Jan. 11, 2012

EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Spartan wrestling team is back at Jenison Field House this weekend for the first time since hosting the MSU Open on Nov. 12. Michigan State (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) squares off against non-conference foe West Virginia (2-2) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and against Indiana on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Friday's dual will be streamed live for a fee at BTN.com and Sunday's will be tape delayed and broadcasted on the Big Ten Network at 11 a.m. Monday.

"West Virginia is a very solid team," head coach Tom Minkel said. "We wrestled them last year and had a very close back and forth dual with them. We managed to get out of there with a win and I don't think it settled very well with them. I know they are a highly motivated team this weekend and we need to be ready. It is nice for us to be at home, but we have our hands full. We will have to wrestle well."

Last season the Spartans beat the Mountaineers in exciting fashion on the road. MSU was trailing 18-15 heading into the heavyweight matchup and needed bonus points from Joe Rizqallah to come away on top. Rizqallah came up huge for the Spartans with a pin against Philip Mandzik of WVU in 4:50, propelling the Spartans to a 21-18 victory. MSU leads the series record with West Virginia, 5-0.

Indiana (6-2, 0-2 Big Ten) is coming off of a home loss to No. 2 Iowa, 26-12, and also has a conference loss to Ohio State. Last season the Spartans fell to Indiana on the road, 22-9. Michigan State leads the all-time series record, 44-25-3.

"Indiana is a very good team and we have had some great duals with them in the past," Minkel said. "It is an important weekend for us; West Virginia is tough and so is Indiana. We need to be ready to go."

Following this weekend's home duals Michigan State travels to the state of Illinois to face Northwestern on Jan. 20 and Illinois on Jan. 22.