Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Three Wolverines Reach Big Ten Finals; U-M Sits Third
3/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Three Wolverines advance to the finals Saturday (March 6) as the No. 3 University of Michigan wrestling team sit in third place (82 points) after the first day at the Big Ten Conference Championships. Iowa holds first place with 115.5 points.
| | Bertin (above), Churella and Dowd give the Wolverines three Big Ten finalists for the first time since 1998. |
Dowd, seeded No. 1 at 133 pounds, narrowly squeezed past Wisconsin's Ed Gutnik 7-6 in the semifinals to advance to the championship bout. After giving up the first takedown, Dowd responded with a pair of his own in the first period to build an early lead. Despite an escape and a takedown by Gutnik to tie the score early in the third period, Dowd collected his escape and hung on to advance to the championship bout. The Wolverine kicked off the tournament by collecting his first fall of the season with a pin in the quarterfinal round against Indiana's Nick Spatola at the 4:20 mark. Dowd dominated the first period, scoring three takedowns and a three-point near fall to build a commanding seven-point advantage. Dowd added a fourth takedown in the second frame before sticking the Hoosier wrestler for the win.
Top-seeded Churella gave up a pair of first-period reversals against Ohio State's fourth-seeded Jeff Ratliff but held the Buckeye scoreless in the remaining two periods en route to a 10-4 decision victory. Churella collected two takedowns and a reversal while accumulating 2:27 in riding time to control the entire match. Churella scored extra team points for the Wolverines in the 149-pound quarterfinals with a fall against Michigan State's eighth-seeded Darren McKnight at 6:44. Churella led 7-3 heading into the final period after a pair of reversals and a three-point near fall. Adding a takedown in the third period, Churella tried to maneuver the guillotine until he hit a reverse half-nelson to put the Spartan on his back.
Bertin, seeded second at 157 pounds, dominated Minnesota's sixth-seeded Matt Nagel in the semifinal round en route to a 12-5 decision. The Wolverine wrestler scored four takedowns in the match, added a three-point near fall in the second period and accumulated 3:01 in riding time. Bertin used a balanced attack to dispose of Penn State's seventh-seeded James Woodall 9-5 in the quarterfinals. Bertin struck first in the opening frame, scoring a pair of takedowns to build an early lead. Bertin, the reigning 157-pound NCAA champion, matched Woodall's takedown in second period with a pair of escapes before adding another takedown and 1:52 in riding time in the final frame to advance.
A 9-7 loss to Minnesota's third-seeded Jacob Volkmann in the semifinals sent fifth-year senior captain Pat Owen (Polson, Mont./Polson HS), seeded second at 165 pounds, to the consolation bracket. After being taken down early in the opening frame and ridden for a majority of the period, the Wolverine wrestler converted a five-point move with a reversal and three-point near fall to take the lead late in the period. Owen could not withstand a late surge by Volkmann, however, as the Gopher wrestler recorded two more takedowns and a third-period reversal.
Owen was nearly knocked into the wrestlebacks earlier, after getting taken down directly to his back midway through the opening period in his first-round match against Michigan State's Matt McCarty. The referee signaled the fall but, after several discussions with assisting officials, reversed the call and awarded McCarty a four-point near fall. Owen battled back from the 6-0 deficit in the first period to win 11-9 behind three reversals, two takedowns and more than two minutes in riding time. In the quarterfinals, Owen used a late third-period takedown to seal his 5-2 victory over Illinois seventh-seeded Ben Hay.
Junior/sophomore Greg Wagner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider HS), the No. 2 seed at heavyweight, lost a close 3-1 match against Penn State's third-seeded Pat Cummins in the semifinals to drop into the consolation bracket. Cummins converted on an ankle with just seconds remaining in the match to break a 1-1 tie. In the first round, Wagner scored a takedown in each period against first-round opponent Mike Keenan of Michigan State and added a three-point near fall in third period and nearly two minutes of riding to roll to an 11-1 victory. Squaring off against Illinois' seventh-seeded Mark Behnke in the quarterfinals, the Wolverine wrestler struck first with a second-period takedown and added another late in the third to win 6-2.
Sophomore/freshman 125-pounder Mark Moos (Lorain, Ohio/St. Edward HS) got the Wolverines off to a good start with a 16-1 technical fall against Michigan State's Craig Trombley in the first match of the tournament. Moos scored a pair of takedowns, nine back points and nearly four minutes in riding time to dominant the first-round match. The Wolverine freshman, seeded fifth, was knocked in the consolation bracket after falling to Indiana's fourth-seeded Joe Dubuque 17-6. Moos gave up 10 points from several first-period scrambles and could not recover from the early deficit.
Moos rebounded in the wrestlebacks, guaranteeing a trip to the NCAA Championships with back-to-back wins against Ohio State's Jermaine Jones and Penn State's Adam Smith. Moos shut out the Buckeye wrestler 5-0, scoring a second-period reversal and a takedown late in the third period. Against Smith, a first-period scramble turned into a five-point move for Moos as the Wolverine collected a takedown and three-point near fall in the closing seconds of the frame. Moos withstood a late surge by the Nittany Lion to hang on for a 7-5 victory.
