After two recent losses to top-ranked Big Ten teams, the wrestling team will have to focus on having control when facing Michigan this Friday, a rival who ranks No. 12 in the nation.
The Spartans lost 41-0 to then-No. 3 Iowa — now ranked second best nationally — and 35-3 to-then No. 2, now No. 4 Minnesota. Both teams have athletes individually ranked in the top 10, but this time, MSU senior Michael McClure will have to face Michigan freshman Adam Coon, who is the No. 1-ranked heavyweight in the country.
“He’s younger, so I’m focusing on keeping the pressure on him and pick up the pace so he will have something to deal with,” McClure said.
Head coach Tom Minkel said he has prepared for this practice and the next matchup by watching videos of Coon. Minkel also said he knows Michigan’s top wrestler very well.
“(Coon’s) a very good wrestler, and it’s his first year,” he said. “We’ll approach it the same way and maintain good position.”
Minkel said he expects McClure to have a very good match. McClure will have to detain, and not fight, Coon’s power.
The team has competed against high-ranked schools so far and Minkel said those matches do not have room for mistakes.
“When you wrestle average teams and make mistakes, you don’t always pay for them, but when competing against a high-level teams, mistakes cost you,” the coach said.
At practice and when the wrestlers are getting ready to compete, the focus is not on one wrestler, it is on the whole team, because according to Minkel it is a “team effort” and he wants to make the team win and “work with each guy.”
Junior John Rizqallah, who is ranked No. 18 nationally in the 184-pound category, said the team’s main goal is to beat two Big Ten schools.
“The biggest thing is when you lose, you learn a lot more than when you win,” he said.
Individually, Rizqallah wants to be an All-American wrestler — top-five in the nation.
“I brought my endurance up, which I needed to do, so I’ll keep better position and allow no takedowns,” Rizqallah said.
McClure’s individual goal also is to be an All-American in the heavyweight category, which means being ranked in the top eight nationally.
“I feel like I have the tools,” the No. 9-ranked wrestler said. “All matches so far, I lost by one or two points, and I just have to make the point swing go my way.”
To achieve the several goals the team and wrestlers have, Minkel said there are a number of things that they will have to work on and improve.
“The first is doing a good job of positioning the feet and not giving up position, then getting on top,” he said. “And also not giving up on the bottom.”
The Spartans take on their rivals, the Wolverines, at 7 p.m. Friday in Ann Arbor and No. 15 Illinois at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Jenison Field House.
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