Michigan State No. 11 senior Caleb Fish (17-4) celebrates his victory over No. 86 junior Anthony White (9-8) of Rutgers. Michigan State fell to No. 12 Rutgers 22-13, falling to 0-2 in conference play.
MSU wrestling will host the University of Wisconsin-Madison this Friday, Jan. 26 at Jenison Field House for the team's fourth Big Ten Conference dual of the season.
The Spartans head into Friday hoping to capture their first Big Ten dual victory of the year having fallen to No. 13 Michigan, No. 14 Rutgers and No.1 ranked Penn State in what was a slow and apathetic start to MSU's Big Ten campaign, as they were continuously dominated by opponents.
Key weigh-ins for the meet will include the 125-pound, 165-pound and the 184-pound matches, where the Badgers are expected to use all three of their top-15 ranked wrestlers.
In the 125-pound weigh-in, Michigan State’s No. 43 redshirt junior Tristan Lujan (13-9) will face off against No. 2 in the division and two-time All-American senior Eric Barnett (16-2) in what will be a huge chance for Lujan to get a win over the best in the division. Although Lujan is the underdog, he still has a chance to show what he's capable of.
The 165-pound weigh-in will be a battle between two potential All-Americans this season: No. 11 senior Caleb Fish (18-5) for the Spartans and two-time All-American and No. 3 junior Dean Hamiti (16-1) for the Badgers. Fish recently fell by a majority decision to No. 8 redshirt freshman Mitchell Mesenbrink, while Hamiti bested No. 15 redshirt sophomore Bryce Hepner by technical fall.
The final marquee bout of the dual comes in the 184-pound weigh-in. Michigan State's No. 17 graduate student Layne Malczewski (6-5) will face off against Wisconsin's No. 12 graduate student Shane Liegel in a top-20 ranked matchup. Malczewski took No. 6 graduate student Bernie Truax (7-1) to a 4-2 decision his last time out, and will look to that result for confidence to beat the Badger’s Liegel.
The starting time for the dual is set for 7 p.m. and will be streaming on Big Ten Plus.
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