The win was CMU's 11th straight over the Spartans (3-11 overall) and gave the Chippewas a 14-13 edge in the all-time series. CMU has won 16 of its last 18 dual meets against in-state opponents.
"Every match is really important to us," said CMU head coach Tom Borrelli, whose team improved to 14-8 on the season. "We've been fortunate -- some of our dual meets with them have been very, very close. To me, this dual meet was more important because it was our next match and we're trying to build some momentum and confidence going into the MAC Tournament. Last weekend we had a really disappointing weekend, so this match was important for that reason."
Thursday's dual meet opened at 184 pounds, where Ben Bennett cruised to a 14-1 major decision to give the Chippewas the early lead. Bennett, ranked No. 4 nationally, pushed the pace throughout the match before securing the major with an eight-point third period. He scored an early takedown in the final period, then after a restart turned Hinton for three back points. Bennett racked up 3:43 of riding time en route to the major decision.
Bennett improved to 27-3 overall with his 23rd bonus-point victory of the season.
After Michigan State's Nick McDiarmid defeated CMU's Chad Friend at 197 pounds, the Chippewas put together four straight victories to extend their lead to 18-3.
Peter Sturgeon, ranked No. 17 nationally at heavyweight, scored takedowns in the final minute of both the second and third periods to defeat Mike McClure, 5-4. An escape seven seconds into the third period gave Sturgeon a 3-2 lead, and he scored what proved to be the decisive takedown with 45 seconds left.
At 125 pounds, No. 16-ranked Joe Roth scored takedowns in both of the first two periods and added an escape in the third to defeat Eric Olanowski, 5-3.
Tyler Keselring (133 pounds) and Scott Mattingly (141 pounds) followed with convincing major decisions to pad the Chippewas' lead. Keselring scored four takedowns and two back points in a 13-4 major over Brandon Fifield at 133, while Mattingly was dominant in a 10-2 major at 141. He scored an early takedown and built 2:20 of riding time against Brian Gibbs in the first period, then added three more takedowns over the final two periods and ended with a riding time advantage of 4:14 in a 10-2 major decision.
Michigan State ended the Chippewas' run with back-to-back one-point wins at 149 and 157 pounds, but Mike Ottinger secured the dual meet victory for CMU with a 9-7 decision over David Cheza at 165 pounds. A wild scramble in the final minute saw Ottinger nearly taken down to his back, but the true freshman responded by reversing Cheza to his back and scoring two nearfall points. The four-point move gave Ottinger an 8-6 lead in the eventual 9-7 decision.
The Spartans posted their fourth and final win of the night at 174 pounds, where No. 18 Curran Jacobs was a 3-0 winner over CMU's Anthony Bill.
"We knew we were going to have to have bonus points in a few weight classes," Borrelli said. "Ben got it started for us tonight, and we got big bonus points from Tyler Keselring and Scott Mattingly. Peter Sturgeon's win was huge, too, and Mike Ottinger sealed the win for us."
The Chippewas close the dual meet season on Sunday when they face Purdue at Clay High School in Oregon, Ohio.
Results:
184: No. 4 Ben Bennett (CMU) maj. dec. Ian Hinton, 14-1; CMU 4-0
197: Nick McDiarmid (MSU) dec. Chad Friend, 8-3; CMU 4-3
285: No. 17 Peter Sturgeon (CMU) dec. Mike McClure, 5-4; CMU 7-3
125: No. 16 Joe Roth (CMU) dec. Eric Olanowski, 5-3; CMU 10-3
133: Tyler Keselring (CMU) maj. dec. Brandon Fifield, 13-4; CMU 14-3
141: Scott Mattingly (CMU) maj. dec. Brian Gibbs, 10-2; CMU 18-3
149: Dan Osterman (MSU) dec. Joey Kielbasa, 7-6; CMU 18-6
157: No. 9 Anthony Jones (MSU) dec. Donnie Corby, 2-1 SV1; CMU 18-9
165: Mike Ottinger (CMU) dec. David Cheza, 9-7; CMU 21-9
174: No. 18 Curran Jacobs (MSU) dec. Anthony Bill, 3-0; CMU 21-12
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