Heading onto the mat, redshirt freshman Caleb Fish had a tall task in front of him.
After watching his fellow teammate Chase Saldate get pinned by the No. 2 wrestler in the country, Ryan Deakin, in the second round to make it 15-3 Northwestern, Fish had to win by more than a regular decision to give MSU a chance.
Fish answered the call resoundingly with a first round fall against David Ferrante of Northwestern. After starting the round spotting Ferrante a takedown and 2-1 lead, Fish began to relentlessly look for shots, eventually taking him to the mat for good halfway through the first round. Fish said his only thought after the early takedown from Ferrante was the team’s motto, ‘gotta get up.’ And once he was up, the show began.
After finding his feet again, it didn’t take long for Fish to find a gap to Ferrante’s chest for a takedown. The small but passionate crowd inside Jenison Fieldhouse began to get whipped in a fervor as Fish twisted Ferrante’s left arm across his back, trying to flip him like a fried egg.
“It (the crowd) was definitely driving me forward and I knew I wanted that pin,” Fish said.
And after 30 seconds of pulling Ferrante’s arm out of socket, Fish finally got his wish. Ferrante rolled to his back, unable to withstand the pain he was under, giving MSU its first extra points of the match to answer Northwestern’s pin immediately.
“It looked pretty grim at that point,” MSU Wrestling Coach Roger Chandler said. “And we got a redshirt freshmen stepping up and wrestling through every single situation, catches the guy on his back and pins 'em. I mean it says a lot, it speaks volumes.”
Fish’s pin ended up being one of two bonus points scored by MSU in the meet. MSU’s two star wrestlers, No. 10 Rayvon Foley (133 lbs) and No. 8 Cameron Caffey (197 lbs), also found success with ranked wins.
Those proved to be the few highlights for MSU on Saturday, who fell to Northwestern 24-16 in the meet. Chandler said the result came from MSU losing a few consequential “swing” matches at 125, 141 and 149 pounds as well as giving up bonus points in three matches as opposed to MSU’s one.
“There was a couple swing matches at 25, 41, 49,” Chandler said. “And obviously, when you give up the pin and bonus points, it really affects the duel. It's not the best we've wrestled this year, but it's not the end of the world either.”
MSU found their first points in Foley’s match at 133 pounds against No. 8 Chris Cannon, which was the only top 10 matchup of the meet. Northwestern jumped out to a 3-0 lead after No. 7 Michael DeAugustino held on for a decision over sophomore Tristan Lujan for MSU and the Spartans needed a response from Foley.
Foley attacked from the opening whistle and handshake, securing an early takedown. Northwestern challenged the early score, saying the refs made the call too early, but the points stood.
Foley stayed on the front foot, securing another takedown early in the second round. Northwestern’s bench started an uproar, claiming Foley locked his hands in a grip during the takedown. Despite losing its first and only challenge, the refs stopped the match and reviewed, taking away Foley’s two points and awarding Cannon one point, making the score 3-2.
The call swung the tide of the matchup heading into the final minute of the third round when Foley found another takedown late to secure a 5-2 regular decision victory. The win moves Foley to 23-2 individually on the year.
The win briefly tied the match at 3-3 heading into the 141-pound matchup. Northwestern took over from that point, winning the next three matches at 141, 149 and 157. The first two were by regular decision before Deakin’s pin on Saldate to make it 15-3 Wildcats.
Fish was able to stem the bleeding momentarily, but MSU could not overcome the three-match winning streak from Northwestern.
The Wildcats answered the pin with a major decision at 174 pounds. Redshirt sophomore Troy Fisher dominated MSU redshirt junior Nathan Jimenez, pushing the score to 19-9 going into the final three weight classes.
No. 18 Layne Malczewski and Caffey found back-to-back wins at 184 and 197 pounds to give MSU a chance going into the heavyweight matchup, but redshirt senior Brad Wilton could not keep up with No. 9 Lucas Davison from Northwestern, who won by technical fall 19-4.
Caffey found the win over No. 22 Andrew Davison, continuing his hot streak of wins over nationally-ranked opponents in the 197 weight class. After having to play defense most of the match, Caffey got the win late after securing a reversal in the final 30 seconds to walk away with a 4-3 decision.
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“He's probably the most cerebral wrestler I've ever coached,” Chandler said of Caffey. “They did a very good job of scouting what he was going to do offensively so in the end, it was our defense that actually won. Cam kinda baited him into taking a shot so that he could score defensively.”
The loss drops No. 14 Michigan State to 9-3 overall and 4-3 in conference matches. MSU returns to action on Sunday in Ann Arbor against No. 3 Michigan, looking to avoid its first losing streak of the season.
