Michigan
Iowa
Wolverines Defeat Iowa for Fifth Place at National Duals
1/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- With just one point separating the teams entering the final bout, fifth-year senior captain Greg Wagner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider HS) scored a 4-0 decision at heavyweight to lead the No. 5-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team to a 19-15 victory over No. 6 Iowa on Sunday (Jan. 15) in the fifth-place bout at the Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals.
Wagner scored the only points he would need against sixth-ranked Matt Fields on a double-leg takedown in the middle frame. The U-M captain rode the Hawkeye for the entire third period to add 1:58 in riding time and improve to 16-0 on the season.
Senior/junior Nick Roy (Wall, N.J./Wall HS) gave the Wolverines their most exciting win of the contest at 174 pounds with a second-period fall against Ben Stedman. Roy took the early lead with a quick, explosive double leg along the edge of the mat, but the Hawkeye wrestler came back to steal the lead with an escape and takedown late in the opening frame. Starting down in the second period, Roy scrambled to roll Stedman to his back and collect his first pin of the season at 3:25.
Iowa took the first lead of the meet with a decision at 125 pounds, but senior/junior Mark Moos (Lorain, Ohio/St. Edward HS) and junior/sophomore Josh Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) secured back-to-back wins at 133 and 141 pounds, respectively, to pull U-M into the lead. Both wrestlers needed the final frame against the Hawkeyes but claimed the necessary points to post perfect 5-0 marks over the two-day competition. Moos rallied from an early deficit to post a 12-6 decision against 20th-ranked Daniel Dennis. Trailing 5-1 after the first period, Moos scored a reversal and takedown in the middle frame to even the score, and midway through the third frame, he converted a low single leg on the edge of the mat to take the lead for good. He locked up a cradle for three back points at the buzzer.
Churella used a low single leg in the final 15 seconds of the bout to break a deadlocked score with the Hawkeyes' 16th-ranked Alex Tsirtsis and score a 3-1 decision. Each wrestler exchanged early shots and earned his escape point at the start of the second and third periods to keep the score close throughout the bout.
Iowa stole away the lead with close wins at 149 and 157 pounds. Junior/sophomore Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS) held the early lead against top-ranked Ty Eustice but gave up a takedown and two back points in the third to fall 7-4. Sophomore/freshman Steve Luke (Massillon, Ohio/Perry HS) took fifth-ranked Joe Johnston to overtime at 157 pounds, but a single leg by the Hawkeye wrestler midway through the extra frame proved the difference as Johnston won 6-4.
Fifth-year senior Ryan Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) also went five-for-five this weekend to extend his season unbeaten streak to 16-0. He claimed extra points for the Wolverines with an 8-0 major decision against Eric Luedke at 165 pounds. The Wolverine took the first lead and never trailed, scoring a takedown in each frame and adding 3:13 in riding time to put U-M back into the lead for good.
Sophomore/freshmam Tyrel Todd (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS) took second-ranked Paul Bradley to overtime at 184 pounds but fell just short as the Hawkeye wrestler scored on a single leg on the edge of the mat to earn a 7-5 win. Todd, ranked 20th, led early in the contest after a quick leg sweep in the first period, but the flow of the match was stalled by several blood timeouts on Bradley battled back with a second-period reversal and third-period takedown.
Michigan (9-2, 1-0 Big Ten) will take a two-week break before returning to the mat to continue Big Ten Conference action with home duals against Northwestern and intrastate rival Michigan State on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 28-29, at Cliff Keen Arena.
#5 Michigan 19, #6 Iowa 15
(Individual rankings from NWCA/InterMat)
| 125 -- Luke Magnani (Iowa) dec. Michael Watts, 6-4 | Iowa, 3-0 |
| 133 -- #13 Mark Moos (U-M) dec. #20 Daniel Dennis, 12-6 | Tie, 3-3 |
| 141 -- #5 Josh Churella (U-M) dec. #16 Alex Tsirtsis, 3-1 | U-M, 6-3 |
| 149 -- #1 Ty Eustice (Iowa) dec. #6 Eric Tannenbaum, 7-4 | Tie, 6-6 |
| 157 -- #5 Joe Johnston (Iowa) dec. #9 Steve Luke, 6-4 SV | Iowa, 9-6 |
| 165 -- #1 Ryan Churella (U-M) major dec. Eric Luedke, 8-0 | U-M, 10-9 |
| 174 -- #6 Nick Roy (U-M) pinned Ben Stedman, 3:15 | U-M, 16-9 |
| 184 -- #2 Paul Bradley (Iowa) dec. #20 Tyrel Todd, 7-5 SV | U-M, 16-12 |
| 197 -- Dan Erekson (Iowa) dec. Willie Breyer, 6-2 | U-M, 16-15 |
| Hwt -- #3 Greg Wagner (U-M) dec. #6 Matt Fields, 4-0 | U-M, 19-15 |
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
