2019 All-American Rayvon Foley (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Michigan State Spartans
At the 2015 NCAA Championships, Michigan State bottomed out with -0.5 total team points. That is not a typo. Roger Chandler was hired the following offseason, and will start his sixth year as the Spartans' head coach when the' 21-22 season begins.
We bring up the 2015 NCAA point total here not to poke fun, but to show how much progress has been made.
A year ago, Michigan State finished eighth at the Big Ten tournament and in the top-30 at the NCAA Championships. Eight Spartan wrestlers qualified for the 2021 national tournament, the second-most in program history and most since 2000.
Things are trending up in East Lansing, and a ton of experience and talent returns for the Spartans this season.
"This year, we have a good balance between senior leadership and young leadership," Chandler said. "It's good to see that balance across the team. That's what I'm really excited about.
"We've got some young guys who can really make an impact, but we also have a lot of guys who are in their fourth and fifth years who have been to the NCAA Championships and have really made an impact on our program."
TOP RETURNERS
Five Michigan State wrestlers finished in the top-six at their respective weights at the Big Ten Championships last season: Rayvon Foley (125), Chase Saldate (157), Jake Tucker (165), Layne Malczewski (184) and Cam Caffey (197). They all return this year.
Foley was an All-American in 2019, and reached the round-of-16 at last season's national tournament, but Chandler said he's bumping up to 133 this season, and will battle Jordan Hamdan, another returning NCAA qualifier, for the starting spot. That opens the door for freshman Tristan Lujan to take up the starting role at 125.
"Rayvon had a pretty serious shoulder injury all through last year," Chandler said. "He came up just short of being an All-American, but he's completely healthy. Got his shoulder repaired and he looks great right now."
"Tristan Lujan, he's as tough as they come. He's a tough competitor who competes in every single position. I see really big things for him."
Caffey, a Junior world-teamer and U23 All-American, reached the NCAA bloodround last year. Tucker is a two-time NCAA qualifier and won a match last year. Saldate went 8-7 last year but still finished fourth at the Big Ten Championships. Malczewski is a two-time NCAA qualifier who is 34-18 in his two years in the lineup.
Additionally, Matt Santos (141) and Christian Rebottaro (285) return as sixth-year seniors. There's also Peyton Omania (149), an NCAA qualifier who made the U.S. Greco-Roman world team this past fall. Caleb Fish also went 6-1 last season as a true freshman, and is expected to be in the mix both at 165 and 174.
"He's a kid that not many people know a lot about," Chandler said of Fish, "but that guy, I'm telling you, he's really tough, he's going to make an impact and do some great things."
Michigan State's wrestle-offs are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. EST, but Chandler said he'll also use some early-season open tournaments to help finalize his lineup to start the season.
"I'm a big believer that competition is the biggest indicator of where you really stand," Chandler said. "You can see stuff in the practice room every day and think things look great, but the true indicator is how guys compete when they're out in actual competition."
KEY DEPARTURES
Drew Hughes, who took eighth at last season's Big Ten Championships at 174, is no longer listed on the roster. Went 84-49 overall between 2016-21 and finished as a three-time NCAA qualifier (made the bloodround his freshman year at 165). That is some valuable on-the-mat experience.
With Hughes gone, Chandler said Nate Jimenez is the likely front-runner to start at 174. He also said Fish and Tucker are battling for the spot at 165, and whoever doesn't win may slide up and challenge at 174, too. This will be a weight to watch early on.
TOP NEWCOMER
Ryan Vasbinder joined Michigan State after four insanely strong years at Division II's McKendree. He went 105-27 overall there - 42-1 over the last two seasons - and won a Division II national title last year at 197 pounds, going 12-0 with eight bonus-point wins: four pins, two technical falls and two major decisions.
Vasbinder (pronounced Vaz-bine-der) did all of his damage for McKendree at 197, but is listed at both 197 and 285 on the roster. Chandler said the plan is for him to redshirt this year so he can bulk up into a full heavyweight for' 22-23, though he may wrestle a few open tournaments at 197 this season.
"He's a tough competitor," Chandler said. "Ryan's going to do well. He's going to open some eyes this year in open competition. I'm very impressed with what he brings to the program."
WRESTLER TO WATCH
We're going with Peyton Omania, the wildly-talented and entertaining Greco star in the middle of the Spartans' lineup. He went just 4-8 last year, but three of those losses were by two points or fewer - including a 7-6 loss to Ohio State's Sammy Sasso, an NCAA finalist, and a 6-4 overtime loss to Nebraska's Ridge Lovett, a Big Ten finalist.
Omania has some sterling credentials. He's a Junior world bronze medalist, a two-time U23 national champion, and a U.S. Senior world team member. All of that has been in Greco, but Chandler is expecting big folkstyle things from Omania this winter.
"A lot of it is, you have to go through the experience to see how to push yourself forward," Chandler said. "He's in a good place mentally and physically to really have a breakout season.
"He wasn't competing at the Junior level, he was competing at the Senior level. That's helped instill a lot of confidence in him."
POTENTIAL LINEUP
125: Tristan Lujan, Julian Saldaña
133: Rayvon Foley, Jordan Hamdan
141: Matt Santos
149: Peyton Omania
157: Chase Saldate
165: Jake Tucker, Caleb Fish
174: Nate Jimenez, Caleb Fish
184: Layne Malczewski
197: Cam Caffey, Brad Wilton
285: Christian Rebottaro
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