Edwardsville, Ill. -- Michigan State's wrestling team wrapped up action at the Cougar Clash Invite with its second-consecutive third-place finish of the season, on Saturday inside Southern Illinois-Edwardsville's Vadalabene Center.

The Spartans finished in third place with 114.5 points behind No. 19-ranked Missouri (138.5) and No. 8 Wisconsin (121.5). MSU had nine wrestlers finish in the top 4, including a trio of second-place finishes from redshirt junior Jake Tucker at 157 pounds, redshirt junior Drew Hughes at 165 pounds and redshirt junior Christian Rebottaro at 285 pounds. Redshirt sophomore Cameron Caffey compiled a 3-1 record in the 184 pound round robin bracket. 

"There is no doubt today was another level up in the level of competition," MSU wrestling head coach Roger Chandler said. "All in all, our guys matched levels of intensity and were looking to score points throughout the day. Those were both positive things and are expected every time we step on the mat."

Tucker and Caffey continued their early season dominance in tournament play with two stellar performances. Tucker grabbed wins over Phyllip Deloach of Missouri in the quarterfinals before defeating No. 23 Justin Ruffin of SIUE. Tucker fell in a battle to No. 14 Jarrett Jacques of Missouri by decision, 5-3 at 157 pounds.

Caffey competed in the 184 pound bracket and tallied two falls on his way to the round robin final against Dylan Wisman of Missouri. The pair battled until the end, with Wisman coming away on top, 7-6. Several other Spartans stood out in Edwardsville, including 197 pound redshirt junior Nick May, redshirt freshman Layne Malczewski at 174 pounds and redshirt junior Alex Hrisopoulos at 149 pounds. May and Malczewski, who finished 4-1 and 3-1 respectively, claimed third-place finishes for their second-straight tournament of the season. Hrisopoulos went 3-1 and Hughes earned a berth in the finals for the first time this year, falling to No. 3 Evan Wick of Wisconsin. 

Redshirt seniors Garrett Pepple and Logan Griffin finished in third and fourth, respectively. 

"Many guys had a good day and improved quite a bit since the last tournament," said Chandler. "Nick May went 4-1 on the day and was definitely the standout. Layne Malczewski continues to improve every match and there is no doubt he can compete with anyone. Cameron Caffey and Jake Tucker continue to lead the way with their leadership and are competing through every situation."

MSU takes a few weeks off before returning to the mat for the South Beach Duals in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. on Dec. 29-30. The Spartans are set to take on South Dakota State, Duke, Wyoming and Cornell at the duals. 

125 pounds - Logan Griffin - 4th Place

Quarterfinal - Jayden Carson (Little Rock) dec. Logan Griffin, 7-2

Cons. Round 1 - Logan Griffin fall, Matt Malavsky (SIUE), (1:53)

Cons Round 2 - Logan Griffin MD Reese Fry (Brown), 10-2

Cons. Semifinal - Logan Griffin dec. Julian Saldana, 2-1

3rd place match - Dack Punke (Missouri), MD Logan Griffin, 10-1

133 pounds - Garrett Pepple - 3rd Place

Quarterfinal - Garrett Pepple dec. Charlie Faber (Brown), 4-1

Semifinal - Alan Hart (Missouri) dec. Garrett Pepple, 6-0

Cons. Semifinal - Garrett Pepple TF over Darby Diedrich (Brown) 4:32 (16-0)

3rd place match - Garrett Pepple dec. Paul Bianchi (Little Rock), 5-2

149 pounds -  Alex Hrisopoulos - 3rd Place

Quarterfinal - Alex Hrisopoulos dec. Tyler Brennan (Little Rock), 6-1

Semifinal - No. 2 Brock Mauller (Missouri) dec. Alex Hrisopoulos, 5-2

Cons. Semifinal - Alex Hrisopoulos dec. Nathan Atienza, 6-4 SV-1

3rd place match - Alex Hrisopoulos dec. Ricky Cabinillas (Brown), 6-4

157 pounds - Jake Tucker - 2nd Place

Quarterfinal - Jake Tucker dec. Phyllip Deloach (Missouri), 2-0

Semifinal - Jake Tucker dec. No. 23 Justin Ruffin (SIUE), 5-3 SV-1

Final - No. 14 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) dec. #15 Jake Tucker, 5-3

165 pounds - Drew Hughes - 2nd Place

Quarterfinal -Drew Hughes (Bye)

Semifinal  - Drew Hughes dec. Luke Fortuna (Missouri), 8-4

Finals - No. 3 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) fall over Drew Hughes (1:07)

174 pounds - Layne Malczewski - 3rd Place

Quarterfinal - Layne Malczewski dec. Kevin Gschwendtner (SIUE), 9-2

Semifinal - No. 12 Connor Flynn (Missouri) dec. Layne Malczewski, 5-2

Cons. Semi - Layne Malczewski dec. over Jared Krattiger (Wisconsin),11-4

3rd place match -  Layne Malczewski fall over Cash Jones (Little Rock) (0:46)

184 pounds -  Cameron Caffey - Round Robin Runnerup

Round 1 - Cameron Caffey fall, Matthew Muller (Little Rock), 1:13

Round 2 - Cameron Caffey TF Cordel Duhart (Missouri), 21-6

Round 3 - Cameron Caffey fall, Ryan Yarnell (SIUE), (5:59)

Round 4 - Dylan Wisman (Missouri) dec. Cameron Caffey, 7-6

197 pounds - Nick May - 3rd Place 

Round 1 -  Nick May MD Aric Bohn (SIUE), 12-4

Quarterfinal - Peter Christensen (Wisconsin) dec. Nick May, 11-6

Cons. Round 1  - Nick May won by forfeit Brad Wilton

Cons. Round 2 - Nick May fall, Jake McKiernan (SIUE), (0:49)

Cons. Semi - Nick May dec. Jack Flynn (Missouri), 5-2

3rd place match - Nick May dec. Taylor Watkins (Wisconsin), 3-2

285 pounds - Christian Rebottaro - 2nd Place

Quarterfinal - Christian Rebottaro fall, Gunner Cash (Little Rock), 4:17

Semifinal - Christian Rebottaro dec. Jacob Bohlken (Missouri), TB-1 2-1

Final - No. 3 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin) TF over Christian Rebottaro, 20-5 (4:24)