No. 23 Wrestling Faces No. 25 Michigan at MSG

Saturday, February 1

Madison Square Garden

1 PM

Rutgers University

Michigan

Jan 31 | Wrestling

Match Notes: No. 25 Michigan TV: BTN Radio: WRSU (88.7 FM)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers wrestling (8-4, 3-3) treks to the Big Apple to face No. 25 Michigan (5-3, 4-1) on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. The 1 p.m. matchup will televise nationally on BTN, with Shane Sparks and JD Bergman on the call. WRSU (88.7 FM) will also have the radio broadcast from The Garden.

What to Know
• The Scarlet Knights are 7-3 all-time wrestling at Madison Square Garden - including a 39-3 win over Columbia and a 28-10 loss to No. 7 Cornell on Nov. 27, 2016.
• Rutgers split its home matches last time out, as it defeated Indiana 29-7 last Friday before dropping a tight 20-18 dual to No. 13 Purdue on Sunday at the RAC.
• Rutgers moved to No. 23 in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll with its 8-4 dual record. The program will secure its 13th consecutive winning season under head coach Scott Goodale with one more win.
• Four Scarlet Knights - No. 10 Sammy Alvarez (133), No. 16 Nicolas Aguilar (125), No. 19 Jordan Pagano (197) and No. 23 Billy Janzer (184) - are ranked by FloWrestling this week.
• Saturday at Madison Garden will be the last time Rutgers competes outside of New Jersey until the NCAA Wrestling Championships. The favorable slate includes two home duals, two road matchups with in-state foes and the Big Ten Championships from March 7-8 at the RAC.

Projected Matchups: No. 25 Michigan
125: 18/16/14 Nicolas Aguilar (18-6) vs. NR/NR/23 Jack Medley (12-9)
133: 9/10/9 Sammy Alvarez (19-6) vs. Austin Assad (3-6)
141: JoJo Aragona (10-7) OR Zach Firestone (5-6) vs. NR/NR/31 Cole Mattin (12-8) OR Ben Freeman (0-4)
149: Gerard Angelo (12-9) vs. 9/11/8 Kanen Storr (11-2)
157: Michael VanBrill (16-11) vs. 9/8/14 Will Lewan (14-4)
165: Brett Donner (14-11) OR Jackson Turley (11-5) vs. Tyler Meisinger (6-6) OR Reece Hughes (2-5)
174: Willie Scott (6-5) OR Anthony Olivieri (5-1) vs. Max Maylor (3-10)
184: 20/23/25 Billy Janzer (16-5) vs. 17/15/20 Jelani Embree (15-6) OR Bobby Striggow (4-8)
197: 19/19/20 Jordan Pagano (18-6) Jackson Striggow (14-5)
HWT: Alex Esposito (15-10) vs. 2/2/2 Mason Parris (21-0)

Rankings: Intermat/FloWrestling/TheOpenMat

Scouting Michigan
• The Wolverines enter Saturday with a No. 25 ranking in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll, a 5-3 dual record and a 4-1 mark in Big Ten Conference action. Michigan dropped a 20-13 road dual to Illinois on Sunday in its last time out.
• UM had four wrestlers begin the season in Olympic redshirt - Myles Amine (165), Logan Massa (174), Stevan Micic (133) and Kanen Storr (149). Only Store has returned to the Wolverine's lineup this winter, as the redshirt junior owns an 11-2 record in 2019-20.
• Four Michigan wrestlers - No. 2 Mason Parris (HWT), No. 8 Will Lewan (157), No. 11 Storr and No. 15 Jelani Embree (184) - are ranked by FloWrestling this week.
• The Wolverines finished fifth with 62.5 team points at the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Pittsburgh, as three Wolverines earned All-America accolades. Micic, Amine and Alec Pantaleo (157) all finished third in their respective weight classes at nationals.

The Series
• Rutgers is 0-4 all-time against Michigan, which includes a 0-3 mark in Big Ten Conference action.
• The Scarlet Knights dropped a 28-7 dual to the Wolverines at the RAC last season in their 2018-19 home finale, as Anthony Ashnault recorded a major decision in his final RAC appearance as a Scarlet Knight. Current student-athlete Joseph Grello, who is out indefinitely with an injury, also recorded a victory against Michigan during last season's dual.
• The programs first met way back on Dec. 13, 1958, a 17-11 victory in favor of the Wolverines. The teams also wrestled during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.

Up Next
Saturday at Madison Garden will be the last time Rutgers competes outside of New Jersey until the NCAA Wrestling Championships. The favorable slate includes two home duals, two road matchups with in-state foes and the Big Ten Championships from March 7-8 at the RAC.

Rutgers Wrestling is presented by Eat Clean Bro, an Official Partner of Rutgers Athletics.

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