He grew up somewhat different than most wrestlers. Size was never to his advantage, and he had one other minor detriment. Junior wrestler Brandon Hallifield was born deaf - but no matter how hard it would be, his mother vowed he would have an ordinary childhood. "I was really determined," Diana Hallifield said.
For the MSU hockey team (18-5-1 overall, 14-9-1 CCHA), wins at Munn Ice Arena this season have been tough to come by. Three games remain on the Spartans' home schedule, starting with today's matchup against Nebraska-Omaha at 7 p.m., and the icers are close to finishing below .500 at home. Currently, MSU has lost three straight games at home to carry an 8-10-1 record.
Junior forward Mike Lalonde says his game of hockey is simple. He doesn't have to be the fastest skater, nothing about his game is flashy - it's the little things he does that make him the Spartans' leading goal-scorer with 18, tying him for the lead in the CCHA with Miami (Ohio) freshman Matt Christie. Overall, his 31 points rank second behind junior captain Jim Slater, who is the Spartans' candidate for the Hobey Baker Award, given to Division I hockey's top college player. Even with a handful of underclassmen searching for their role on the team, Lalonde, an assistant captain, doesn't feel the pressure from others to perform a notch higher - he puts plenty on himself. "I don't feel as much pressure as much as I put on myself to have a solid, clean game," Lalonde said.
As the freshman center bolted onto the court with just more than a minute left in MSU's Feb.
The Spartans wrestling meet against Penn State that took place Friday is now available to College Sports Pass subscribers.
The MSU women's swimming and diving team will compete at the Big Ten Championships today until Saturday at the University Aquatics Center at Minneapolis. The team's overall season record was 2-9, and the Big Ten record was 0-5. Among the nation's top 25 teams, five are in the Big Ten, including No.
A former MSU quarterback has been selected to replace the fifth-winningest coach in Michigan high-school football history.
The No. 20 women's basketball team has the week off and will be preparing not only for its final three games, but the Big Ten Tournament as well. "We had an interesting week last week," MSU head coach Joanne P.
At nearly 7 feet tall, it's doubtful anyone would confuse senior center Jason Andreas with a Hobbit.
Senior Jamie Krzyminski is the first Spartan to qualify automatically for the NCAA Tournament this season.
Four recent Spartans football signees will get a chance to play in the most prestigious all-star game in high-school football before stepping into Spartan Stadium next fall. Quarterback Brian Hoyer, wide receiver Miles Williams, running back/defensive back Tony Howard and defensive end Justin Kershaw will participate in the Big 33.
Tom Izzo loves the Izzone - 90 percent of the time. It's the other 10 percent that makes him question having the Spartans' cheering section. Late in the second half of MSU's 69-58 win over Minnesota on Saturday, the Izzone started chanting "UN-EM-PLOY-MENT" to Golden Gophers head coach Dan Monson, the main reason being Minnesota's 1-10 record in the conference. Izzo said he didn't hear it in the waning minutes of the game, but he was "ticked off" when he caught word of the chant. "If I would have heard that, it would have been worth a technical to walk over and smack somebody," Izzo said.
The MSU women's golf team brings back a victory to East Lansing after the 14.5-3.5 win over Northwestern in the Spartan/Wildcat Cup, held in Orlando, Fla., this weekend. The Spartans led with 948 after 36 holes to Northwestern's 972.
The Spartans' win against Minnesota wasn't exactly fit for ESPN Classic, but at this point in the Big Ten season, they'll take it. "We are in this mode where we have to keep winning," head coach Tom Izzo said.
There must be something about head coach Tom Izzo's halftime speeches. In a scene repeated time after time this season, the Spartans sputtered from the opening tip until the first-half buzzer.
Individuals on both the men's and women's track and field teams qualified for the NCAA Championships during this weekend's meet at the 14th annual Iowa State Classic. Steve Sherer, the 2003 All-American, had a season-best time of 14:02.98 in the 5000-meter run.
Beating one of the Top Ten teams in the country gave the MSU men's tennis team good results at this weekend's tournament at Columbus, Ohio.
The MSU wrestling team continued to struggle, dropping two weekend contests. On Sunday, the Spartans (1-12 overall, 0-7 Big Ten) fell to No.
Three Spartans star athletes will travel to Indianapolis to attend the National Football League's Combine for timing and testing. Quarterback Jeff Smoker, defensive tackle Matthias Askew and defensive end Greg Taplin will visit the RCA Dome Feb.
The MSU hockey team spent the weekend trying to rally back after falling behind in both of its games against Alaska-Fairbanks. The Spartans were partly successful in doing so, settling for the split at Alaska - losing, 5-4, in overtime on Friday while winning, 3-2, on Saturday. MSU (18-15-1, 14-9-1 CCHA) found itself in a 4-2 hole at one point in the second period of the first game of the conference matchup.