Weekly Release #9

Upcoming Schedule
Friday, Feb. 16 -- vs. Penn State (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 18 -- at Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.), 2 p.m. CST
Sat-Sun., March 3-4 -- at Big Ten Championships (Evanston, Ill.)

This Week
The third-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team (15-3-1, 5-1 Big Ten) looks to extend a five-match win streak this week as it hosts the No. 23 Penn State Nittany Lions on Friday (Feb. 16) at 7 p.m. and travels to Evanston, Ill., to take on Northwestern on Sunday (Feb. 18) at 2 p.m. CST. These are the last two dual meets before the Big Ten Championships (March 3-4) in Evanston, Ill. On Friday doors open at 5:30 p.m. and admission is $4 for adults and $2 for children (18 and under). U-M students are free with valid ID.

Before Friday's meet Wolverine seniors Joe DeGain (White Lake, Mich./Clarkston HS), Otto Olson (Everett Wash./Everett HS) and Jason Rawls (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg HS) will be joined by their parents to be recognized for their success at U-M.

Against the Nittany Lions
The No. 21-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions are 7-11 overall and 1-5 in the Big Ten. PSU has to its credit an eighth-place showing at the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va. Troy Sunderlan's squad is coming off a 37-3 loss to top-ranked Minnesota (Feb. 11). The Nittany Lions feature one wrestler ranked by Intermat -- No. 18 141-pounder Nate Parker, who took sixth in the 1999 Big Ten Championships but did not place last season. PSU only returns Knupp, Doc Vecchio, Brent Narkiewicz and Mark Becks as starters from last year's squad. Penn State on the Internet: www.gopsusports.com.

Probable Lineups vs. PSU (rankings by Intermat, 2/13/01)

Wgt.	Michigan	Penn State
125	#9 A.J. Grant	Josh Moore
133	#8 Foley Dowd	Marat Tomaev
141	#16 Clark Forward	#18 Nate Parker
149	#16 Mike Kulczycki	Eric Narkiewicz
157	Pat Owen	Aaron Wright
165	#10 Charles Martelli	Doc Vecchio
174	#2 Otto Olson	Mark Becks
184	#6 Andy Hrovat	Jeff Knupp
197	#11 Joe DeGain	Pete Mielnik
Hwt	#3 Matt Brink	Bob Jones

Marquee Matchups
141 -- #16 Clark Forward vs. #18 Nate Parker -- Forward (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold HS) will be looking to improve on his performance from last week's close losses to IU's Coyte Cooper (3-2) and OSU's No. 11-ranked Robert Sessley (5-2).

149 -- #16 Mike Kulczycki vs. Eric Narkiewicz -- While the pairing has no history with one another, Kulczycki (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edwards HS) will be looking for his 31st win of the season.

184 -- #6 Andy Hrovat vs. Jeff Knupp -- Hrovat (Gates Mills, Ohio/St. Edwards HS) has a 2-0 record against Knupp as he earned a 6-4 decision at last year's Big Ten Championship (March 5) and defeated Knupp in dual meet action last season, 3-1 in overtime (Feb. 18). This is their first meeting of the 2000-01 season.

Series History with Penn State
The Wolverines are 16-19 against Penn State. Last year at State College, Pa., Michigan came back from being down 17-10 to defeat PSU 20-17 on consecutive victories by Mike Kulczycki, who earned a technical fall, and Tony Holifield (Mount Morris, Mich./E.A. Johnson HS), who won the last match with a 1:53 fall over Nate Wechter.

Last 10 meetings with Penn State

Season	U-M Result	Site
1999-2000	W, 20-17	State College, Pa.
1998-99	W, 20-19	Ann Arbor, Mich.
1997-98	L, 11-27	State College, Pa.
1996-97	L, 12-23	Ann Arbor, Mich.
1995-96	L, 14-22	State College, Pa.
1994-95	W, 17-15	Ann Arbor, Pa.
1993-94	L, 15-29	State College, Pa.
1992-93	L, 9-25	Ann Arbor, Mich.
1991-92	L, 17-18	Ann Arbor, Mich.
1986-87	L, 6-36	Ann Arbor, Mich.

