Michigan State men's wrestling returns to Jenison Fieldhouse this Friday, Feb. 23 to host Central Michigan in its final meet of the season where the Spartans will also be honoring graduating students for their Senior Night.
The graduating Spartan class consists of five confirmed graduates: 184-pound No. 16 graduate student Layne Malczewski, 174-pound redshirt junior Marty Larkin, 165-pound senior Colton Blaha, 141-pound redshirt junior Blake Noonan and 141-pound No. 27 redshirt senior Jordan Hamdan. Both Malczewski and Hamdan have been key parts of Michigan State's success this season, having been featured in all of the team's conference duals.
The Central Michigan Chippewas sit at 8-6 on the season in duals, while boasting an impressive 5-1 record in conference play and are sitting in second place in the Western Division of the Mid-American Conference.
Key weigh-ins for the dual will include the 125-pound, 141-pound and 157-pound weigh-ins.
In the 125-pound weigh-in, redshirt junior Tristan Lujan (14-12) will represent the Spartans and face off against a familiar face: redshirt sophomore Sean Spidle (13-8). The pair have faced off on two different occasions with the series being split at one apiece. The most recent encounter came in Dec. 2023 when Spidle secured a 4-3 decision victory.
In the 141-pound weigh-in, Michigan State's Hamdan (17-8) will face Central Michigan's sophomore Jimmy Nugent (16-7). Nugent has found himself amid a hot streak as he is undefeated in his last four bouts. Hamdan, however, is 1-3 in his last four bouts and will look to Nugent to end his season on a strong note.
The final weight to watch will be the 157-pound weigh-in which will feature the only ranked bout of the night. No. 20 Chase Saldate (21-4) for the Spartans will face off against No. 26 redshirt senior Johnny Lovett (22-5) for the Chippewas. The pair have also split the all-time series at one apiece as Lovett secured a 9-6 victory in Dec. 2023 over Saldate the last time the two met.
Starting time for the meet is set for 6:30 p.m. with streaming available on Big Ten Plus.
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