Last dual of the season for the Wolverines against a perfect opponent for the situation.  They need to get back on track with their winning ways and after a string of  4 top 10 opponents, including 3 top 5, unranked MSU is much welcomed.  What makes this an even better matchup is that little brother has the ability to keep each wrestler on its toes, providing a nice test before Big Tens.  Even though the team standings are out of reach, there is plenty at stake for some.  This is the last chance to prove yourself for seeding in the tournament.  For Michigan, seeding in very important in hopes to gain any advantage they can.

 Some preview bullet points for the weekend:

·        Important for Seeding– Boyle, B. Zeerip, and J. Zeerip all take on closely ranked opponents and need to come away with wins to secure their spots in the upper half of the seeding.

• Momentum Gainers – Grajales, Collins and Apland face some tough, but, doable test.  These would be some nice wins to carry into tournament time and add some confidence to some key parts.
• No Letdowns – Stevens, Yates and Biondo look to be heavy favorites and need to make sure to suffer no setbacks.  Just handle business.

#11 Michigan @ Michigan State

Friday 7:00pm  (can watch online at BigTenNetwork.com)

Jenison Field house can be a fun environment for wrestling.  The best part would be walking out with a very convincing win.  Michigan has the ability to sweep this Spartan club.  149 is probably where MSU is the most favored.  From there, 184 and 285 could be slight MSU leans.  The rest will be mixed with clear Michigan advantages and should be wins for the Wolverines.

Michigan Wrestlers listed first:

• 125 – Sean Boyle(So) vsEric Olanowski(Jr)  Big match for Boyle in that Olanowski will provide a challenge and Boyle needs to come away with a win to hold onto that 4^thor 5^thseed that’s critical for him in the tourney (will see how in my Big Ten Preview). This would put the final nail in his resume for it.  Prediction: 3 for UM
• 133 - Zac Stevens(Jr) vs Chris Lyon(Fr)  Lyon is winless in MSU’s Big Ten duals.  Clear weak spot for them.  Stevens record doesn’t show how good he’s wrestled this year and will be a clear favorite here.  Looking for bonus points.  Prediction:  4 for UM
• 141 - #1 Kellen Russell(Jr) vs Levi Stace(Fr)  Another big weak spot for the Spartans.  They are throwing out a warm body in hopes he makes it back.  Bonus points are coming for UM here.  Nice break from last week against #2 and #3.  Prediction:  5 for UM
• 149 – Eric Grajales(Fr) vs #20 Dan Osterman(So)  First favored match for MSU.  Osterman has been a bright spot for them this year and the undersized Grajales will have his work cut out for him.  Prediction:  3 for MSU
• 157 - Brandon Zeerip(Fr) vs Sean McMurray(Fr)  Key match for Zeerip.  Can’t take the hit on the resume to fall out of the top 5 in seeding.  McMurray will be a good challenge as he’s trying to jump into that top 5, but, Zeerip should win.  Prediction:  3 for UM
• 165 - Dan Yates(Fr) vs Nick Kaczanowski(Fr)  MSU list Kaczanowski here and this would be his Big Ten dual debut.  This weight has been another weak spot for them and Yates should walk away a winner. By how much I can’t guess.  Prediction:  3 for UM
• 174 – #20 Justin Zeerip(Jr) vs Curran Jacobs(Jr)  Another seeding matchup.  Zeerip and Jacobs are riding about 6^thand 7^thright now.  I think Zeerip is the better wrestler and a win here might open the door to crack the top 5.  Prediction:   3 for UM
• 184 – Hunter Collins(So) vs Ian Hinton(Jr)  Hinton has been a strong piece for MSU this year as on the flip side, Collins has been UM’s weaker part.  Hunter could use a big win here and is capable of it.  Not expecting it though.  Prediction:  3 for MSU
• 197 - #11 Anthony Biondo(Sr) vs Tyler Dickenson(Jr)  Dickenson is no slouch and Biondo hasn’t shown the ability to blow us away.  But, he is the favorite here.  Prediction:  3 for UM
• 285 - #16 Ben Apland(So) vs Joe Rizqallah(So) orMike McClure(Fr)  MSU list 2 guys here, but, Rizqallah has really turned it on for them of late.  He’s the lone loss to the favorite in the Big Ten (PSU’s Wade).  He’s bigger then Apland and will slow him way down.  Apland has been on a run of disappointments as well.  He could really use this to jump start him into the post season.  Prediction:  3 for MSU

Final Team Score Prediction:   Michigan-24   MSU-9

I’ve got Michigan down for an easy win.  Like I said, I think this matchup comes at a much needed time to energize the team.  I’ve also said I think Michigan is built better for duals, but, think the individual tournaments will help out as the momentum of their last duals started showing in everyone’s wrestling.  This win would put UM at 6-3 in the Big Ten (11-5 overall).

Big Ten Standings

Michigan sits at #5 only because of wrestling more duals then Northwestern (who they have beat head to head 22-12).  After this weekend, that’s probably how the top of the conference is still going to look.  For Michigan it shows they aren’t there yet in decisive losses to the top 3.  But, they can walk away with knowing they had no letdowns with the teams they should have beat (like Wisconsin, Illinois) and are in position to be the next school battling the elite.  They still have a lot of building to do to fill that last gap, but, they are building with a great foundation. 

This Weekend in the Big Ten

Feb. 17^th

Indiana @ Illinois   Prediction: IU-12  ILL-20

Feb. 18^th

Indiana @ Purdue   Prediction:  IU-12  PUR-19

Michigan @ Michigan State   Prediction:  UM-24  MSU-9

Wisconsin @ Penn State   Prediction:  WIS-10  PSU-24

Feb. 19^th

Northwestern @ Ohio State   Prediction:  NW-21  OSU-12

Feb. 20^th

Wisconsin @ Michigan State   Prediction:  WIS-17  MSU-15

Iowa @ Minnesota   Prediction:  IOWA-20  MINN-13