Against the Wildcats
The Northwestern Wildcats are 2-8-1 overall and 0-6 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats are coming off a 38-6 loss to No. 22 Indiana (Feb. 11). Their only wins of the season have come against Eastern Illinois (26-21, Jan. 12) and Marquette (39-4, Feb. 9). Northwestern on the Internet: www.nusports.com.

Probable Lineups at Northwestern (rankings by Intermat, 2/13/01)

Wgt.	Michigan	Northwestern
125	#9 A.J. Grant	Rob Potashnick
133	#8 Foley Dowd	N/A
141	#16 Clark Forward	Josh Ballard
149	#16 Mike Kulczycki	Ryan Cumbee
157	Pat Owen	Jason Erwinski
165	#10 Charles Martelli	Ryan Kane
174	#2 Otto Olson	Andrew Curran
184	#6 Andy Hrovat	Brendan Curran
197	#11 Joe DeGain	Will Marcantel
Hwt	#3 Matt Brink	#17 Josh Saul

Marquee Matchup
Hwt -- #3 Matt Brink vs. #17 Josh Saul -- Last season the two heavyweights met twice, with Brink (Muskegon, Mich./Fruitport HS) taking both meetings. Brink defeated Saul 8-2 in dual action (Jan. 21) and pinned him 4:55 into the contest at the Big Ten Championships.

Series History with Northwestern
The Wolverines are 62-6-2 all-time against Northwestern after defeating the Wildcats 24-15 at home last season (Jan. 21, 2000). U-M last lost to the Wildcats during the 1993-94 season (25-15) and in 1977-78 (19-18).

Last 10 meetings with Northwestern

Season	U-M Result	Site
1999-2000	W, 24-15	Ann Arbor, Mich.
1997-98	W, 24-15	Evanston, Ill.
1996-97	W, 19-18	Ann Arbor, Mich.
1995-96	T, 16-16	Evanston, Ill.
1994-95	W, 20-15	Ann Arbor, Mich.
1993-94	L, 25-15	Evanston, Ill.
1992-93	W, 22-19	Ann Arbor, Mich.
1991-92	W, 29-12	Ann Arbor, Mich.
1990-91	W, 31-9	Ann Arbor, Mich.
1989-90	W, 22-20	Evanston, Ill.

Michigan Stops Buckeyes' 15-Meet Win Streak
The third-ranked Wolverines took down No. 9 Ohio State 20-18 on Feb. 11 at Cliff Keen Arena, improving to 5-1 in the Big Ten and handing the Buckeyes (5-1) their first Big Ten Conference loss of the season.

A.J. Grant (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston HS) and Foley Dowd (Howell N.J./The Peddie School) had back-to-back wins to give U-M a 7-6 lead with an 8-0 major decision at 125 pounds and a 7-5 decision at 133 pounds, respectively. But the Wolverines struggled and found themselves down 18-7 with just three matches remaining.

Senior captain Otto Olson pinned Ryan Hieber at 2:50 to put the Wolverines in position for the comeback victory. With U-M trailing 18-16, Andy Hrovat then dominated Anton Talamantes for a 13-5 major decision to give the Maize and Blue the 20-18 victory.

Wolverines Top Hoosiers
The Wolverines headed to Indiana on a three dual-meet win streak and defeated the Hoosiers 24-14 on Feb. 9 in Bloomington, Ind. The win was U-M's 49th against the Hoosiers all-time.

The Maize and Blue took six of the 10 matches. Earning extra points for the Wolverines were Foley Dowd, with an 18-6 major decision over Brian Smiley, and Pat Owen (Polson, Mont./Polson HS), who pinned Alex LaPointe at 4:52. Otto Olson and Joe DeGain also had 18-5 and 17-6 major decisions, respectively.

