Feb. 3, 2012

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State welcomes another ranked opponent into Jenison Field House in No. 6 Ohio State on Sunday, Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. Six Spartans seniors will be recognized in their last home match at Michigan State for their contributions made to the program. Admission to the dual will be free in honor of Senior Day and Fan Appreciation Day.

"Ohio State is a heck of a team and they have some really strong, young wrestlers," head coach Tom Minkel said. "At the same time we are getting used to wrestling top-10 teams. What we have to do is go out there and not wrestle their ranking. We have to wrestle hard at every weight class, and if we do that I think we'll be all right."

No. 6 Ohio State (9-3, 3-3 Big Ten) is coming off a 34-9 loss to No. 2 Penn State on Jan. 29. The Buckeyes host No. 12 Michigan on Friday, Feb. 3 before traveling to East Lansing.

Seniors Eric Olanowski (125), Anthony Jones Jr. (157), David Cheza (165), Curran Jacobs (174), Ian Hinton (184) and Tyler Dickenson (197) will each be recognized before the match.

"We have a very good and close group of seniors, and I think this will be an emotional day for them," Minkel said. "It has been fun to watch. They have learned a lot, they have been through the grind and have come out much stronger and confident individuals."

Next up the Spartans travel to Edinboro, Pa., for a dual match against Edinboro on Feb. 10 and will then compete in the Edinboro Open the following day.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State lost to No. 7 Nebraska and No. 11 Michigan last weekend. MSU hosted Nebraska and fell 27-8. Senior Eric Olanowski recorded a technical fall at 125 pounds and junior Dan Osterman had a decision at 149 pounds. The Spartans led 8-7 after four matches following Osterman's win in the 149-pound weight class, but Nebraska won the final six matches of the dual to claim the victory. Four of the 10 matches were decided by just one point.

The Spartans fell to in-state rival Michigan 27-8 at Cliff Keen Arena on Jan. 29. Anthony Jones Jr. (157), Ian Hinton (184) and Nick McDiarmid (197) each recorded decisions at their respective weight classes. Michigan lead 9-6 over the Spartans heading into intermission. The Wolverines won four of the final five matches to claim the dual victory.

DICKENSON LOST FOR SEASON
Michigan State senior 197-pounder Tyler Dickenson suffered a career-ending knee injury at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 18. Dickenson was 7-1 on the season and ranked as high as No. 12 according to InterMat.

Dickenson placed fourth in the Big Ten Championships a year ago and made his first trip to NCAA's last year. He defeated No. 12 A.J. Kissel of Purdue this season and owns a career record of 57-56.

RANKING THE SPARTANS
Three Spartan seniors are currently ranked according to InterMat. No. 12 Anthony Jones Jr. (157), No. 16 Curran Jacobs (174) and No. 13 Tyler Dickenson (197).

Jones went 1-1 last weekend and lost a tough 3-2 match to No. 8 James Green of Nebraska. Against Michigan, Jones was in another tight match and won a 3-2 decision in double overtime over Brandon Zeerip.

Jacobs lost two tough matches over the weekend, the first to Tyler Koehn of Nebraska, 5-2, and then to No. 5 Justin Zeerip of Michigan, 7-1. Jacobs currently has three wins over ranked wrestlers.

BIG TEN WEEKEND
Michigan State had a tough road weekend in which it faced No. 18 Northwestern on Jan. 20 and No. 6 Illinois on Jan. 22. The Spartans lost to Northwestern, 30-12, and fell to Illinois, 26-13.

Senior Curran Jacobs had an outstanding weekend, picking up two decisions over ranked wrestlers over the weekend. Jacobs defeated No. 11 Lee Munster of Northwestern, 3-1, and dropped No. 10 Jordan Blanton of Illinois, 7-3.

MSU WINS TIEBREAKER
The Spartans lost to non-conference foe West Virginia on Jan. 13, 23-12, but defeated Indiana 21-20 on Jan. 15, in a thrilling match at Jenison Field House. The win over the Hoosiers was the first conference win for Michigan State.

The win over Indiana came in exciting fashion in front of the home crowd. Michigan State led 20-16 heading into the final match at 141 pounds between Andrew Ermatinger and Matt Ortega of Indiana. Although Ortega recorded an 11-2 major decision over Ermatinger, the Spartans were awarded a tiebreaker point based on total match victories. MSU won six matches throughout the dual and Indiana won four.

