Michigan
NCAA Championships
Wolverines Wrap Up Season at NCAA Championships
3/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Site: Omaha, Neb. (Qwest Center)
Event: NCAA Championships (Day 2 of 3)
Next U-M Event: Season Completed
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Note: In the final team standings following Saturday's (March 20) action, Michigan finished in a three-way tie for 43rd place with seven points.
OMAHA, Neb. -- With its final two competitors were eliminated from competition, the University of Michigan wrestling team saw its 2009-10 season come to an end on the second day of competition at the NCAA Championships on Friday (March 19) at the Qwest Center.
Senior/junior Anthony Biondo (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley HS) lost a heartbreaker in the evening's All-America round, falling to Oklahoma State's Alan Gelogaev, 3-2, on riding time. The Cowboy wrestler gained the initial lead on a quick first-period single leg and held Biondo down long enough in the second to accumulate exactly one minute of riding-time advantage. Gelogaev chose neutral to start the third and fought through several flurries to hang on for the win.
Biondo's evening loss followed another in the morning quarterfinal round, where Nebraska's second-seeded Craig Brester used takedowns in each period and 3:34 in time advantage to claim a 9-0 major decision.
Junior/sophomore Justin Zeerip (Fremont, Mich./Hesperia HS) was also knocked from the competition after suffering a 6-4 overtime loss to Penn's Scott Giffin in the morning's wrestleback round. Zeerip struck first in the contest, countering an early Giffin single-leg shot and coming around behind to convert. The Quaker wrestler took his first lead later in the period, scoring on another single-leg attempt, but Zeerip knotted the score with a late escape. The two wrestlers traded their escape points in the second and third period to send the bout to the sudden-victory frame, where Giffin converted on a blast double in the center of the mat to end the match 19 seconds into the extra period.
Michigan Results (Day 2)
Numbers listed are tournament seedings
174 pounds -- Justin Zeerip
Consolations - dec. by Scott Giffin (Penn), 6-4
Eliminated with a 1-2 record
197 pounds -- #7 Anthony Biondo
Quarterfinals - dec. by #2 Craig Brester (Nebraska), 9-0
Consolations - dec. by Alan Gelogaev (Oklahoma State), 3-2
Eliminated with a 2-2 record
Players Mentioned
