Four Wolverines Secure All-America Honors at NCAAs

Friday, March 22

Albany, N.Y.

10:00 AM

Michigan

NCAA Day 2

3/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Four individuals in the consolation brackets are all that remain of the University of Michigan wrestling team's nine-member contingent after Friday's (March 22) action at the NCAA Championships. Four Wolverines were eliminated from the tournament on the second day of the three-day event, and U-M dropped to ninth place (48 points) in the team standings, far behind Minnesota, which stands atop the field with 112 points.

Olson

Redshirt freshman 157-pounder Ryan Bertin (Broadview Heights, Ohio/St. Edward HS) and sixth-year senior 174-pounder Otto Olson (Everett, Wash./Everett HS) will wrestle in Saturday's consolation semifinals with a shot at finishing as high as third, while senior captain Andy Hrovat (Gates Mills, Ohio/St. Edward HS) at 184 pounds and Kyle Smith (Butte, Mont./Butte HS) at 197 pounds will wrestle in the seventh-place matches. With the top eight wrestlers in each weight class earning All-America status, all four Wolverines advancing to tomorrow's third day of competition have guaranteed themselves that honor.

After advancing into the semifinals with a 4-3 victory over Purdue's ninth-seeded Ryan Lange, top seed Olson saw his 40-match winning streak and undefeated season disappear with an 11-8 semifinal loss to Princeton's fourth-seeded Greg Parker. With Olson holding a narrow one-point advantage heading into the final period, Parker scored two takedowns and collected 2:15 in riding time to earn the decision victory.

In the 157-pound bracket, sixth seed Bertin could not score against Minnesota's third-seeded Luke Becker, collecting only four escapes before falling to the Gopher 12-4. In the consolation bracket, Bertin rebounded with back-to-back wins over Ohio State's 12th-seeded Josh Janson and Illinois' 10th-seeded Griff Powell. Against Janson, Bertin fell behind early, but responded with takedowns in the second and third periods to win 6-5. In his bout with Powell, the two wrestlers held each other to an escape apiece through three periods, and a scoreless overtime period, forced a tiebreaker. With Powell choosing the down position, Bertin was able to ride out the Illini for 30 seconds to earn the 1-1 tiebreaker victory.

At 184 pounds, third seed Hrovat was dominated by Oklahoma's sixth-seeded Josh Lambrecht throughout their quarterfinal bout as the Sooner scored a takedown, a reversal and six near falls to earn a 19-2 technical fall, stopping the bout at the 6:34 mark. The loss sent Hrovat to the consolation bracket, where he split a pair of bouts, defeating Indiana's fifth-seeded Viktor Sveda but falling to Cornell's Clint Wattenberg, seeded seventh in the tournament. Against Sveda, Hrovat jumped to the early lead with a takedown and a three-point near fall in the first period and added another takedown and two-point near fall in the third to win 9-5. In his bout against Wattenberg, the score was tied at one until the final five seconds, when Wattenberg scored a takedown to earn the 3-1 decision.

In his quarterfinal bout in the 197-pound bracket, sixth seed Smith squared off against familiar foe Owen Elzen of Minnesota, seeded third in the tournament. Elzen jumped to a sizable lead after the first period and, starting the period in the down position, turned the reversal and scored a fall at the 4:15 mark of the bout. In the consolation bracket, Smith won his first bout against Brent Miller of West Virgina 8-2 but fell to Nebraska's Justin Ruiz 7-3 to send the junior to the seventh-place match.

The Wolverines struggled early in the third session of the consolation bracket with junior 125-pounder A.J. Grant (Clarkston, Mich./Clarkston HS), sophomore 133-pounder Foley Dowd (Howell, N.J./The Peddie School) and senior 165-pounder Charles Martelli (Naperville, Ill./North HS) all suffering their second loss of the competition and being eliminated from the tournament.

The 10th-seeded Grant looked dominant early against North Carolina's Chris Rodrigues, scoring a quick takedown and riding out Rodrigues to collect 1:54 of riding time at the end of the first period. Starting the second period in the down position, Grant was unable to escape before Rodrigues turned the Wolverine and earned a fall at the 4:25 mark of the bout.

