Penn State Wrestling continues their brief tour of the state of Michigan as they hit the mat Sunday afternoon against Michigan State.
The Nittany Lions are fresh off their 27-9 beat down of Michigan, so why not share the wealth and do the same thing to Michigan State?
Going into this dual Sparty does sport a respectable 7-2 dual meet record. However the Spartans were handled easily by the two teams that actually have a pulse (Michigan and Rutgers).
Michigan State lacks high-end talent in their lineup but there still could be a handful of interesting matchups to look out for. So before we look at the potential matchups, let’s take a look at how you can tune into the dual.
Penn State Wrestling vs. Michigan State
How to watch: The easiest way to watch Penn State vs. Michigan State is by Signing up for a FREE trial of FuboTV.
Date: Sunday, January 21st
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
Where: Jenison Field House (East Lansing)
TV: B1G+
Live Stream: FuboTV (FREE Trial)
Listen: Free via Lionvision at GoPSUsports.com
Now let’s turn to the potential matchups ahead of the action on Sunday afternoon.
Potential Penn State Wrestling vs. MSU matchups
No. 1 Penn State (5-0) vs. Michigan State (7-2)
125 – No. 14 Braeden Davis (PSU) vs Tristan Lujan (MSU)
133 – No. 4 Aaron Nagao (PSU) vs Andy Hampton (MSU)
141 – No. 2 Beau Bartlett (PSU) vs No. 33 Jordan Hamdan (MSU)
149 – No. 12 Tyler Kasak or David Evans (PSU) vs Braden Stauffenberg (MSU)
157 – No. 1 Levi Haines (PSU) vs No. 21 Chase Saldate (MSU)
165 – No. 9 Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) vs No. 10 Caleb Fish (MSU)
174 – No. 1 Carter Starocci or Terrell Barraclough (PSU) vs Marty Larkin or DJ Shannon (MSU)
184 – No. 5 Bernie Truax (PSU) vs No. 22 Layne Malczewski (MSU)
197 – No. 1 Aaron Brooks (PSU) vs No. 29 Kael Wisler (MSU)
285 – No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet (PSU) vs Josh Terrill (MSU)
Penn State Wrestling vs. MSU Prediction
This one might be a little tricky to predict.
And no, I’m not talking about the end result. Because everyone knows which team will get the “W”.
I’m talking about going through the potential matchups and predicting who will win and by how much. The Nittany Lions face No. 25 Maryland, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 2 Iowa, No. 14 Rutgers, and No. 6 Nebraska in their next five dual meets.
There’s a decent chance some of Penn State‘s starters will get the day off and there’s a good chance the guys who missed the Michigan dual (Tyler Kasak and Carter Starocci) due to illness, might not be ready to take to the mat.
So I’m going to go with the same lineup Cael Sanderson put out against the Wolverines and base my prediction off of that.
Even though Braeden Davis and Levi Haines aren’t slated to take on world beaters in this dual, doesn’t mean they’re going to have a cake walk.
Tristan Lujan is someone who has been around the block and then some in collegiate wrestling. So, Braeden will need to be focused just like he’s been so far this season. Because even a small lack of focus could be the difference between him being the only undefeated ranked wrestler at 125 pounds and a loss.
As for Haines, he’s scheduled to go up against another seasoned and talented wrestler. Chase Saldate and Levi have yet to square off in their careers and Saldate can push even the best in the country at his weight.
To me the most intriguing match of the day will be between Mitchell Mesenbrink and Caleb Fish. Just like Mesenbrink, Fish also recently beat Michigan’s Cam Amine. However I highly doubt Fish was able to squeeze three stall warnings out of Amine in the process.
In either case, this will be another awesome opportunity for Mitch to showcase his incredible energy and world class wrestling skills to Michigan State and the rest of the nation.
Well, assuming people around the nation are paying for B1G+ and their “amazing” wrestling broadcasts.
Sorry, I had to.
Other than the matches I just highlighted, I doubt there’s going to be any other close contests. If the lineup is similar to the Friday night’s, then look for Penn State to pound the Spartans into the next century.
Prediction: Penn State 39 Michigan State 0
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Education: Penn State University
Location: State College, PA
Even though he had no prior journalism experience, Chris has now covered Penn State Wrestling and Penn State Football for the past three years, including as the Penn State Wrestling Beat Writer for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.
And it's clear he also likes constant torture as he's been a PSU Basketball fan for way too long.
Several years back, Chris made the seamless transition from PGA Professional to computer programmer and thoroughly enjoys following and writing about all things related to Penn State sports during his spare time.
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