Weekly Release #10

Upcoming Schedule
Sunday, Feb. 24 -- vs. Michigan State (Cliff Keen Arena), 1 p.m.
Sat-Sun., March 9-10 -- at Big Ten Championships (Champaign, Ill.)

Wolverines Wrap Up Dual Season Against Michigan State
The No. 2 University of Michigan wrestling team (15-3, 6-1 Big Ten) will finish off its dual meet season at home against No. 21 Michigan State (5-9, 2-4 Big Ten). The intrastate rivals will square off on Sunday (Feb. 24) at Cliff Keen Arena at 1 p.m. The Wolverines are a nearly-perfect 6-1 in the Big Ten, winning the last six matches after losing to top-ranked Minnesota in the Big Ten opener on Jan. 25.

The Series vs. Michigan State
Michigan leads the all-time series by a 56-32-5 margin, dating back to 1926. The Wolverines have dominated in recent years, going unbeaten in the last seven meetings and winning the last three meets. In Ann Arbor, Michigan owns a 29-9-3 record against the Spartans. Michigan head coach Joe McFarland owns a 4-0-1 record against the Spartans since taking the helm of the Wolverine squad.

Last Meeting vs. Michigan State
The Wolverines faced off against Michigan State earlier this season in their first dual meet of the season on Dec. 7. Michigan cruised to a 27-6 nonconference victory, winning eight individual matches. Redshirt freshman Ryan Bertin (Broadview Heights, Ohio/St. Edward HS) got the Wolverines off to a strong start by earning the first dual meet win of his collegiate career with a 5-2 victory over then-11th-ranked Gray Maynard. Also earning a big win was junior Kyle Smith (Butte, Mont./Butte HS), who upset then-ninth-ranked Nik Fekete by a 13-5 margin to also earn his first dual meet victory.

About the Spartans
With three All-Americans returning from last year's squad, Michigan State looks to build its 14th-place finish at last year's NCAA Championships. Leading the Spartans are senior captain Chris Williams, who owns a 18-13 record this season at 125 pounds, and Gray Maynard, who is 13-9 at 157 pounds. Head coach Tom Minkel is in his 10th season at the helm of the Spartan squad, and he owns a career record of 112-108-2 at Michigan State, including a 4-9-1 mark against the Wolverines.

Marquee Matches
#14 A.J. Grant (125 Pounds) vs. #17 Chris Williams (MSU)
A.J. Grant (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston HS) and Chris Williams have squared off against each other nine times during the last two seasons. Grant holds the edge over Williams with a 6-3 record in their bouts. The last time the two faced off on the mat was in the dual meet earlier in the season, in which Grant won a 6-2 decision. Grant has had a solid season for the Wolverines, posting a 27-8 overall record and 13-5 in dual meets. Williams has looked impressive for Michigan State, compiling a 18-13 overall record and 8-6 in duals.

#1 Otto Olson (174 Pounds) vs. #10 Rashad Evans (MSU)
In the two previous meetings between Otto Olson and Rashad Evans, both this season, Olson has been the victor each time. In their most recent match, in East Lansing, Olson earned a 12-3 major decision over the Spartan. Olson has compiled a perfect 32-0 record in his sixth year with the Wolverine wrestling squad. Besides sharing the team lead for wins, Olson also leads with 13 major decisions and shares the team lead with four technical falls. Evans owns a 18-9 record this season and is currently on a six-match winning streak. In his last dual meet, Evans earned a 11-1 major decision over Penn State's Todd Brennan.

Michigan Earns Another Pair of Road Victories
The Wolverines earned two more back-to-back road wins last week, against Iowa and Wisconsin to post a perfect 4-0 Big Ten conference road record this season. Michigan came from behind to defeat the Hawkeyes on Friday (Feb. 15), taking the final five matches to win by a 20-15 margin. On Sunday (Feb. 17), the Wolverines dominated Wisconsin, earning five victories by major decision to defeat the Badgers 32-7.

In the Bonus
With big victories over Big Ten rivals Iowa and Wisconsin last weekend, the Wolverines won 10 matches with bonus points between the two dual meets, showing U-M's ability to dominate opponents. Of Michigan's 118 individual dual meet victories, 51 have come with bonus points. In those meets, Wolverine wrestlers compiled 38 major decisions, seven technical falls and six falls.

Wolverine Bonus Point Leaders (minimum 10 matches)

 WRESTLER WINS WINS W/BONUS Jeremiah Tobias 24 20 (83%) William Breyer 16 12 (75%) Matt Brink 13 9 (69%) Otto Olson 32 21 (65%) Ryan Bertin 30 18 (60%) Andy Hrovat 32 18 (56%)

Pinning Down the Competition
With Michigan wrestlers having already compiled 75 falls this season, the Wolverines have shattered the previous season team falls record of 65, which was recorded during the 1998-99 season. Redshirt freshman Jeremiah Tobias (Manchester, Mich./Manchester HS) leads the Wolverines with a U-M single-season record 17 falls this season.

2001-02 Michigan Falls Leaders

 1. Jeremiah Tobias 17 2. William Breyer 8 Andy Hrovat 8 4. Matt Brink 7 5. Pat Owen 6

McFarland's Winning Ways
With a record of 44-9-2 since taking over the helm of the Michigan wrestling team, third-year head coach Joe McFarland has moved into the third spot among wins by Michigan wrestling coaches, passing Rick Bay and Bill Johannesen, who both had 43 wins while coaching at Michigan. The only two coaches who have a greater number of victories are Cliff Keen and Dale Bahr, who have 272 and 221 wins, respectively.