Dowd, seeded eighth at 133 pounds, was outwrestled by Edinboro's Cory Ace in the second round of the consolation bracket. Ace scored a reversal in the second period and added a takedown in the third to earn the 4-2 decision.

Martelli dominated in his bout against Harvard's Pat O'Donnell, scoring six takedowns and a first-period three-point near fall to cruise to 17-4 major decision, but he was eliminated from competition after falling to West Virginia's fourth-seeded Tom McMath in sudden-victory overtime 9-7. Battling back from a early deficit, Martelli scored two second-period takedowns to hold the narrow one-point lead heading into the final period. After McMath scored the escape from the down position, the bout headed to the extra period, where McMath scored a takedown to earn the win.

Also eliminated for the Wolverines was No. 6-seeded 149-pounder Mike Kulczycki (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edward HS), who was sent the consolation bracket after losing a close quarterfinal bout with Lock Haven's third-seeded JaMarr Billman, in which Billman's two second-period takedowns proved the difference in a 5-3 decision. Squaring off against Air Force's 12th-seeded Scott Frohardt in his consolation bout, Kulczycki took the initial lead with the first takedown, but could not respond to Frohardt's two second-period takedowns and lost the match 11-5.

The Wolverines will return to the Pepsi Arena tomorrow (March 23) for the final day of the NCAA Championships. The fifth session will begin at 8 a.m. EST and feature the seventh-, fifth- and third-place matches for each weight class.

Top 10 Teams (After Day 2)

 1. Minnesota 112 2. Oklahoma 95 3. Iowa State 88 4. Iowa 83.5 5. Oklahoma State 66.5 6. Lehigh 55.5 7. Ohio State 52.5 8. Nebraska 52 9. MICHIGAN 48 10. Illinois 43

Michigan Results (Day 2)
Numbers listed are tournament seedings

#10 A.J. Grant (125)
Consolations - pinned by Chris Rodrigues (North Carolina), 4:25
Eliminated with 1-2 record

#8 Foley Dowd (133)
Consolations - dec. by Cory Ace (Edinboro), 4-2
Eliminated with 1-2 record

#6 Mike Kulczycki (149)
Quarterfinals - dec. by #3 Jamarr Billman (Lock Haven), 5-3
Consolations - dec. by #12 Jared Frohardt (Air Force), 11-5
Eliminated with 2-2 record

#6 Ryan Bertin (157)
Quarterfinals - major dec. by #3 Luke Becker (Minnesota), 12-4
Consolations - dec. #12 Josh Janson (Ohio State), 6-5
Consolations - dec. #10 Griff Powell (Illinois), 1-1 TB
Consolation Semifinals - vs. #4 Shane Roller (Oklahoma)

Charles Martelli (165)
Consolations - major dec. Pat O'Donnell (Harvard), 17-4
Consolations - dec. by #4 Tom McMath (West Virginia), 9-7 OT
Eliminated with 2-2 record

#1 Otto Olson (174)
Quarterfinals - dec. #9 Ryan Lange (Purdue), 4-3
Semifinals - dec. by #4 Greg Parker (Princeton), 11-8
Consolation Semifinals - vs. #3 Josh Koscheck (Edinboro)

#3 Andy Hrovat (184)
Quarterfinals - tech. fall by #6 Josh Lambrecht (Oklahoma), 19-2 (6:34)
Consolations - dec. Viktor Sveda (Indiana), 9-5
Consolations - dec. by #7 Clint Wattenberg (Cornell), 3-1
Seventh Place - vs. #12 Kyle Hansen (Northern Iowa)

#6 Kyle Smith (197)
Quarterfinals - pinned by #3 Owen Elzen (Minnesota), 4:15
Consolations - dec. Brent Miller (West Virginia), 8-2
Consolations - dec. by Justin Ruiz (Nebraska), 7-3
Seventh Place - vs. #8 Jason Payne (Northern Iowa)

Day 1 Results