Michigan Defeats Ohio State to End Regular Season

Sunday, February 20

Columbus, Ohio

2:00 PM

Michigan

Ohio State

2/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Seniors Joe Warren (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Kentwood HS) and Matt Michalski (Farmington Hills, Mich./Farmington HS), wrestling in the last dual meet of their collegiate careers, earned 10 points to lead the seventh-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team to a 22-15 defeat of Ohio State on Sunday (Feb. 20) at St. John Arena.

Warren, ranked fourth at 133 pounds, put the Maize and Blue on top 6-3, when he pinned Jesse Leng at 3:27 for his 96th career victory. "I just wanted to dominate in my last dual meet and go into the postseason with a full head of steam," Warren said.

Michalski destroyed his opponent in every phase of the bout, winning his first-ever dual match for the Wolverines -- a 14-3 major decision over Sean Peterson at 141 that staked U-M to a 10-3 lead. "I wanted to go out a winner," said Michalski. "I had the mindset today to take it to him (Peterson) and end my career with my hand raised."

Mike Kulczycki (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edwards HS), ranked 19th at 149, moved the Michigan advantage to 13-3 with a 7-2 decision over 15th-ranked Brian Roskovich. "We have a lot of guys from Ohio on our team and it was great coming here and beating these guys," Kulczycki said.

The Buckeyes came within one point of tying the match (13-12) with three straight wins before ninth-ranked Andy Hrovat (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edwards HS) sealed the Michigan victory, winning by fall at 2:20. The 184-pounder gave the Wolverines a 19-12 lead, which they held for the duration of the match.

Hrovat, ranked second in the Big Ten coaches poll, should have the second seed in the Big Ten Tournament locked up with his 7-1 conference record. "I'm on top of my game right now and I want to take it all the way to the finals of the Big Tens," said Hrovat.

Heavyweight Matt Brink (Muskegon, Mich./Fruitport HS), ranked 15th, put the finishing touches on the bout with a 6-1 decision over Tony Sylvester. Brink's 20th victory of the season made the final score 22-15.

"We need to have a good two weeks of practice, said head coach Joe McFarland. "You can wipe the slate clean coming into the Big Ten Championships. The guys are going to have some opportunities to put together a string of good performance at the conference championships."

The Maize and Blue ended the regular season with a record of 12-3-1 overall and 5-2-1 in the Big Ten. The team will be off for two weeks to prepare for the Big Ten Championships on March 4-5 in West Lafayette, Ind.

Michigan 22, Ohio State 15

125 -- Kore Sharpley (OSU) dec. A.J. Grant, 3-1	(OSU, 3-0)
133 -- #4 Joe Warren (UM) pinned Jesse Leng, 3:27	(UM, 6-3)
141 -- Matt Michalski (UM) major dec. Sean Peterson, 14-3	(UM, 10-3)
149 -- #19 Mike Kulczycki (UM) dec. #15 Brian Roskovich, 7-2	(UM, 13-3)
157 -- Josh Janson (OSU) dec. Tony Holifield, 8-3	(UM, 13-6)
165 -- #13 Peter Rogers (OSU) dec. Jason Rawls, 8-7	(UM, 13-9)
174 -- Joel Walker (OSU) dec. Charles Martelli, 5-2	(UM, 13-12)
184 -- #9 Andy Hrovat (UM) pinned Donovan True, 2:20	(UM, 19-12)
197 -- #7 Nick Preston (OSU) dec. #14 Joe Degain, 5-3 (2OT)	(UM, 19-15)
Hwt -- #15 Matt Brink (UM) dec. Tony Sylvester, 6-1	(UM, 22-15)