Olson Moves Into Tie for Eighth on Win List
Otto Olson recorded his 124th and 125th victories with two wins this past weekend against Indiana and Ohio State. Olson is tied with Sean Bormet (1990-94) and Scott Rechsteiner (1981-86) for the eighth place on U-M's all-time win list and is two triumphs shy of tying Mark Churella (1975-79) for the seventh spot.

Pat Pins Again
Pat Owen's pin over Indiana's Alex LaPointe brought his season total to 10 -- which is just two falls shy of the 10th spot on the all-time season fall list. Six of Owen's eight dual wins this season have come via fall, which is tied for sixth spot on U-M's all-time season dual fall list with Scott Rechsteiner (1981-86), John Fisher (1985-89) and Sean Bormet (1990-94).

Wolverines Take on All Comers
In its 19 duals this season, the Maize and Blue has wrestled 14 ranked teams, including nine in the top 10 in the NWCA coaches poll. Michigan has a 10-3-1 record against its ranked opponents, with its only losses coming to No. 1 Minnesota (29-6, Jan. 26), then-No. 3 Iowa (20-18, Jan. 20) and then-No. 4 Iowa State (22-16, Jan. 21).

Kulczycki Closing In
A win this weekend in one of his matches with Penn State or Northwestern will move Mike Kulczycki to 31 victories for the season, which will tie him for the 10th spot on U-M's all-time sophomore win list. He will join head U-M coach Joe McFarland (1980-84) and Lanny Green (1989-93) with 31. Kulczycki reached 30 wins on the season with his 4-0 decision over Indiana's Gabe Cook on Feb. 9. He is the first Wolverine to reach the plateau this season and is also leading the team in technical falls with eight.

Michigan Ranked Third in NWCA Poll
The Wolverines stayed at No. 3 in the NWCA Coaches poll for the second straight week (Feb. 14). The Big Ten Conference makes up 40 percent of the Top 25, with 10 of 11 member schools listed (only Northwestern is unranked). Joining Michigan in the poll are No. 1 Minnesota, No. 4 Iowa, No. 7 Illinois, No. 8 Ohio State, No. 12 Michigan State, No. 21 Wisconsin, No. 22 Indiana, No. 23 Penn State and No. 25 Purdue. Only Northwestern is unranked.

NWCA/TheMat.com Division I College Wrestling Poll (2/14/01)

Team (1st-Place votes) Rec. Pts. Last 1. Minnesota (13) 18-1 325 1 2. Oklahoma State 15-1 312 2 3. MICHIGAN 15-3-1 296 3 4. Iowa 17-3 283 T4 5. Iowa State 18-4 277 T4 6. Oklahoma 18-4-1 256 6 7. Illinois 11-2 247 7 8. Ohio State 15-4 222 9 9. Nebraska 11-5 216 8 10. Lehigh 15-5 205 10 11. Arizona State 10-4 182 14 12. Michigan State 5-7 179 11 13. Edinboro 9-3-1 171 16 14. Boise State 6-3 159 12 15. Lock Haven 20-2 149 13 16. Fresno State 10-5 137 17 17. Oregon State 12-6 124 15 18. Northern Iowa 12-7 98 T18 19. Oregon 6-7 95 T18 20. Hofstra 6-7 65 20 21. Wisconsin 9-9-1 51 24 22. Indiana 14-5 50 22 23. Penn State 8-10 38 21 24. Central Michigan 14-4 35 25 25. Purdue 8-6 31 23

Individual Rankings by Intermat (2/13/01)

Wgt.	Wrestler	Ranking	LW
125	A.J. Grant	9th	9th
133	Foley Dowd	8th	8th
141	Clark Forward	16th	14th
149	Mike Kulczycki	16th	11th
165	Charles Martelli	10th	8th
174	Otto Olson	2nd	2nd
184	Andy Hrovat	6th	6th
197	Joe DeGain	11th	9th
Hwt	Matt Brink	3rd	3rd