PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 24 Rutgers wrestling (9-3, 1-2) delivered a thrilling 16-15 victory over No. 20 Michigan State (7-3, 0-3) on Friday night at Jersey Mike's Arena. The Scarlet Knights picked up wins in their first four bouts of the night – including ranked decisions from No. 11 Dean Peterson (125) and No. 17 Joe Heilmann – in front of 3,622 fans to secure their first Big Ten Conference victory of the season.
 
RU led 13-3 at intermission and 16-6 through seven bouts before the Spartans closed the dual with three consecutive wins. However, Michigan State was deducted a team point during the dual's 184-pound match for unsportsmanlike conduct from the team's bench. Even without the deduction, Rutgers would have won on criteria thanks to total match points (45-44).

No. 17 Joseph Olivieri (141) earned bonus points with his major decision over Jordan Hamden, Tony White (149) picked up a win over an NCAA qualifier and Jackson Turley (174) wrestled hard for a 7-2 decision to help Rutgers to a five-five match split.
 
"I am fired up and proud of our guys," said head coach Scott Goodale. "I mean, last week we had our first road test out in the Big Ten and it was a tough one, so I wanted to see how we bounced back. I am just really excited for my guys, they put in a hard week's work. I am excited. This is hard, it doesn't get any easier. We will enjoy tonight, and then get ready for Michigan."
 
The victory was the Scarlet Knights' second win over a ranked foe this season, as RU now leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 6-1-1. Prior to the dual, Goodale was honored for reaching 200 career wins as head coach, achieved on November 11 against Clarion. Goodale now owns 208 career victories in sixteen seasons at the helm of the program.
 
Friday night's dual also marked the first appearances for Heilmann, Peterson, White, and No. 13 Brian Soldano (184) competing in front of the Jersey Mike's Arena home crown.
 
"It was very exciting," said Peterson. "I have been coming to matches at the RAC and Jersey Mike's Arena since I was six or seven years old. To finally get to wrestle in front of all the fans and in front of Jersey, it was very exciting. You can feel the energy."
 

How it Happened

• Peterson opened the dual against No. 14 Tristan Lujan and gave up an early takedown before settling in and landing a counter for a 3-2 lead after one. With the match tied 3-3 after two, Peterson registered an escape point and then caught Lujan with a single leg at the edge of the circle late in the final period for a takedown and a 6-3 win.
• Heilmann followed against Rayvon Foley and scored first thanks to a scramble that turned into a single-leg takedown in the first period. Foley tied the match 3-3 with an escape in the third period, but Heilmann's escape point proved to be the difference in a 4-3 win.
• Olivieri wrestled hard against Hamden after giving up the first takedown of the bout, earning a takedown and four backs for a 7-2 lead through the first. Olivieri controlled the rest of the match en route to a 16-4 major decision, which put Rutgers up 10-0 over the Spartans.
• White took on 2021 NCAA qualifier and two-time U23 World Champion Peyton Omania, landing a takedown in the second period after trailing in the first. White would hold on for the 5-3 decision.
• A tough 5-0 loss from Andrew Clark (157) to No. 15 Chase Saldate made it 13-3 Scarlet Knights at intermission.
• Michigan State opened the second half with a win at 165 pounds before Turley landed a takedown in the second period and collected two near-fall points in the third for a 7-2 decision over Ceasar Garza.
• MSU closed the dual with three consecutive wins from 184 through heavyweight, but all three Scarlet Knights played a role in holding on for the win. No. 13 Brian Soldano (184) faced No. 15 Layne Malczewski and lost by major decision, though the Michigan State coaching staff was hit with an unsportsmanlike call which cost them a team point. Billy Janzer (197) and Kyle Epperly (HWT) held their opponents to decisions to help Rutgers leave Jersey Mike's Arena with the victory. It marked the first career appearance at heavyweight for Epperly, who is certified at 197 pounds this season.

Up Next

• Rutgers hosts No. 3 Michigan on Sunday at Jersey Mike's Arena. The match is set for a 2 p.m. start and will broadcast on Big Ten Plus.

