Michigan
Big Ten Championships (Day 2)
Micic, Pantaleo Capture Big Ten Titles; U-M Places Third
3/4/2018 7:24:00 PM | Wrestling
» Stevan Micic (133 pounds) and Alec Pantaleo (157) captured individual Big Ten titles -- the first of their respective careers.
» Michigan placed third in the team standings with 118 points -- 30 points behind second-period Penn State and 27.5 ahead of fourth-place Iowa.
» U-M claimed seven total placewinners and currently has eight wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Site: East Lansing, Mich. (Breslin Center)
Event: Big Ten Championships (Day 2 of 2)
U-M Team Standing: Third Place of 14 Team (118 points)
Next U-M Event: Thu-Sun., March 15-17 -- at NCAA Championships (Cleveland, Ohio)
• Photo Gallery
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Junior/sophomore Stevan Micic and senior/junior Alec Pantaleo captured individual titles to headline the University of Michigan wrestling team's third-place finish at the 2018 Big Ten Conference Championships on Saturday (March 4) at Michigan State's Breslin Center. The Wolverines claimed seven total placewinners and currently have eight NCAA Championships qualifiers.
Micic defeated Ohio State's Luke Pletcher, 7-4, in the 133-pound championship match, scoring on two takedowns in the first period and accumulating 1:52 in riding-time advantage. He benefitted from a single leg in the last 10 seconds of the first period and had nearly a minute of time advantage before the end of the frame. Pletcher narrowed the final margin with a stall point and a reversal in the third. The win was Micic's second over the Buckeye in three weeks; Pletcher claimed the first meeting in Vegas.
Pantaleo also defeated an Ohio State opponent at 157 pounds, earning his third win against Micah Jordan with a 3-1 decision in the championship match. After a scoreless first period, Pantaleo earned his escape point then finished on a high crotch in the waning seconds of the second period for the winning points.
It was the first Big Ten title for both Wolverines. U-M's other two finalists, junior/sophomore Myles Amine and graduate student Adam Coon, dropped razor-thin decisions at 174 pounds and heavyweight, respectively.
Amine dropped a 4-3 decision to Penn State's Mark Hall, the defending NCAA champion, on a third-period takedown in the 174-pound final. Amine took a temporary lead with a reversal early in the third, but after an escape to tie, Hall finished on a takedown with a minute remaining. Amine pressured over the final minute, with Hall hanging on the edge, and drew one stall warning but not a second to suffer his second one-point loss to the Nittany Lion this season.
Coon went to double overtime with Ohio State's two-time defending NCAA champion Kyle Snyder, before Snyder finished on a single leg on the edge -- with just a toe inbounds, maybe -- to win 4-2. The wrestlers had traded little more than escapes through regulation and the first tiebreaker. The outcome reversed that of their dual meeting three weeks ago; they will certainly be the top-two seeds at NCAAs in two weeks.
Fifth-year senior Domenic Abounader earned a pair of wrestleback wins to post a 4-2 tournament record and claim third place at 184 pounds. After earning a bonus point with an 8-0 major decision against Minnesota's Brandon Krone in the consolation semifinals, he defeated Nebraska's Taylor Venz, 7-3, in his medal match on a high-crotch and four-point leg turk late in the first period. Abounader never finished worse than third place in four Big Ten tournament appearances.
Graduate student Kevin Beazley took fourth place in his Big Ten debut at 197 pounds, earning a 3-1 decision against Iowa's Cash Wilcke -- on a low single-leg takedown in the second -- in the consolation semifinals before needing to default out of his third-place match in the second period.
Junior/sophomore Logan Massa bounced back from a tough consolation semifinal loss -- on riding time -- with a 6-3 decision against Iowa's Alex Marinelli in the fifth-place match. Massa scored on a flash takedown in the first period, ran out of time on a double-leg shot late in the second and iced the bout with a third-period single leg and 1:14 in riding-time advantage.
Freshman Drew Mattin locked up his NCAA automatic qualifying bid with a 6-4 decision against Penn State's Carson Kuhn in the extra matches at 125 pounds -- a weight that had 10 qualifying spots. Mattin rallied from an early deficit, earning a second-period rideout before scoring a reversal -- awarded on review -- and a late takedown to ice it in the third.
The Wolverines will take a two-week break to prepare for the 2018 NCAA Championships, scheduled for March 15-17 in Cleveland, Ohio. Michigan will send at least eight wrestlers to the national event and have an opportunity to add more when NCAA at-large selections on Tuesday (March 6). NCAA seeds and full brackets will be announced on Wednesday (March 7).
Team Standings (Final)
1. Ohio State             137.5 2. Penn State            124.0 3. MICHIGAN               100.0 4. Iowa                   78.0 5. Minnesota             57.0 6. Nebraska               54.0 7. Illinois               53.0 8. Wisconsin              50.5 9. Northwestern           48.0 10. Purdue                45.5 11. Rutgers               37.0 12. Maryland              27.5 13. Indiana               10.0 14. Michigan State          8.5
Michigan Results (Day 2)
Numbers listed are tournament seedings
125 Pounds -- #8 Drew Mattin
*Ninth-Place Semifinal - dec. Carson Kuhn (Penn State), 6-4
133 Pounds -- #1 Stevan Micic
First Place - dec. #2 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), 7-4
Finished as the 133-pound champion with a 4-0 record
149 -- #8 Malik Amine
* Ninth-Place Semifinal - major dec. A.J. Raya (Indiana), 8-0
* Ninth Place - dec. by Cole Martin (Wisconsin), 4-3
157 Pounds -- #3 Alec Pantaleo
First Place - dec. #4 Micah Jordan (Ohio State), 3-1
Finished as the 157-pound champion with a 3-0 record
165 Pounds -- #7 Logan Massa
Consolations - dec. by #5 Evan Wick (Wisconsin), 4-3
Fifth Place - dec. #2 Alex Marinelli (Iowa), 6-3
Finished in fifth place with 3-2 record
174 Pounds -- #3 Myles Amine
First Place - dec. by #1 Mark Hall (Penn State), 4-3
Finished in second place with a 3-1 record
184 Pounds -- #3 Domenic Abounader
Consolations - major dec. Brandon Krone (Minnesota), 8-0
Third Place - dec. #6 Taylor Venz (Nebraska), 7-3
Finished in third place with 4-1 record
197 Pounds -- #4 Kevin Beazley
Consolations - dec. #3 Cash Wilcke (Iowa), 3-1
Third Place - injury def. by #5 Hunter Ritter (Wisconsin), 3:45
Finished in fourth place with 3-2 record
Heavyweight -- #1 Adam Coon
First Place - dec. by #2 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State), 4-2 SV
Finished in second place with a 2-1 record
* additional match for NCAA qualification
• Day 1 Results
Players Mentioned
