Michigan
Michigan State
Wolverines Dominate Spartans to Clinch Share of Cup
2/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team won eight of 10 matches to dominate No. 19 Michigan State 34-8 on Friday (Feb. 18) at Jenison Field House. With the victory over MSU, the Wolverines remained undefeated in Big Ten Conference competition and clinched a share of the Pontiac Challenge Cup for the winter season, assuring Michigan the trophy for the fifth straight session.
After Michigan State's fourth-ranked Nick Simmons opened the dual meet with a 15-0 technical fall over sophomore Jim Shutich (Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS), the Wolverines quickly bridged the early deficit with five consecutive wins. Junior/sophomore Mark Moos (Lorain, Ohio/St. Edwards HS) and sophomore/freshman Josh Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) swung momentum back to Michigan's side with back-to-back major decisions at 133 and 141 pounds, respectively, to steal away the team advantage for good.
Moos opened the scoring midway through the first period, converting a takedown and three-point near fall to build an early advantage against Ryan Froese. The Wolverine added another takedown in the middle frame and five more back points to earn the 15-1 major decision, just one point shy of the technical fall.
Churella found himself behind early at 141 pounds after giving up the opening takedown against the Spartans' Tony Greathouse but responded with an immediate reversal before dominating the remainder of the bout en route to a 15-6 major decision. The Wolverine, ranked third, collected another reversal early in the second, three takedowns and three back points to roll to the win.
Sophomore/freshman Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS) also trailed early after giving up the initial takedown to 14th-ranked Darren McKnight at 149 pounds but rallied late in the period to take the lead with a double-leg takedown. The Wolverine added a second takedown in the middle frame and, despite giving up another takedown in the third, held on for a 8-4 victory.
The Wolverine captains -- fifth-year senior Ryan Bertin (Broadview Heights, Ohio/St. Edwards HS) and senior/junior Ryan Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) -- bookended the halftime intermission with dominant performances at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively, giving the Wolverines a commanding 19-point advantage. Bertin, the nation's top-ranked 157-pounder, put a quick end to his bout against Matt McCarty, pinning the Spartan wrestler at the 1:19 mark. Earning just his second fall of the season, Bertin improved his record to a perfect 23-0.
Churella, ranked second, had to settle for a 15-0 technical fall against Michigan State's Bryan Harney despite twice nearly laying the Spartan wrestler flat as the buzzer sounded to end the first and second periods. Churella recorded a takedown, a third-period reversal, nine back points and 6:23 -- all but 37 seconds of match -- in riding time to post the shutout win. The performance gave the Wolverine captain his 27th consecutive victory, tying his father, Mark Churella, for the sixth-longest winning streak in U-M program history.
The Spartans claimed their second victory of the contest at 174 pounds, where former Wolverine R.J. Boudro, ranked 15th, scored a takedown midway through the overtime period to register a 3-1 decision over junior/sophomore Nick Roy (Wall, N.J./Wall HS).
The Maize and Blue wrapped up the dual meet with three straight wins at the upper weights as sophomore Joshua Weitzel (Lincoln University, Pa./Oxford HS) and senior/junior Willie Breyer (Oxford, Mich./Oxford HS) pulled out decisions before senior/junior Greg Wagner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider HS) capped the evening with a third-period fall at heavyweight.
Weitzel controlled throughout his bout against the Spartans' Gregory Goidosik, scoring an early first-period takedown and another late in the third en route to a 6-0 shutout. For the third straight match, Breyer rallied from an early deficit to score a takedown midway through the third period as he edged out a 7-6 victory over Jeff Clemens at 197 pounds. With the narrow one-point advantage late in the match, Breyer battled through a scramble on the edge of the mat to fight off a reversal attempt by the Spartan wrestler.
Wagner earned his seventh fall of the season at the 6:18 mark against Michigan State's Max Lossen to tack six more points to the Wolverines' final score. Wagner, ranked third, had dominated throughout the match with two takedowns, a reversal and three back points and was leading 9-0 at the time of the pin.
The Wolverines will wrap up the regular-season portion of their schedule on Sunday (Feb. 20) when they square off against Purdue at Cliff Keen Arena. The dual meet, which will feature a brief ceremony for the graduating seniors, is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
#5 Michigan 34, #19 Michigan State 8
(Individual rankings from NWCA/InterMat)
| 125 -- #4 Nick Simmons (MSU) tech. fall Jim Shutich, 15-0 | MSU, 5-0 |
| 133 -- #18 Mark Moos (U-M) major dec. Ryan Froese, 15-1 | MSU, 5-4 |
| 141 -- #3 Josh Churella (U-M) dec. Tony Greathouse, 15-6 | U-M, 8-5 |
| 149 -- #5 Eric Tannenbaum (U-M) dec. #14 Darren McKnight, 8-4 | U-M, 12-5 |
| 157 -- #1 Ryan Bertin (U-M) pinned Matt McCarty, 1:19 | U-M, 18-5 |
| 165 -- #2 Ryan Churella (U-M) tech. fall Bryan Harney, 15-0 | U-M, 23-5 |
| 174 -- #15 R.J. Boudro (MSU) dec. #13 Nick Roy, 3-1 OT | U-M, 23-8 |
| 184 -- Joshua Weitzel (U-M) dec. Gregory Goidosik, 6-0 | U-M, 26-8 |
| 197 -- Willie Breyer (U-M) dec. Jeff Clemens, 7-6 | U-M, 29-8 |
| Hwt -- #3 Greg Wagner (U-M) pinned Max Lossen, 6:18 | U-M, 34-8 |
Q U O T E S
Assistant Coach Mike Kulczycki
On the win over Michigan State ... "It was a good win for us. All year long, we've been wrestling very well. It's always great to wrestle here in front of a big crowd. Every time we wrestle Michigan State, whether it's up here or down in Ann Arbor, it's a great atmosphere with a lot of fans. It's a big rivalry, so it's great to come up here and win eight of 10 matches."
On Willie Breyer's performance ... "I'd say Willie really stood out tonight, coming back from a couple-point deficit. He tweaked his knee a little bit and came back, wrestled hard and won it in the third period. He's got a lot of confidence right now, and he's wrestling where he was at the beginning of the year before he got hurt. It took him a couple matches to get back into that shape, and now he's wrestling well and beating some tough guys. He believes in himself, and that's the most important thing."
Senior/junior captain Ryan Churella
On the team's performance ... "This was a great dual for us, especially to win big like we did. All of our guys were prepared for their matches, and everyone went out there and gave it their all, left everything on the mat. Obviously, we were the better team tonight, and I think we wrestled a lot harder."
On his 165-pound match ... "I just went out and attacked the whole time. I wanted to keep the intensity high through the whole match and spend most of the time on top. I picked top in the second, because I thought I'd have a better chance of pinning him. It just seemed like everytime I had him on his back, in a really tight position, it was at the end of the period, and I didn't have the time I needed to secure a pin. That was a little disappointing, but at the same time, I earned the tech fall, and I was satisified with the way I wrestled."
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