Sophomore/freshman Nick Roy (Wall, N.J./Wall HS), seeded seventh at 174 pounds, will wrestle for seventh place after suffering a 8-6 overtime loss to Indiana's Brady Richardson in the consolation bracket. Roy was hit with his second stalling call of the match late in the third period to knot the score at six points apiece. Richardson broke the tie and collected the win with a takedown just seconds before the buzzer. Roy had nearly slipped past Purdue's No. 2-seeded Ryan Lange in the quarterfinal round but could not hang on to an early lead and fell 4-3. The Wolverine freshman, seeded seventh at 174 pounds, scored on his first shot, just seconds into the match, and held a one-point advantage after the first period. Lange jumped ahead with an escape and takedown in the second frame and, after Roy collected his escape early in the third, held a one-point lead. The Wolverine got in on Lange's leg late in the closing seconds of the match but ran out of time before he could convert the takedown.
The Wolverines will return to the mat tomorrow (Sunday, March 7) for day two of the Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio. Consolation action is slated to begin at noon with the championship finals immediately following at 2 p.m.
Team Standings (After Day 1)
1. Iowa 115.5 2. Minnesota 97.5 3. MICHIGAN 82 4. Penn State 81.5 5. Illinois 76 6. Purdue 74 7. Wisconsin 68 8. Ohio State 64.5 9. Indiana 37 10. Michigan State 30.5 11. Northwestern 26
Michigan Results (Day 1)
Numbers listed are tournament seedings
#5 Mark Moos (125)
First Round - tech. fall Craig Trombley (Michigan State), 16-1
Quaterfinals - major dec. by #4 Joe Dubuque (Indiana), 17-6
Consolations - dec. Jermaine Jones (Ohio State), 5-0
#1 Foley Dowd (133)
First Round - Bye
Quarterfinals - pinned Nick Spatola (Indiana), 4:20
Semifinals - dec. #4 Ed Gutnik (Wisconsin), 7-6
Finals - vs. #3 Mark Jayne (Illinois)
#8 Clark Forward (141)
First Round - major dec. Paul Augle (Northwestern), 8-0
Quarterfinals - major dec. by #1 Cliff Moore (Iowa), 16-5
Consolations - dec. by #2 Nick Simmons (Michigan State), 3-2
Eliminated with a 1-2 record
#1 Ryan Churella (149)
First Round - Bye
Quarterfinals - pinned #8 Darren McKnight (Michigan State), 6:44
Semifinals - dec. #4 Jeff Ratliff (Ohio State), 10-4
Finals - vs. #3 Matt Storniolo (Penn State)
#2 Ryan Bertin (157)
First Round - Bye
Quarterfinals - dec. #7 James Woodall (Penn State), 9-5
Semifinals - dec. #6 Matt Nagel (Minnesota), 12-5
Finals - vs. #1 Alex Tirapelle (Illinois)
#2 Pat Owen (165)
First Round - dec. Matt McCarty (Michigan State), 11-9
Quarterfinals - dec. #7 Ben Hay (Illinois), 5-2
Semifinals - dec. by #3 Jacob Volkmann (Minnesota), 9-7
Consolations - vs. #5 Kelly Flaherty (Wisconsin)
#7 Nick Roy (174)
First Round - dec. James Yonushonis (Penn State), 7-4
Quarterfinals - dec. by #2 Ryan Lange (Purdue), 4-3
Consolations - dec. Anton Hall (Michigan State), 5-3
Seventh Place - vs. James Yonushonis (Penn State)
Joshua Weitzel (184)
First Round - dec. by #3 Brady Reinke (Wisconsin), 7-1
Consolations - dec. by #4 Blake Kaplan (Ohio State), 6-2
Eliminated with an 0-2 record
Chase Verdoorn (197)
First Round - dec. by #7 Joel Edwards (Penn State), 3-2
Consolations - dec. by #8 Matt Delguyd (Northwestern), 7-3
Eliminated with an 0-2 record
#2 Greg Wagner (Hwt)
First Round - major dec. Mike Keenan (Michigan State), 11-1
Quarterfinals - dec. Mark Behnke (Illinois), 6-2
Semifinals - dec. by #3 Pat Cummins (Penn State), 3-1
Consolations - vs. #4 Cole Konrad (Minnesota)
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Joe McFarland
On Michigan's performance ... "I knew the team race would be a dogfight, and it's proving to be such that. We lost a few tough matches today that we certainly could have won, so I'm disappointed about that. Most importantly, we have three finalists, which is the most we've had in several years, so that's great. Foley (Dowd), Ryan Churella and Ryan Bertin are wrestling great; they're wrestling hard for seven minutes, and that's exactly why they have gotten to where they are."
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
