COLUMBUS, Ohio. – No. 22 Michigan State wrestling saw continued dominance from 13th-ranked 157-pounder Chase Saldate, but the Green & White dropped a 36-3 result on the road against the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday inside the Covelli Center.
 
Continuing with the most successful individual season in his collegeiate career, Saldate improves to 19-4 overall in the 2022-23 campaign and owns a career-best 11 dual victories this season. The Gilroy, California, native has won six straight matches in dual competition, all against Big Ten challengers. Saldate scored his third ranked victory of the Big Ten season and improved on his team-leading dual point scoring tally with 49 amassed this year.
 
Ohio State opened the match with a narrow decision in the bout at 125 pounds, with 10th-ranked Malik Heinselman booking a 3-2 decision over No. 29 Tristan Lujan. The Spartan junior recorded a pair of escapes while Heinselman logged a reversal, but the Buckeye accumulated enough riding time to log the deciding point as time expired. The dual continued at 133, with Spartan veteran and 18th-ranked Ravyon Foley taking the mat against freshman Buckeye and ninth-ranked Jesse Mendez. OSU's first-year star tallied a 10-2 major decision to give the Buckeyes a 7-0 team lead.
 
Jordan Hamdan faced off against No. 18 Dylan D'Emilio in the bout at 141 pounds, opening the match with a scoreless first three minutes. D'Emilio was able to secure the Buckeyes' third straight win by way of a 6:23 pin over Hamdan, granting OSU a 13-0 start through three matches. Ohio State notched another pin in the ensuing match at 149, as No. 3 Sammy Sasso pinned MSU's Peyton Omania at the 4:35 mark of the match.
 
Looking to slow the Buckeye momentum, No. 13 Saldate took the mat against 23rd-ranked Paddy Gallagher of OSU. The Gilroy, California, native Spartan tallied a solid single-leg takedown at the 2:30 mark of the first period and rode Gallagher out for the rest of the period. Saldate started on bottom in the second and booked a quick escape, followed by another tough takedown with 30 seconds left in the period. Gallagher notched an escape in the last seconds of the period, culminating in a 5-1 Saldate advantage entering the third. Despite a valiant comeback attempt from Gallagher in the final two minutes, Saldate was able to tally his sixth straight Big Ten dual win by 5-4 decision.
 
After a brief intermission, the dual resumed at 165 pounds, with No. 27 Caleb Fish facing off against ninth-ranked Carson Karchla. Thirty seconds into the bout, the two wrestlers accidentally knocked their heads, resulting in a brief injury timeout. After both wrestlers were cleared by their respective athletic training staffs, Karchla registered a 7-2 decision over Fish to give Ohio State a 22-3 lead in the contest.
 
In the bout at 174, Ohio State picked up a 3-1 decision on a takedown in the second tiebreaker, with Isaac Wilcox defeating Ceasar Garza to take a 25-3 team lead. The Buckeyes added a tech fall at 184, with fifth-ranked Kaleb Romero defeating Lucas Daly by a 21-6 tally. Ohio State added a 3-2 decision at 197, with No. 21 Gavin Hoffman defeating No. 14 Cameron Caffey, followed by a 6-3 decision by No. 16 Tate Orndorff over Ryan Vasbinder at heavyweight.
 
Ohio State improves to 11-1 overall, remaining unbeaten in Big Ten Conference dual action at 5-0 heading into their meeting with top-ranked Penn State on Friday, Feb. 3. The Spartans drop to 8-5 overall with a 1-5 ledger in Big Ten dual action. All five Spartan losses came against opponents ranked inside the top 25 of the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll.
 
UP NEXT
No. 22 Michigan State wrestling returns to Jenison Field House on Sunday, Feb. 5, as the Spatans host the Illinois Fighting Illini in a 2 p.m. start on the Banks of the Red Cedar. The dual will be broadcast to a national audience via the Big Ten Network.
 
POSTMATCH QUOTES
MICHIGAN STATE QUOTES
Head Coach Roger Chandler
On Sunday's result against Ohio State...
"You can't change who you are just based on the opponent you're wrestling. You are who you are. Did we give effort today? Yes. Were we disciplined? Absolutely not. That goes to all of our individuals up and down the line. Like I told the guys, everybody at some point was either relaxing or too relaxed in the match. Ohio State was dictating the pace, and our guys for the most part did that against Maryland on Friday night. I don't know what changed between Friday and today, but in order to compete with a championship team like this, we are going to have to dictate. Credit to Ohio State. They dictated the pace and the hand fight, and that's why they dominated the way they did."
 
WRESTLING MATCH RESULTS
#22 Michigan State 3, #6 Ohio State 36
Covelli Center – Columbus, Ohio
125 | #10 Malik Heinselman (OSU) dec. #29 Tristan Lujan (MSU) 3-2 | OSU 3-0
133 | #9 Jesse Mendez (OSU) major dec. #18 Rayvon Foley (MSU) 10-2 | OSU 7-0
141 | #18 Dylan D'Emilio (OSU) fall over Jordan Hamdan (MSU) 6:23 | OSU 13-0
149 | #3 Sammy Sasso (OSU) fall over Peyton Omania (MSU) 4:35 | OSU 19-0
157 | #13 Chase Saldate (MSU) dec. #23 Paddy Gallagher (OSU) 5-4 | OSU 19-3
165 | #9 Carson Karchla (OSU) dec. #27 Caleb Fish (MSU) 7-2 | OSU 22-3
174 | Isaac Wilcox (OSU) dec. Ceasar Garza (MSU) TB-2, 3-1 | OSU 25-3
184 | #5 Kaleb Romero (OSU) tech. fall over Lucas Daly (MSU) 21-6 | OSU 30-3
197 | #21 Gavin Hoffman (OSU) dec. #14 Cameron Caffey (MSU) 3-2 | OSU 33-3
285 | #16 Tate Orndorff (OSU) dec. Ryan Vasbinder (MSU) 6-3 | OSU wins 36-3
 
FOLLOW THE SPARTANS
Visit MSUSpartans.com for more information on Michigan State wrestling. Fans can keep up to date with the Spartan wrestling team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter by following @MSU_Wrestling.

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