Spartans that contributed to the victory were Eric Olanowski (125), Terry Turner (133), No. 13 Anthony Jones Jr. (157), David Cheza (165), Curran Jacobs (174) and No. 10 Michael McClure (HWT).

SPARTANS IN BATTLE CREEK
Michigan State fell to No. 4 Penn State, 36-6, on Jan. 8 at Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek, Mich. Over 3,000 spectators took in the dual that served as a feature event for the Spartan Country youth tournament in an attempt to bridge collegiate and youth wrestling in the same setting.

"It is nice to have an event like this in conjunction with the youth tournament because youth wrestling is very important to collegiate wrestling," head coach Tom Minkel said after the dual. "We have to foster youth wrestling in the state of Michigan in order for collegiate wrestling to go to the next level."

STRONG SHOWING AT RENO TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
Michigan State placed fifth out of 28 teams and six wrestlers placed in the top six at the 17th annual Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 18. Dan Osterman (149) and David Cheza (165) both placed third individually.

Anthony Jones Jr. placed fourth and reached the semifinals at 157 pounds with three straight victories. Curran Jacobs reached the semifinals and placed fifth at 174 pounds. Nick McDiarmid wrestled at 197 pounds for the Spartans and also placed fifth. At heavyweight, Steve Andrus finished the tournament with a 4-2 record and made it to the fifth place match before having to forfeit due to injury.

BIG TEN OPENER
For the second time this season Michigan State split five of the 10 matches, but came up short in the Big Ten opener at Purdue, 22-17 on Dec. 9. Tyler Dickenson beat No. 12 A.J. Kissel at 197 pounds.

DOUBLE DIPPED
Michigan State traveled to Pennsylvania on Dec. 3 and picked up dual wins over both Lock Haven and Bucknell at their respective campuses. Michigan State finished the day with a combined score of 57-12.

Lock Haven was up first for the Spartans and Michigan State dropped only two matches en route to a 30-6 victory. After then traveling to Bucknell, Michigan State dropped two of the first three matches before stringing together seven consecutive wins to take a 27-6 win.

ANCHORS IN THE MIDDLE
Last season the Spartans were without two key contributors in the middle of the lineup, as both No. 12 Anthony Jones Jr. (157) and David Cheza (165) lost the majority of last season due to injury. This season they are a combined 29-13 and have each placed in two of the three tournaments MSU has competed in, including an individual title for Cheza at the MSU Open. These seniors have been counted on to add consistency to the Spartan lineup.

SENIOR DEPTH
Head coach Tom Minkel boasts a lineup filled with experience and senior leadership in the 2011-12 season. Michigan State has six seniors, all of which are regular starters. The seniors include: Eric Olanowski (125), No. 12 Anthony Jones Jr. (157), David Cheza (165), No. 16 Curran Jacobs (174), Ian Hinton (184) and No. 13 Tyler Dickenson (197). Currently the seniors are a combined 74-35 overall.

REPRESENT ON HOME TURF
The Michigan State wrestling program hosted the MSU Open all day on Nov. 13 at Jenison Field House. The event featured more than 600 wrestlers and more than 29 schools were represented from around the country.

The Spartans had 16 wrestlers place in the top six on the day, including individual titles from David Cheza in the 157-pound open division and Nick Proctor in the 165-pound freshman/sophomore division

SPARTANS ADD TWO
Michigan State head wrestling coach Tom Minkel announced Wednesday, Nov. 16 that Nick Trimble (Sparta, Mich./Sparta High School) and Jordan Wohlfert (St. Johns, Mich./St. Johns High School) have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Spartan wrestling program beginning in the 2012-13 season.

"Nick and Jordan are both very successful high school wrestlers and are really committed to Michigan State," said Minkel. "They're really excited about wrestling here. We're definitely looking forward to having them as a part of our program.

Nick Trimble won the 2011 Michigan Division 2 state title at 130 pounds with a 9-5 victory over previously unbeaten Jeff Jenkins of Tecumseh and Jordan Wohlfert won the 2011 Michigan Division 2 state title at 152 pounds with a 14-6 win over Dan Fleet of Lowell.

ELEVEN PLACE AT EMU OPEN
Eleven Michigan State wrestlers placed at the Eastern Michigan Open on Saturday, Nov. 5 in the first competition of the 2011-12 season.

In his first collegiate tournament, true freshman Roger Wildmo won all six of his matches, including two falls, to claim first place at 149 pounds in the freshman/sophomore division.