The Spartans used bonus point wins from redshirt juniors Matt Santos and Jake Tucker, along with redshirt sophomore Cameron Caffey and redshirt senior Garrett Pepple.
"I don't think we wrestled to our potential," said MSU wrestling head coach Roger Chandler. "We are a much better team than that, and I give them (Clarion) credit because they stepped up and they were grittier than us in certain weights. We have to be better, especially going into the Nebraska dual on Sunday. Our guys have to wrestle in their positions and we can't settle for our opponents. That's kind of been the theme that I've been preaching since our first Big Ten meet against Michigan and Rutgers. Some of our guys are doing it, but we have to have all 10 guys do it."
The match started at 125 pounds with MSU redshirt senior Logan Griffin taking on Cam Butler. Griffin landed two takedowns and an escape in the second period after a scoreless first. Griffin held Butler, who came into the match with a 5-1 dual record, scoreless in the third frame for the 5-0 shutout. At 133 pounds, Pepple took on Seth Koleno as the two went scoreless after one. Pepple landed an early takedown in the second period before securing a half nelson and wing for the fall at 3:35 in the match to put the Spartans up 9-0 over the Golden Eagles.
Santos battled with Alex Blake in the 141 bout, tallying his first major decision of the season at 14-3. Santos came out early with a takedown in the first and added three more in the second to take a 9-2 lead into the third frame. With another takedown and two-point near-fall, Santos earned the 14-3 major decision win over Blake and extended the Spartan lead to 13-0 after three. Redshirt junior Alex Hrisopoulos battled No. 14-ranked Brock Zacherl at 149 pounds, coming up just short, 5-2, giving Clarion its first three points of the match.
Tucker registered his 20th win of the season in dominant fashion, rolling past Avery Shay, 16-3, for his ninth bonus point win of the season. Tucker fell behind early after a takedown by Shay, but answered with a takedown and four-point near-fall after landing a cradle. Tucker grabbed another takedown and four-point near-fall for the 16-3 major decision win, his sixth of the season.
In the 165 bout, junior Drew Hughes and Mike Bartolo were deadlocked at zero up until the final seconds with Hughes holding a 2:00 advantage in riding time. After a review, Bartolo was awarded a takedown just before the buzzer sounded, giving him the 2-1 win over Hughes. Redshirt freshman Layne Malczewski took thet mat against Max Wohlabaugh at 174 pounds. Malczewski couldn't get anything going early on, giving up two takedowns to Wohlabaugh. After an escape in the second, Malczewski went into the third period trailing 4-2 before battling back with a four-point near-fall to take the lead 6-4. Malczewski rode out the period for the 6-4 win, giving MSU a 20-6 advantage.
It was all Caffey in the 184 pound bout with Luke Funck. Caffey started early with four first period takedowns, and ended the match with nine on his way to his third tech fall of season, 23-8 (6:44). With the win, Caffey improved to 18-6 overall and 9-2 in duals. At 197 pounds, redshirt junior Nick May battled with No. 17 Greg Bulsak. May and Bulsak traded takedowns in the first frame, and were all knotted at six after two periods. Bulsak claimed two escape points and a takedown for the 10-7 win.
At 285 pounds, redshirt junior Christian Rebottaro took on Ty Bagoly. Rebottaro acted early against Bagoly, who came into the match 10-0 in duals. Rebottaro scored a takedown in the first 30 seconds before Bagoly landed a takedown and secured the win with a fall at 2:11 for the Golden Eagles's fourth win of the day and the 25-15 final score.
The Spartans return to Big Ten action when they hit the road for a Sunday dual with No. 7 Nebraska at the Devaney Center on Jan. 26. The match will air on BTN+ with a start time of 3 p.m. EST.
Results:
125 - Logan Griffin (MSU) dec. over Cam Butler (CU), 5-0 - MSU leads 3-0
133 - Garrett Pepple (MSU) fall over Seth Koleno (CU), (3:35) - MSU leads 9-0
141 - Matt Santos (MSU) maj. dec. over Alex Blake (CU), 14-3 - MSU leads 13-0
149 - No. 14 Brock Zacherl (CU) dec. over Alex Hrisopoulos (MSU), 5-2 - MSU leads 13-3
157 - No. 22 Jake Tucker (MSU) maj. dec. over Avery Shay (CU), 16-3 - MSU leads 17-3
165 - Mike Bartolo (CU) dec. over Drew Hughes (MSU), 2-1 - MSU leads 17-6
174 - No. 23 Layne Malczewski (MSU) dec. Max Wohlabaugh (CU), 6-4 - MSU leads 20-6
184 - No. 20 Cameron Caffey (MSU) tech fall over Luke Funck (CU), 23-8 (6:44) - MSU leads 25-6
197 - No. 17 Greg Bulsak (CU) dec. over Nick May (MSU), 10-7 - MSU leads 25-9
285 - Ty Bagoly (CU) fall over Christian Rebottaro (MSU), (2:11) - MSU wins 25-15
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