Michigan
NCAA Championships
Churella Advances to NCAA Final; Two More Still Active
3/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Site: Oklahoma City, Okla. (Ford Center)
Event: NCAA Championships
U-M Standing: 8th Place (52 Points) After Day 2
Next U-M Event: Saturday, March 18 -- Day 3 at NCAA Championships (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Fifth-year senior captain Ryan Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) extended his undefeated season and advanced to the 165-pound final to headline the No. 3-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team's performance on the second day of competition at the 2006 NCAA Championships on Friday (March 17) at the Ford Center. With another pair of wrestlers still alive in the consolation bracket, the Wolverines sit in eighth place with 52 points.
After coming up just short in the NCAA semifinals in the previous two seasons, top-seeded Churella made good in his final appearance, defeating Oregon's Joey Bracamonte 4-3 on riding time. The Wolverine captain struck first in the match, taking advantage of a bad shot by his opponent to spin around and convert the takedown early in the first period. Churella rode out Bracamonte for the remainder of the opening frame to gain the riding-time advantage he would later need to win the bout. The Duck wrestler pulled the score close with a second-period double leg and evened things at three apiece after Churella was hit with two stalling calls in the final minute. Churella will face Oklahoma State's second-seeded Johny Hendricks, the defending NCAA 165-pound champion, in tomorrow's final.
Churella gave U-M fans a bit of a scare in his morning quarterfinal, waiting until midway through the final frame to take his first lead en route to a 6-4 decision over Iowa State's eighth-seeded Travis Paulson. The Wolverine captain gave up takedowns in the first and second periods and trailed by two points entering the third. With Paulson in on another single early in the frame, Churella sprawled and, after some maneuvering, was able to break the Cyclone's grip and move around to the back. He immediately locked up a cradle and turned Paulson for a pair of back points, a move that would prove the difference in the match.
Fifth-year senior heavyweight Greg Wagner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider HS) just narrowly fell in his semifinal bout against Oklahoma State's second-seeded Steve Mocco as the Cowboy wrestler used riding time to earn a 2-1 decision. Each wrestler earned his escape point in the second and third periods, but Mocco was able to hold Wagner down for a majority of final frame to build up 1:48 in riding-time advantage to break the tie.
Wagner tallied his third consecutive fall of the tournament in the morning round, quickly pinning Navy's sixth-seeded Tanner Garrett at the 1:41 mark. Wagner shot in on a quick double leg and had to spend a good amount of time fighting for the points before driving through a power half on the edge of the mat, taking Garrett straight to his back for a couple extra points.
In addition to the two U-M captains, junior/sophomore Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS) ensured his second straight All-America certificate with a pair of consolation victories after a disappointing quarterfinal loss in the morning session. The Wolverine slipped past Central Michigan's fifth-seeded Mark Disalvo 3-2 in his final match of the evening to move into tomorrow's consolation semifinal. He scored the deciding points with a single-leg takedown on the edge of the mat late in the opening frame.
Tannenbaum came out on top of a high-scoring contest against Navy's Jon Cox, winning 13-11 in his first consolation match. The Wolverine dominated the early minutes of the match with four takedowns in the first period, but Cox kept the score close with four escapes and a takedown of his own in the same frame. The wrestlers traded takedowns in the second, and Tannenbaum took the lead for good on a single leg with just 18 seconds remaining in the bout. The Wolverine suffered his only loss of the tournament against Minnesota's top-seeded Dustin Schlatter, 8-0 in the quarterfinal round. The Gopher wrestler scored a takedown in each period and built up 2:15 in riding time to earn the major decision.
Junior/sophomore Josh Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) suffered back-to-back losses in the quarterfinals and consolation bracket to miss placing at the 141-pound weight class. Virginia Tech's David Hoffman scored the go-ahead points on a last-second takedown to defeat the Wolverine 7-6 in the evening wrestlebacks. The two wrestlers traded points throughout the bout, with two Hoffman reversals offsetting a pair of U-M takedowns. Churella scored on an escape late in the third frame to gain a one-point lead, but Hoffman's takedown at the final buzzer proved enough to eliminate Churella from the competition. The Wolverines protested the takedown call, but after a 10-minute deliberation it was upheld.
Josh Churella was knocked into the wrestlebacks after suffering a quarterfinal loss to Michigan State's Andy Simmons in the morning session. The Wolverine scored the only offensive points during regulation, scoring on a reversal early in the second period, but was hit for two illegal-move calls -- a scissors on the head in the first and a figure four around the body in the second -- to neutralize the score at two points apiece. Simmons scored the winning takedown on a single leg on the edge of the mat midway through the extra frame.
Senior/junior Mark Moos (Lorain, Ohio/St. Edward HS) and sophomore/freshman Tyrel Todd (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS) were also eliminated from the competition after suffering their second loss of the tournament in the morning wrestleback session. Moos held 1:19 in riding-time advantage against Illinois' Gabe Flores at 133 pounds after holding the Illini wrestler down through the entire third frame, but Flores takedowns in the first and second frames proved too much for the Wolverine to overcome as he lost by a final 4-3 margin. At 184 Todd similarily could not overcome an early deficit against Iowa State's eighth-seeded Kurt Backes, and despite scoring the lone takedown of the third period, the Wolverine fell 8-3.
The Wolverines will return for the NCAA Championships fifth session at 10 a.m. CST on Saturday (March 18) at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. The morning session will feature third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches. The finals will kick off at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN.
Top 10 Teams (After Day 2)
1. Oklahoma State 106 2. Minnesota 72.5 3. Oklahoma 64.5 4. Iowa 61.5 5. Arizona State 56 6. Cornell 54 7. Penn State 53.5 8. MICHIGAN 52 9. Hofstra 47 10. Lehigh 46
Michigan Results (Day 2)
Numbers listed are tournament seedings
133 pounds -- #12 Mark Moos
Consolation - dec. by Gabe Flores (Illinois), 4-3
Eliminated with a 1-2 record
141 pounds -- #5 Josh Churella
Quarterfinals - dec. by #Andy Simmons (Michigan State), 4-2 SV
Consolation - dec. by David Hoffman (Virginia Tech), 7-6
Eliminated with a 3-2 record
149 pounds -- #8 Eric Tannenbaum
Quarterfinals - major dec. by #1 Dustin Schlatter (Minnesota), 8-0
Consolation - dec. Jon Cox (Navy), 13-11
Consolation - dec. #5 Mark Disalvo (Central Michigan), 3-2
Consolation - vs. #3 Zack Esposito (Oklahoma State)
165 pounds -- #1 Ryan Churella
Quarterfinals - dec. #8 Travis Paulson (Iowa State), 6-4
Semifinals - dec. Joey Bracamonte (Oregon), 4-3
Final - vs. #2 Johny Hendricks (Oklahoma State)
184 pounds -- Tyrel Todd
Consolation - dec. by #8 Kurt Backes (Iowa State), 8-3
Eliminated with a 1-2 record
Heavyweight -- #3 Greg Wagner
Quarterfinals - pinned #6 Tanner Garrett (Navy), 1:41
Semifinals - dec. by #2 Steve Mocco (Oklahoma State), 2-1
Consolation - vs. #8 Michael Faust (Virginia Tech)
• Day 1 Results
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