Box Score

No. 24 Rutgers 16, No. 20 Michigan State 15
Attendance: 3,622
125: 11/12 Dean Peterson (RU) over 24/24 Tristan Lujan (MSU) by dec., 6-3; RU leads, 3-0
133: 17/14 Joe Heilmann (RU) over 16/17 Rayvon Foley (MSU) by dec., 4-3; RU leads, 6-0
141: 17/HM Joseph Olivieri (RU) over Jordan Hamdan (MSU) by MD, 16-4; RU leads, 10-0
149: NR/HM Tony White (RU) over Peyton Omania (MSU) by dec., 5-3; RU leads, 13-0
157: 15/17 Chase Saldate (MSU) over NR/24 Andrew Clark (RU) by dec., 5-0; RU leads, 13-3
165: 25/HM Caleb Fish (MSU) over Connor O'Neill (RU) by dec., 2-0; RU leads, 13-6
174: Jackson Turley (RU) over Ceasar Garza (MSU) by dec., 7-2; RU leads, 16-6
184: 15/14 Layne Malczewski (MSU) over 13/16 Brian Soldano (RU) by MD, 16-6; RU leads, 16-9*
197: 14/12 Cameron Caffey (MSU) over Billy Janzer (RU) by SV1, 3-1; RU leads, 16-12
HWT: Ryan Vasbinder (MSU) over Kyle Epperly (RU) by dec., 3-0; RU wins, 16-15
*Michigan State deducted one team point for loss of mat control
 

Postmatch Quotes

Head Coach Scott Goodale
On going back to basics this past week: I think we did a lot more individualized work, what they're going to do, if that makes sense. Really good game plan, he (Donny Pritzlaff) stuck to an incredible game plan, he talked to individuals on how to attack, and we should be attacking more. Pritzlaff is really big on coming across first and getting to the legs first, and Donny's been stressing that for a while now but we really put a lot of work in on that this week. You know, stopping what they do from the bottom. I thought we did a really good job on top, there were some matches where we struggled on the bottom. But yeah, basics. Riding guys, riding them hard. When we lift them, we know a roll's coming, and then stopping certain things that these individuals do. Our guys stuck to their plan.

On importance of win: I know our fans, we have an incredible fan base, and I know how they are looking ahead at the Big Ten schedule and everything with Penn State and Nebraska. We never got into that, we got into this match. You see our team, we are blue-collar type kids. We just want to work real hard. Maybe we aren't the most talented, and in this conference, that gets really difficult. These wins are hard to come by. I thought we probably should have got one against Indiana, and didn't. When you let one get away, it kind of sets you behind the eight ball. So, that is kind of how we went about it. There is no question about it, we are looking at this dual meet schedule and know it's going to be really, really difficult, but we know we are going to be ready for March. These guys are going to be ready for March, and that's what this schedule does. So yeah, it's great to win, I'm super proud of the effort regardless of how that ended up.

On Kyle Epperly: There were some bigger kids last week, so we tried Johnny (John O'Donnell). Right now, I'm not ready for that, but those are two really good kids. I looked at the weight of the Michigan State kid, and figured Epperly up. He's athletic, can wrestle, and is really good defensively, where I knew that kid would shoot a lot. That's exactly what you saw. He did his job. Sometimes you need to do that to win duals, and we wanted him to go try to win the match at the end. He did a good job of wrestling his match, and I'm proud of him. It's a hard thing to do, go up a weight class at this level and this conference, and do what you need to do for the team.

On Boone McDermott: We're trying to get him back. We have to be smart in getting him back. We're going to wait, obviously he won't be ready on Sunday. We'll see, hopefully next week he's ready to go, but we have to be really really smart with it.

On seeing the old Jackson Turley: I think it's starting to come around a little bit. I think it started in Princeton's win and some closer matches. I think the first week of January, he wrestled well, and he wrestled a pretty good kid last week that didn't work out. But yeah, I think he's starting to come around a little bit. He's certainly getting in a lot better shape, which is great. I mean, he should be at this point. He is starting to get more confident in his conditioning. Doing it on top, that's the old Jackson Turley, and that's what we saw. I was happy about that.