Michigan
Cleveland State
Wolverines Beat No. 23 Cleveland State in Home Opener
12/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After falling behind early, the No. 8-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team stormed back to beat No. 23-ranked Cleveland State University 25-6 tonight (Saturday, Dec. 14) in front of a crowd of 779 at Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverines won the final eight matches of the meet to earn their second dual victory of the season.
| | Dowd's sudden-victory decision at 133 pounds gave U-M the lead for good. |
Cleveland State built on their lead in the 197-pound bout, where Stipe Miocic defeated Michigan's senior captain Kyle Smith (Butte, Mont./Butte HS), ranked eighth by InterMat, 8-5. After Smith took the initial lead in the second period with an escape and a takedown, Miocic stormed back in the third frame, scoring three takedowns and holding Smith to only two escapes to give the Vikings the six-point team lead.
Wrestling in his first varsity meet at Cliff Keen Arena, freshman heavyweight Greg Wagner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider HS) put the Wolverines on the board with a 7-0 upset over Cleveland State's Russ Davie, ranked 14th by InterMat. With a narrow two-point advantage entering the closing minutes of the second period, Wagner scored a takedown and a three-point near fall with 20 seconds remaining in the frame to take the commanding lead and earn a decision victory.
Senior captain A.J. Grant (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston HS), ranked sixth by InterMat, squared up the team score by shutting out Cleveland State's 20th-ranked Rocco Mansueto at 125 pounds. Grant jumped out early, scoring a takedown midway through the first period and riding out Mansueto for the remainder of frame. Adding a second-period escape, another takedown in the third period and an additional point for riding time advantage, Grant earned the decision victory 6-0.
At 133 pounds, senior/junior Foley Dowd (Howell, N.J./The Peddie School), ranked eight by InterMat, squared off against the Vikings' 10th-ranked Phil Mansueto in the highlight bout of the evening. With the score tied at one apiece at the end of the third period, Dowd scored a takedown with two seconds left in the extra frame to secure the sudden victory 3-1 and give Michigan its first team lead heading into the halftime intermission.
After the break, senior/junior Clark Forward (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold HS) continued the Wolverines' momentum with an 11-4 decision over Matt Depolo at 141 pounds. Jumping out to an early lead with a takedown and three-point near fall midway through the first period, Forward added a takedown in each of the final two frames while holding Depolo to a two-point near fall and two third-period escapes.
Junior/sophomore Jeremiah Tobias (Manchester, Mich./Manchester HS) collected his first varsity win at Cliff Keen Arena with a 7-5 decision over the Vikings' Anthony Coleman in the 149-pound bout. Tobias gained the early lead, collecting over two minutes of riding time advantage after a first-period takedown. Adding an escape and another takedown in the third period, Tobias withstood an attempted comeback by Coleman late in the match to earn the victory.
Making his varsity debut at 157 pounds, freshman Rob Sulaver (Dearborn, Mich./Dearborn HS) out-worked the Vikings' Chris Kallai to earn the 10-8 decision. After falling behind early in the first period, Sulaver rebounded, scoring an escape and his own takedown to head into the second frame with a 3-2 lead. Late in the middle period, Sulaver again stormed back after falling behind, scoring a takedown and three-point near fall in the final seconds of the frame. In the third, Sulaver responded to Kallai's two reversals with one of his own to hang on for the win.
At 165 pounds, senior/junior Pat Owen (Polson, Mont./Polson HS) delivered a balanced attack against Jason Effner to earn a 10-4 major decision. Owen scored a quick takedown and 2:45 minutes in riding time in the first period, a reversal in the second and another takedown in the final frame while holding Effner to two escapes to collect the victory and give the Wolverines a commanding lead.
In the final bout of the night, redshirt freshman R.J. Boudro (Richmond, Mich./Armada HS) wrapped up the Wolverines' victory by defeating the Vikings' Matt Klinger 8-4. In the close match Boudro's second-period takedown and 2:33 riding time advantage proved to be the deciding factors as the freshman added to the list of Wolverines who earned their first varsity win at Cliff Keen Arena.
After a two-week break, the Wolverines will return to the mat again on Dec. 28-29 for the Midlands Invitational in Evanston, Ill.
#8 Michigan 25, #23 Cleveland State 6
(Individual rankings from Intermat)
| 184 -- Gerald Harris (CSU) dec. Willie Breyer, 6-3 | CSU, 3-0 |
| 197 -- Stipe Miocic (CSU) dec. #8 Kyle Smith, 8-5 | CSU, 6-0 |
| Hwt -- Greg Wagner (U-M) dec. Russ Davie, 7-0 | CSU, 6-3 |
| 125 -- #8 A.J. Grant (U-M) dec. #20 Rocco Mansueto, 6-0 | Tie, 6-6 |
| 133 -- #7 Foley Dowd (U-M) dec. #10 Phil Mansueto, 3-1 SV | U-M, 9-6 |
| 141 -- #13 Clark Forward (U-M) dec. Matt Depolo, 11-4 | U-M, 12-6 |
| 149 -- Jeremiah Tobias (U-M) dec. Anthony Coleman, 7-5 | U-M, 15-6 |
| 157 -- Rob Sulaver (U-M) dec. Chris Kallai, 10-8 | U-M, 18-6 |
| 165 -- Pat Owen (U-M) major dec. Jason Effner, 10-2 | U-M, 22-6 |
| 174 -- R.J. Boudro (U-M) dec. Matt Klinger, 8-4 | U-M, 25-6 |
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Joe McFarland
On the team victory ... "I was really pleased with the way our guys competed tonight, especially several of our new guys who picked up their first home wins. This is the experience that these young guys need, against good opponents like the ones we faced tonight. I thought Greg Wagner, in particular, did a great job at heavyweight against (Russ) Davie."
On freshman Rob Sulaver ... "I was really proud of Rob tonight; I thought he did a great job throughout his whole match. He out-hustled and out-worked his opponent. He showed a lot of heart and a whole lot of determination. He went into that match saying, 'I'm going to win,' and that's exactly what he did."
On preparation for the Midlands Invitational ... "We're going to take a week off of practice and all the guys will be able to get home for a few days and enjoy the holidays. We also want the guys to focus on their final exams; those are very important, and we want everyone to do well on them. I will expect the guys to be working out and training while they're home, because when we get back, we have to be ready to go. Midlands is a tough tournament, one of the best in the country, and I expect a lot of things out of this team."
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
