrestles in the 165-pound category, said he is preparing by staying consistent during practice.
Nash said he is working on being prepared for anything when wrestling Penn State senior David Taylor, who sits atop the rankings in the 165-pound weight category.
“I want to make sure my technique is perfect and I wanna wrestle a hard, hard seven minutes,” Nash said. “My game is ready,”
Taylor likes to “score early,” according to Nash, and he said that his competitor is good at every position.
“He’ll come at me hard, but I’m just looking to making this one a fight,” he said.
Minkel said that although they have been wrestling many major teams, the Spartans will keep the practices the same so the wrestlers can keep a routine of improvement.
“We’re keeping practice similar and work technique,” Minkel said. “There’s a pattern you want to stay on when practicing each week, so we’re not going to change much this week.”
Junior Nick McDiarmid will wrestle No. 12-ranked Penn State sophomore Morgan McIntosh in the 197-pound category, and said he knows what he will do with this challenge on Friday.
“I’m going to go out there and attack, build the match and be offensive,” he said.
McDiarmid said he and McIntosh wrestled each other during McDiarmid’s freshman year.
McDiarmid’s looking to successfully compete, and he’s optimistic that he can “hopefully keep that up” as the season progresses.
The Spartans know that the Nittany Lions are a good team and will be a tough matchup.
They will use this as a building block to help the wrestlers get better for the Big Ten championship in March.
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“As a team, but individually, we’ll take it one match at time,” McDiarmid said.
Nash also is looking forward to helping his team but also prepare for March’s big competition, which is what they work for all season.
“It’s my senior year, so I want to make it to the national tournament,” Nash said. “So basically, I want to get ready for the match and peak right now.”
