No. 14 Wrestling Wins at MSU

EAST LANSING, Mich. – No. 14 Rutgers wrestling (12-5, 5-3) defeated Michigan State (4-8, 1-6), 29-9, on Friday night at Jenison Field House. The victory secured a winning Big Ten Conference record for the second consecutive season under head coach Scott Goodale.

The Scarlet Knights used an 8-2 match split against the Spartans, highlighted by a ranked win from No. 16 Remy Cotton (197) over No. 23 Kael Wisley and bonus points from No. 17 Lenny Pinto (174), No. 19 Andrew Barbosa (165) and No. 29 Andrew Clark (149).

Friday night marked the fourth straight win over the Spartans in the series and gave the Scarlet Knights their fifth winning conference record since joining the Big Ten in 2014-15. Depending on how the weekend shakes out across the league, RU can finish as high as tied for third in the conference – a program first.

Smith faced Nick Corday to open the dual, forcing a stall in the opening minutes for a quick 1-0 lead. Smith followed with a takedown in the second, muscling a 4-0 decision to give Rutgers a 3-0 advantage.

Shawver followed with a 7-3 decision over Caleb Weiand. During Shawver's bout, the Rutgers' bench was deducted a team point after a clock malfunction, while a loss at 141 pounds made it 5-3 through three bouts.

That would be the closest Michigan State would get in the dual, as Clark pinned Clayton Jones in the second period for a six-point swing. No. 26 Anthony White (157) then secured an 8-4 decision over Darius Marines to give Rutgers a 14-3 lead at intermission.

Barbosa and Pinto registered back-to-back wins by bonus to put the dual all but out of reach. Barbosa landed six takedowns on Jack Conley for a third-period tech fall, while Pinto hit a clean double with 40 seconds remaining on former Scarlet Knight Connor O'Neill for a 10-2 major decision.

No. 20 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184) muscled a 10-4 decision before Cotton faced Wisley in the lone ranked-vs.-ranked matchup of the night. Cotton finished a double in the first period, landed another takedown in the second and collected more than two minutes of riding time for the 8-1 decision against his former team.

Brandon Toranzo (HWT) earned the start at heavyweight and lost to Josh Terrill, as RU left East Lansing with a 29-9 win.

Up Next

Rutgers closes out its dual season with a home match against Princeton on Feb. 16 and a road match at Hofstra on Feb. 18. The Scarlet Knights' dual with the Tigers is set for a 7 p.m. start at Jersey Mike's Arena and will stream on Big Ten Plus.

Box Score

No. 14 Rutgers 29, Michigan State 9

125: 24/22 Ayden Smith (RU) over Nick Corday (MSU) by dec., 4-0; RU leads, 3-0

133: 24/32 Dylan Shawver (RU) over NR/30 Caleb Weiand (MSU) by dec., 7-3; RU leads, 5-0*

141: Andy Hampton (MSU) over Mason Gibson (RU) by dec., 9-5; RU leads, 5-3

149: 29/NR Andrew Clark (RU) over Clayton Jones (MSU) by fall (3:46); RU leads, 11-3

157: 26/27 Anthony White (RU) over Darius Marines (MSU) by dec., 8-4; RU leads, 14-3

165: 19/24 Andrew Barbosa (RU) over Jack Conley (MSU) by TF, 19-4 (5:45); RU leads, 19-3

174: 17/20 Lenny Pinto (RU) over Connor O'Neill (MSU) by MD, 10-2; RU leads, 23-3

184: 20/18 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (RU) over Ryan Boucher (MSU) by dec., 10-4; RU leads, 26-3

197: 16/16 Remy Cotton (RU) over 23/23 Kael Wisley (MSU) by dec., 8-1; RU leads, 29-3

HWT: Josh Terrill (MSU) over Brandon Toranzo (RU) by stall dsq. (6:09); RU wins, 29-9

*Rutgers deducted a team point during 133 due to loss of control of the mat

Extra Match

157: Braden Stauffenberg (MSU) over Dagen Condomitti (RU) by dec., 4-2