Michigan
Oregon State
Michigan Wins Final Four Weights to Rally Past Beavers
1/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- The fourth-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team showed perseverance in a closely fought battle at Oregon State on Saturday (Jan. 12), pulling out a 25-14 team victory and extending its perfect dual meet record to 6-0. The lead during the meet changed hands five times before the Wolverines ran away with it, winning the final four bouts to solidify the team victory. U-M won seven of the 10 individual matches.
Starting at the 184-pound weight class, senior captain Andy Hrovat (Gates Mill, Ohio/St. Edward HS), ranked third by InterMat, suffered his first dual meet loss of the season and only his second overall defeat of the season, when Oregon State's Isaac Weber pulled out a tiebreak victory in the second overtime of the match to give the Beavers the first lead of the meet, 3-0.
Michigan bounced back at 197 pounds as seventh-ranked Kyle Smith (Butte, Mont./Butte HS) recorded his fourth dual meet major decision over Jason Lovell, 17-4, to give Michigan the one-point edge, 4-3. However, in the next match at heavyweight, Oregon State took five team points and a four-point lead when eighth-ranked Jason Cooley scored a 19-4 technical fall over Michigan Steve Heleniak (Franklin, Mass./Franklin HS).
Michigan battled back to take the lead again with back-to-back decision at 125 pounds and 133 pounds. Twelfth-ranked A.J. Grant (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston HS) earned a 4-1 decision over Oregon State's Michael Delaney in the 125-pound match, and 10th-ranked Foley Dowd (Howell, N.J./The Peddie School) wrestled to a 7-2 victory over 19th-ranked Nathan Navarro in the 133-pound match to give the Wolverines the 10-8 lead headed into the halftime intermission.
Following the break, the Beavers retook the lead one final time when Casey Horn earned a fall over Michigan's 12th-ranked Clark Forward (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold HS) at the 1:13 mark in the 141-pound match. Oregon State put six team points on the board and held the 14-10 advantage.
Michigan stormed back in dominant fashion, winning the final four individual matches to retake the lead and win the meet. At 149 pounds, eighth-ranked Mike Kulczycki (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edward HS) tied the team score at 14 a side when he recorded a four-point technical fall over Jordan Barich, outscoring him 24-9. Fifth-ranked Ryan Bertin (Broadview Heights, Ohio/St. Edward HS) followed with another technical fall, his second of the weekend, with a 22-7 victory over Micah Houston in the 157-pound match to give the Wolverines the lead for good, 19-14.
At 165 pounds, 13th-ranked Charles Martelli (Naperville, Ill./North HS) earned a 7-4 decision victory over the Beavers' Jed Pennell, giving Michigan three team points and putting the match out of reach, 22-14. In the final bout of the meet, at 174 pounds, second-ranked Otto Olson (Everett, Wash./Everett HS) wrestled a close match against 15th-ranked Nathan Coy but earned the 3-2 decision to give Michigan the final advantage of 25-14.
Up next for the Wolverines will be an appearance at the 14th annual Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals next weekend (Jan. 19-20) in Columbus, Ohio. The first round will take place on Saturday (Jan. 19) and the final round be on Sunday (Jan. 20) on the Ohio State campus. Michigan will be one of 16 NCAA Division I teams competing for the prestigious dual meet championship.
#4 Michigan 25, Oregon State 14
(Individual rankings from Intermat, 1/9/02)
| 184 -- Isaac Weber (OSU) dec. #3 Andy Hrovat, 7-7 (2OT) | OSU, 3-0 |
| 197 -- #7 Kyle Smith (U-M) major dec. Jason Lovell, 17-4 | U-M, 4-3 |
| Hwt C #8 Jason Cooley (OSU) tech. fall Steve Heleniak, 19-4 | OSU, 8-4 |
| 125 -- #12 A.J. Grant (U-M) dec. Michael Delaney, 4-1 | OSU, 8-7 |
| 133 -- #10 Foley Dowd (U-M) dec. #19 Nathan Navarro, 7-2 | U-M, 10-8 |
| 141 -- Casey Horn (OSU) pinned #12 Clark Forward, 1:13 | OSU, 14-10 |
| 149 -- #8 Mike Kulczycki (U-M) tech. fall Jordan Barich, 24-9 | Tie, 14-14 |
| 157 -- #5 Ryan Bertin (U-M) tech. fall Micah Houston, 22-7 | U-M, 19-14 |
| 165 -- #13 Charles Martelli (U-M) dec. Jed Pennell, 7-4 | U-M, 22-14 |
| 174 -- #2 Otto Olson (U-M) dec. #15 Nathan Coy, 3-2 | U-M, 25-14 |
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
