Lansing Sun

Michigan State's wrestling team secured a close victory against Ohio with a score of 22-19 on Sunday afternoon in Athens, Ohio. The Spartans' win marks their 24th consecutive non-conference dual victory since 2020 and improves their season record to 2-0.

The Michigan State team will next compete at the Black Knight Invitational in West Point, New York, hosted by Army. Head coach Roger Chandler emphasized the significance of bonus points in the match, stating, "We always stress how important bonus points are to our guys in duals and that was the difference today." He praised Tristan Lujan for his performance, saying, "It was great to see Tristan Lujan come away with a pin in his first action of the season."

Bonus points played a crucial role despite both teams winning four matches each by bonus. The decisive extra points came from Lujan's fall and redshirt freshman Jaden Crumpler's technical fall.

Michigan State began strongly, winning the first three matches by bonus to establish an early lead of 15-0. Redshirt freshman Caleb Weiand earned his first dual win of the season by major decision over Malachi O'Leary. Lujan followed with a pin against Mason Brugh at 133 pounds. Crumpler secured his first career dual victory with a tech fall over Paul Woo at 141 pounds.

Ohio responded with major decisions at 149 and 157 pounds. DJ Shannon put Michigan State back on track with a major decision over Jack Lledo at 165 pounds, extending their lead to 19-8 after intermission.

Despite Ohio victories at 174 and 184 pounds, redshirt freshman Remy Cotton clinched the win for Michigan State with a decision over Austin Starr at 197 pounds, giving the Spartans a decisive lead.

The final match saw Ohio's Jordan Greer earn a major decision over Max Vanadia at heavyweight, concluding the dual meet with Michigan State ahead by three points.