In the 133-pound matchup, redshirt senior Garrett Pepple pulled out a brutal takedown in the second period and was awarded the fall over sophomore Seth Koleno.

Redshirt junior Matt Santos kept up the pace and never lost control on the mat with a 14-3 major decision over freshman Alex Blake in the 141-pound matchup to make it 13-0 for the Spartans. 

“I wasn’t really in trouble on my feet, I wasn’t in trouble on the mat at all,” Santos said. “(Blake) put up a good fight, no disrespect to him, but you know, no problem.”

The Spartans suffered their first loss in the 149-pound matchup as redshirt junior Alex Hrisopoulos lost to FloWrestling's #14 Brock Zacherl in a gritty 5-2 decision that gave Clarion their first three points of the night. 

MSU coach Roger Chandler said he didn’t think the match was as close as the score indicated. 

“When you look at the scoreboard, (Hrisopoulos) had two escapes and what’s that tell you?” he said. “It means that we’re in the defensive position and that guy dictated the pace. Alex, if he’s going to be one of the best guys in the country, he has to score off his leg attacks and he didn’t do that tonight. He was in the match with (Zacherl) but did he ever threaten the kid? No.”

MSU bounced back quickly as MSU season wins leader Jake Tucker overcame an early deficit and improved to 20-5 on the year with a 16-3 major decision against junior Avery Shay in the 157-pound matchup. 

Redshirt junior Drew Hughes battled redshirt senior Mike Bartolo hard in a 165-pound matchup that resulted in three scoreless periods. An official review after the third period gave Bartolo a takedown in the final seconds to escape with a 2-1 decision. 

In the 174-pound matchup, No. 23 Layne Malczewski struggled to stay close early against junior Max Wohlabaugh. Wohlabaugh led 4-2 as the third period started but Malczewski attacked late to get a near-fall and the 6-4 decision. 

“Coaches were on me a lot about attacking,” Malczewski said. “(Wohlabaugh) was an upper body guy on the (Greco-Roman World Team) so I knew he was gonna be all upper body, try to keep me tied up. ... I couldn’t really work out of it but still somehow figured out a way around it.”

No. 20 Cameron Caffey dominated the 184-pound matchup against junior Luke Funck and won 23-8 in a technical fall. Chandler said Caffey has been coming into his own as a wrestler throughout the season. 

“He’s going through a whole new level and you’re seeing it right before your eyes,” he said. "He’s wrestling confident, he’s wrestling in the positions and tie-ups he wants to be in and when you do that, great things happen.”

Redshirt junior Nick May and No. 17 Greg Bulsak were deadlocked at 6-6 after two periods in the 197-pound matchup but Bulsak stayed patient and survived in a 10-7 victory with a takedown and two escapes in the third period. 

Clarion ended the night strong with an aggressive 285-pound matchup that saw MSU redshirt junior Christian Rebottaro notch a takedown against redshirt sophomore Ty Bagoly early in the first period. Bagoly answered swiftly and improved to a perfect 11-0 duals record with the fall. 

As the Spartans travel to a tough matchup against No. 7 Nebraska this Sunday, Chandler said his team will have to compete on another level. 

“As you move forward, you have to be better every time you step on the mat,” he said. “I don’t think we did that as a program today."

“I think every one of our guys are prepared," he said. "They’re gonna evaluate here over the next 36 hours before they step on the mat against Nebraska and they’re gonna have to shake this off and get in a championship mindset because this is why they came to Michigan State to wrestle in the Big Ten against the best competition.”