On Top
The Michigan wrestling squad boasts two top-ranked wrestlers in back-to-back weight classes. At 174 pounds, Otto Olson holds a perfect 32-0 record this season and is 18-0 in dual meets. At 184 pounds, captain Andy Hrovat has compiled an overall record of 32-3 and is 16-2 in dual meets.

The Streak
With wins against both Iowa and Wisconsin last weekend, Otto Olson extended his consecutive win streak to 34 matches, dating back to last season's NCAA Championships, in which Olson took third place by winning his final two matches in the consolation bracket. The 34-match streak moves Olson into first place on the Michigan all-time consecutive wins list, tying with Norvard "Snip" Nalen, who recorded 34 consecutive wins from 1952 to 1954.

Climbing up the Charts
Collecting his 166th career win against Wisconsin's Brady Reinke on Sunday (Feb. 17), sixth-year senior Otto Olson reached the second spot on Michigan's career wins list, tying head coach Joe McFarland, who collected 166 career wins (1980-85). Next in Olson's sights is the top spot, held by John Fisher (1984-88) with a record of 183-21.

Century Club
In addition to Otto Olson, two other Michigan wrestlers have made their places among the Wolverine elite by reaching 100 career wins this season. Senior captain Andy Hrovat earned his 100th career victory with a 7-6 decision over Michigan State's John Wechter at the Michigan State Open (Nov. 18). Hrovat is just the 19th wrestler in U-M history to accomplish the feat. After collecting wins against Iowa and Wisconsin, Hrovat has 125 career victories, tying him for the eighth spot on the career wins list with Sean Bormet (125-21; 1990-94) and Scott Rechsteiner (125-51-2; 1981-86). Fifth-year senior heavyweight Matt Brink (Muskegon, Mich./Fruitport HS) earned his 100th U-M career win against Northern Idaho's Chad Carboneau at the Cliff Keen Invitational (Dec. 30). Brink is the 20th wrestler in Michigan history to hit the 100-victory mark.

Century Club in Waiting
Next in line to earn 100 career wins is junior 149-pounder Mike Kulczycki. After compiling 27 wins this season, Kulczycki is only three wins shy of reaching his 100th career win. In his four years at Michigan, Kulczycki has a career record of 97-29.

Freshman Phenom
With 30 wins already under his belt, redshirt freshman Ryan Bertin has reached the eighth spot on the all-time freshman wins list, tying Sean Bormet, who earned a record of 30-9 in his freshman campaign in 1990-91 and teammate Andy Hrovat, who posted a 30-15 mark in 1998-99. Bertin is two wins shy of the sixth spot, currently held by head coach Joe McFarland, who compiled a 32-8-1 record in 1980-81.

Doubling Up
After collecting his 24th and 25th wins of the season on Friday (Feb. 15) at Iowa and Sunday (Feb. 17) at Wisconsin, junior Kyle Smith is only one win shy of doubling his career wins at Michigan. In his previous three seasons, Smith compiled a career mark of 26-13. Additionally, Smith has recorded a career-high seven major decisions this season and tied his career high with three falls.

The Fall Guy
After recording two falls en route to the 149-pound title at the Edinboro Open (Feb. 9), Jeremiah Tobias brought his season falls mark to 17, giving him the most falls in one season in Michigan wrestling history. Tobias passed Rob Rechsteiner, who previously held the top spot with16 falls in 1983-84. Last season, Tobias led the team with 15 falls, which tied for the second most in one season. The redshirt freshman has already compiled 32 career falls at Michigan and holds the seventh spot on Michigan's career falls list. Tobias is five falls shy of reaching the sixth spot, currently held by Dave Porter, 37, 1966-68.

IronMan
Senior captain Andy Hrovat has not missed a dual meet match at 184 pounds in his four years at the Michigan. In that time, Hrovat has competed in 71 consecutive dual meets, compiling a career dual meet record of 78-13 (.857). Last season, Hrovat recorded 17 dual meet wins, which put him in a tie for ninth place for most dual meet wins in a season in Michigan wrestling history.

NWCA Division I Coaches Poll (2/20/02)

Rank, Team Pts. W-L Prev. 1. Minnesota (11) 275 18-0 1 2. MICHIGAN 263 15-3 3 3. Iowa 248 15-4 2 4. Oklahoma State 242 19-3 T4 5. Ohio State 234 19-3 T4 6. Oklahoma 218 16-5 6 7. Iowa State 212 16-5 7 8. Pennsylvania 198 8-4 8 9. Missouri 185 15-2 9 10. West Virginia 176 9-2 10 11. Illinois 157 11-3 12 12. Lehigh 155 12-5 13 13. Arizona State 136 9-4 11 14. Lock Haven 134 14-4 14 15. Edinboro 108 9-3 15 16. Wisconsin 101 10-10 16 17. Northern Iowa 93 7-7 17 18. Purdue 86 14-4 19 19. Central Michigan 85 9-6 19 20. Fresno State 58 14-7 23 21. Michigan State 53 5-9 18 22. Hofstra 44 10-6 22 23. Penn State 36 6-10 NR 24. Pittsburgh 26 12-5 21 25. Cornell 22 6-3 25

Rankings by Intermat and Amateur Wrestling News (2/19/02)

Wgt.	Wrestler	Intermat	AWN
125	A.J. Grant	9th	9th
133	Foley Dowd	5th	4th
149	Mike Kulcyzcki	6th	4th
157	Ryan Bertin	5th	5th
165	Charles Martelli	13th	11th
174	Otto Olson	1st	1st
184	Andy Hrovat	1st	1st
197	Kyle Smith	5th	6th
Hwt	Matt Brink	12th	12th