PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 14 Rutgers wrestling (12-2, 2-2) remains on the road with duals at No. 21 Michigan State (Friday, Jan. 21) and No. 3 Michigan (Sunday, Jan. 23). The two-match road swing represents the last regular-season away matches for the Scarlet Knights, who host their final five duals in February at Jersey Mike's Arena.
Friday night's dual at Michigan State is set for a 6 p.m. ET start. Sunday's dual at Michigan will begin at 4 p.m. ET. Both will stream via Big Ten Plus. Fans who plan to make the trip to either road dual are asked to be aware of both schools' COVID-19 vaccine policy for spectators.
Michigan State Policy |
Michigan Policy
*rankings Intermat/FloWrestling/TheOpenMat
| Weight |
Wrestler |
| 125 |
Tristan Lujan (8-6) |
| 133 |
12/11/11 Rayvon Foley (19-2) |
| 141 |
Matt Santos (7-7) -OR- Jordan Hamdan (8-8) |
| 149 |
Eddie Homrock (10-5) -OR- Peyton Omania (7-5) |
| 157 |
19/HM/20 Chase Saldate (20-3) |
| 165 |
NR/HM/NR Caleb Fish (17-6) -OR- Miles Hoey (6-6) |
| 174 |
Nathan Jimenez (7-10) -OR- Marty Larkin (8-8) |
| 184 |
27/21/NR Layne Malczewski (17-6) |
| 197 |
15/18/14 Cameron Caffey (19-4) |
| HWT |
Brad Wilton (8-10) |
*rankings Intermat/FloWrestling/TheOpenMat
| Weight |
Wrestler |
| 125 |
1/1/1 Nick Suriano (3-0) |
| 133 |
8/8/8 Dylan Ragusin (12-3) |
| 141 |
4/9/5 Stevan Micic (2-1) |
| 149 |
Cole Mattin (7-4) |
| 157 |
15/14/17 Will Lewan (8-2) |
| 165 |
10/10/10 Cameron Amine (7-2) |
| 174 |
6/6/6 Logan Massa (7-0) |
| 184 |
2/2/2 Myles Amine (7-0) |
| 197 |
8/8/4 Patrick Brucki (12-2) |
| HWT |
2/2/2 Mason Parris (7-0) |
*rankings Intermat/FloWrestling/TheOpenMat
- With a win over then-No. 21 Illinois and a tight loss to No. 1 Penn State this past weekend, RU moved to No. 14 in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll. Rutgers appears as high as No. 12 nationally, according to Intermat's tournament ranking.
- Six Scarlet Knights are ranked by Intermat, which includes three top-10 individuals - No. 3 Sebastian Rivera (141), No. 5 John Poznanski (184) and No. 6 Greg Bulsak (197).
- Michael VanBrill (149) had the biggest movement in the rankings after his overtime decision over then-No. 19 Beau Bartlett of Penn State on Sunday. VanBrill is No. 11 by Amateur Wrestling News, No. 14 by FloWrestling, No. 17 by Intermat and No. 19 by The Open Mat.
- Joseph Olivieri (133) and Dylan Shawver (125) also remained in the national rankings. Olivieri is No. 20 and Shawver is No. 27 in their respective weight classes, according to Intermat.
- At 16-0, Rivera continues to prove he is one of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers in the country this season. Rivera owns a 100% bonus rate in his 16 victories, which includes nine tech falls, three major decisions, two pins, and two forfeit victories. Rivera has outscored his opponents, 197-33 this season.
- Rivera is also No. 4 in the latest Hodge Trophy standings, according to FloWrestling.
- Goodale is five wins away from 200 for his career.
- The Spartans entered the national rankings for the first time this season at No. 21 in the NWCA Coaches Poll. MSU worked a weekend sweep against No. 12 Purdue and Indiana in its last time out.
- Michigan State returns six NCAA qualifiers from a year ago and features four ranked individuals in its projected lineup - No. 12 Rayvon Foley (133), No. 15 Cameron Caffey (197), No. 19 Chase Saldate (157), and No. 27 Layne Malczewski (184).
- Rutgers is 5-0-1 all-time against Michigan State, which includes a 25-12 win over the Spartans on Jan. 12, 2020 in East Lansing.
- Projected ranked-vs.-ranked matchups
- No. 20 Joseph Olivieri vs. No. 12 Rayvon Foley (No Previous Meetings)
- No. 5 John Poznanski vs. No. 27 Layne Malczewski (Poznanski leads, 1-0)
- No. 6 Greg Bulsak vs. No. 15 Cameron Caffey (No Previous Meetings)
- One of four undefeated teams in the Big Ten, Michigan enters the weekend No. 3 in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll. The Wolverines host No. 1 Penn State on Friday night before it wrestles Rutgers.
- All 10 Wolverines are ranked in at least one poll, which includes four in the top-5 - No. 1 Nick Suriano (125), No. 2 Myles Amine (184), No. 2 Mason Parris (HWT) and No. 4 Stevan Micic (141).
- Rutgers is 0-6 all-time against Michigan, which includes a 26-10 loss on Jan. 8, 2021 in Piscataway.
- Suriano is wrestling his final collegiate season at Michigan after he competed for Rutgers from 2017-19. Suriano went 54-4 as a Scarlet Knights, was a two-time All-American and won both Big Ten and NCAA titles in 2019.
- Associate head coach Donny Pritzlaff was an assistant at Michigan from 2011-13.
- Projected ranked-vs.-ranked matchups
- Rutgers gets a week off from dual action before it hosts Rider on Thursday, Feb. 3 and No. 6 Ohio State on Sunday, Feb. 6.
