Javier Gasca got the Spartans on the scoreboard in the 141 weight class, as he defeated Nick Lawrence 5-2. 

Despite the early run from Purdue, the Spartans managed to stop the bleeding by winning the last three bouts of the dual. 

Head coach Tom Minkel felt that his Spartans wrestled well in certain places.

"You come out of that a little disappointed that we didn't wrestle a little bit better and come away with a win. Bottom line, we're making some good progress and we wrestled them as well as we could at this juncture," Minkel said. 

One particular high note from the Spartans' performance was Nick McDiarmid's victory over Purdue’s Braden Atwood in the 197 weight class. Atwood was the No. 9 wrestler in that class heading in to the dual. 

The win marked the senior’s third straight Big Ten victory, two of those wins being over ranked opponents. 

Coach Minkel seemed very pleased with McDiarmid’s performance. “He’s made some really significant improvements in the last couple months,” Minkel said. “He’s worked pretty diligently on his wrestling and has corrected some of the small mistakes he was making, and it’s really paying off now.” 

Next up for MSU, a dual with Duke on Friday and Central Michigan on Saturday, which will conclude the regular season. 

To come out of the weekend with two wins would be huge heading in to the Big Ten tournament, as well as the off-season. 

Coach Minkel said he felt those two duals are particularly important for establishing momentum, "I think we'll wrestle well. We continue to learn and continue to grow and improve. I really see an improvement in our wrestling. We're just not very far away."  

Duke currently has a record of 10-6 and is coming off a 22-15 loss to Virginia Tech. Meanwhile, Central Michigan is 7-6 following a loss against Old Dominion. 

Both duals will be held in East Lansing at Jenison Field house at 7 p.m.