The Eastern Michigan University wrestling team travels to East Lansing to face the Spartans of Michigan State at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
This will be the team’s first one-on-one match as the first two contests the Eagles were in were tournaments.
EMU is coming off of an 11-11 record last season, but this will be a test for the road schedule, as the Eagles struggled last year away from Ypsilanti, going 1-9. However, EMU did finish 11-6 outside of
conference play.
The wrestlers to look out for are redshirt sophomores Jared Germane (125 weight class) and Nick Whitenburg (184 weight class) along with redshirt seniors Andrew Novak (133 weight class) and Wes Schroeder (285 weight class).
Germane’s record is 34-19, Whitenburg’s is 31-14, Novak’s is 47-34 and Schroeder’s is 47-35 for their careers.
EMU has a couple of freshmen that could have an impact and contribute to the overall team score against a larger school in Michigan State.
Vincent Pizzuto (125 class) placed in his first tournament at the EMU open on November 5th. He and Justin Melick (149 class) both placed at the MSU open Saturday in East Lansing, and they were two of the 10 Eagles that managed to place at the tournament. The early success they have shown this season will need to continue in order for the Eagles to defeat the Spartans.
The Spartans finished last season 9-9, but they finished 8-1 outside of the Big Ten, and they are returning 14 letter-winners, and four are NCAA tournament qualifiers. The Spartan wrestlers who need to have success for MSU are the returning qualifiers: Dan Osterman (Jr. 149), Curran Jacobs (Sr. 174), Tyler Dickenson (Sr. 197) and Joe Rizqallah (Jr. HWT).
The Eagles will need to use skill and good technique to defeat a Michigan State team that is coming off a successful set of matches at the MSU Open. The Spartans had 16 wrestlers place in the different weight classes.
