Michigan Grapplers Announce the 2000-01 Schedule
7/24/2000 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
"I think our schedule is well-balanced," said head coach Joe McFarland. "We have some new additions and some different tournaments, which should prepare us when we start Big Ten competition."
The grapplers will begin their season with unattached tournaments at the Eastern Michigan Open (Saturday, Nov. 6) and Michigan State Open (Sat.-Sun., Nov. 18-19), and a fourth-straight trip to Las Vegas, Nev. for the Cliff Keen Invitational on Fri-Sat, Dec. 1-2.
The home dual slate will begin with a first of two meetings with cross-state rival Michigan State on Friday, Dec. 8 -- with the second contest coming in East Lansing, Mich. on Sunday, Jan. 28 -- and a date with Mid-American Conference power Central Michigan on Saturday, Dec. 9.
The Wolverines will skip the holiday tournaments for the upcoming season and get final tune-ups for the conference season by going right into duals at Lehigh (Jan. 5) and at Pennsylvania (Jan. 7). The Wendy's Classic follows in Ashland, Ohio, where the Maize and Blue will square off with Cleveland State, Marquette and Binghamton on Jan. 14. The prestigious National Team Dual Championships is next in State College, Pa. on Jan. 20-21, where U-M last competed during the 1993-94 campaign.
"We don't want to have the injury bug like last season, so we're passing on the tournaments during the holiday break," McFarland said. "We're rekindling our rivalry with Lehigh and want to continue battling Penn, who we faced for the second time last season. I'm excited about competing at the Wendy's Classic because it's in the Cleveland area. We have a few of our kids from there and that is a big recruiting area for us. It's also an honor to be back at the National Duals."
Michigan will start its Big Ten competition on the road at Minnesota, the reigning national runner-up, on Jan. 26. Other road conference duals will take place at Michigan State, Indiana (Feb. 9) and Northwestern (Feb. 18).
The conference home agenda will feature a match-up with the defending National Champion Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday, Feb. 2, at 7 p.m., in the Cliff Keen Arena. The meeting will be the first time in 17 years that Iowa will make the trip to Ann Arbor.
"It's going to be huge for us that Iowa is coming here," said McFarland. "They've been the elite program in college wrestling for so many years and they will probably be the preseason No. 1, so it will be a great challenge for our squad."
Rounding out the Big Ten home meets are Wisconsin (Feb. 3), Ohio State (Feb. 11) and Penn State (Feb. 18). The Big Ten Championships will be hosted by Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. on March 3-4 and the NCAA Championships are in Iowa City, Iowa on March 15-17. Last season the Maize and Blue finished sixth at the Big Ten meet and 13th at nationals.
"We're looking to improve on last year, placing more guys at Big Ten's and NCAA's, commented McFarland. "Our schedule is well-balanced and should provide a good mix before conference competition, the head coach stated.
Contact: Jason Binge (734) 763-4423
