Given an opportunity, Jordan Pagano left nothing to chance.
Pagano spent more than half of his seven-minute bout Sunday afternoon accumulating riding timing and earned a critical major-decision shutout that lifted No.11 Rutgers wrestling to a 24-12 road victory against Michigan State.
A redshirt sophomore from South Brunswick, Pagano replaced Phil Bakuckas -- a three-year starter who is 5-5 in duals with several closes losses as a redshirt senior -- at 174 pounds for both weekend matches. They marked the first two appearances of Pagano's career in Big Ten duals.
Rutgers (10-3, 4-2) had less than 48 hours to bounce back from a 19-13 loss at No.