Following that match, they will go up against Indiana at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Bloomington, Ind. They have been preparing for those after losing to No. 1 Penn State, 42-3, and plan to not get ahead of themselves, according to 197-pound junior Nick McDiarmid.

“We’ll take one dual meet at a time and not look too far ahead,” McDiarmid said. “We’ll try to look at both matches individually and not as one big match.”

First they will wrestle against Ohio State, where they plan to compete throughout the match.

“We need to wrestle 10 good, strong matches and come out victorious. Then we will regroup and refocus to go against Indiana,” McDiarmid said.

Both Ohio State and Indiana are teams that the Spartans have not seen much before, said senior heavyweight Mike McClure.

“Both duals are very winnable and we have a good chance with where we’re at individually and as a team,” McClure said.

The prior teams they have wrestled have been in the top five teams in the nation, and McClure said most of the Spartan wrestlers are on the borderline of competing at that level as well.

“It’s pretty late into the season, but it’s the most important and fun part, so we want to finish strong,” he said.

With the four matches left, head coach Tom Minkel said everybody’s minds are on getting ready for the Big Ten championships. The routine of having Friday then Sunday matches is helping the process, but Minkel said his team does not have room for mistakes.

“We’ve wrestled high quality competitors in the last few weeks,” Minkel said. “In the less important matches, they can make mistakes and still win, but against the best competitors those errors will cost you.”

Minkel said he wants his team to wrestle well no matter who they are going up against, and they are working on improving their technique.

McClure said he has been helping the team through leading by example and he looks to continue that process to help his teammates improve with him.

“I think I’ve done a pretty good job of leading by example this season,” he said. “We’ve been working on certain things like critiquing and technique.”

Right now, as they have been working on critiquing and getting better, McDiarmid said the team is working on conquering their mini goals — both personally and as a team.

“We’re trying to win on our own so, at the end of a match, the team comes out victorious,” he said. “We have to win matches now so you can get good placements for the (future) championships.”

Minkel, like McDiarmid, said he doesn’t want the team to stress during the matches leading up to the Big Ten and national championships.

“It’s one of those things that’s on the back of your mind, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” Minkel said.