Michigan
Big Ten Championships (Day 1)
Wolverines to Kick Off Postseason at Big Ten Championships
3/6/2019 5:18:00 PM | Wrestling
» All 10 Wolverine starters earned top-eight seeds at their respective weight classes for the Big Ten Championships, most notably No. 1 Stevan Micic (133 pounds) and No. 2 Myles Amine (174).
» Micic and Alec Pantaleo are reigning Big Ten champions at 133 and 157 pounds, respectively, while Logan Massa (165) and Myles Amine (174) are previous finalists.
» Michigan went 13-1 during the dual-meet season, including a 8-1 mark in Big Ten duals to finish third in the conference's regular-season standings.
THIS WEEK
Sat-Sun., March 9-10 -- at Big Ten Championships (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Tournament Central | Live Results | BTN Plus: Day 1 | Day 2
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The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team (13-1, 8-1 Big Ten) will kick off the postseason this weekend, traveling to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to participate in the 2019 Big Ten Conference Championships. The event will be hosted by the University of Minnesota on Saturday and Sunday (March 9-10) at Williams Arena.
The Big Ten Championships will take place in three sessions over the course of two days. Wrestling will begin on Saturday (March 9) with the first session slated to start at 10 a.m. CST with the first and quarterfinal rounds of all weights. Consolation action and semifinal matches will take place Saturday evening at 6 p.m. CST. The Sunday (March 10) session will feature consolation finals at noon CDT and championship finals slated for approximately 3 p.m. CDT. The finals will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network, while Rounds 1-3 will be streamed live on BTN Plus.
U-M has won 11 Big Ten team championships (1929, '38, '44, '53, '55, '56, '60, '63, '64, '65, '73) and has produced the second-most individual champions (127) in the conference (Iowa is first with 199). Michigan took third place at the 2018 Big Ten Championships -- its best finish since similarly placing third in 2009. U-M has placed fifth or better in 12 of the past 20 seasons.
Michigan's Projected Starting Lineup
| Wgt. | Name | Year/Elig. | Hometown (High School) |
| 125 | Drew Mattin | So./So. | Delta, Ohio (Delta) |
| 133 | Stevan Micic | Sr./Jr. | Cedar Lake, Ind. (Hanover Central) |
| 141 | Kanen Storr | Jr./So. | Leslie, Mich. (Leslie) |
| 149 | Malik Amine | 5th/Sr. | Brighton, Mich. (Detroit Catholic Central) |
| 157 | Alec Pantaleo | 5th/Sr. | Canton, Mich. (Canton) |
| 165 | Logan Massa | Sr./Jr. | St. Johns, Mich. (St. Johns) |
| 174 | Myles Amine | Sr./Jr. | Brighton, Mich. (Detroit Catholic Central) |
| 184 | Jelani Embree | So./Fr. | Eastpointe, Mich. (Warren Lincoln) |
| 197 | Jackson Striggow | Sr./Jr. | Orono, Minn. (Orono) |
| Hwt | Mason Parris | Fr./Fr. | Lawrenceburg, Ind. (Lawrenceburg) |
Big Ten Tournament Notes
• Michigan is in search of its 12th Big Ten Championships title in school history and its first since 1973, when the Wolverines sent two individuals to the winner's podium and earned 76 points to beat runner-up Iowa by seven points. U-M owns the fourth-most conference team titles in Big Ten history with 11.
• Michigan placed third at the 2018 Big Ten Championships with 118 points -- behind first-place Ohio State (165.5) and runner-up Penn State (148) and 27.5 points more than fourth-place Iowa (90.5). Michigan had seven total placewinners and put four in the championship finals, with Stevan Micic and Alec Pantaleo capturing titles at 133 and 157 pounds, respectively. It was the Wolverines' best Big Ten finish since back-to-back third-place efforts in 2008 and 2009.
• With 127 conference individual titles in program history (coming from 85 different wrestlers), the Wolverines boast the second most of any Big Ten school behind Iowa with 199. U-M has claimed at least one champion in 10 of the last 14 seasons, including two last season in Stevan Micic (133 pounds) and Alec Pantaleo (157).
• The Wolverines earned 10 top-eight seeds for the Big Ten Championships, most notably senior/junior Stevan Micic, the No. 1 seed at 133 pounds, and senior/junior Myles Amine, seeded No. 2 at 174 pounds. U-M's other seeded wrestlers are sophomore Drew Mattin (6th, 125), junior/sophomore Kanen Storr (4th, 141), fifth-year senior Malik Amine (8th, 149), fifth-year senior Alec Pantaleo (4th, 157), senior/junior Logan Massa (5th, 165), sophomore/freshman Jelani Embree (7th, 184), senior/junior Jackson Striggow (6th, 197) and freshman Mason Parris (3rd, heavyweight). All seeds will be finalized at Friday's coaches meeting.
• Michigan has two Big Ten champions and two additional finalists among its conference contingent. Micic captured the 133-pound title last season with a 7-4 decision over Ohio State's Luke Pletcher in the championship match. Pantaleo, who has never finished worse than fourth in his previous three Big Ten appearances, defeated Ohio State's Micah Jordan, 3-1, to claim the 2018 conference title at 157 pounds. Massa and Myles Amine have also previously reached the finals; Massa fell to Illinois' Isaiah Martinez, 10-4, in the 2017 165-pound final, while Amine fell to Penn State's Mark Hall, 4-3, in last season's 174-pound bout.
• Pantaleo is the lone Wolverine slated to make his fourth appearance at the Big Ten Championships this weekend, while three of his teammates -- Storr, Embree and Parris -- will make their Big Ten tournament debuts.
Wolverine Bites
• Michigan posted a stellar 13-1 dual-meet record under first-year head coach Sean Bormet, matching its greatest single-season win total since a 16-8 record in 2007-08. U-M went 13-3 in 2015-16. The one dual loss is the program's fewest since its back-to-back undefeated seasons in 1972-73 and 1973-74.
• The Wolverines settled for third place -- behind 9-0 co-champions Penn State and Iowa -- in the final Big Ten standings with an 8-1 conference record. It tied Michigan's most conference wins in 13 seasons. U-M also finished 8-1 in the Big Ten three seasons ago. The Wolverines have posted a 15-3 record in Big Ten duals over the last two seasons. U-M similarly finished third in the regular-season standings last year.
• Senior/junior Stevan Micic is a perfect 13-0 on the season and has earned bonus points in nine bouts, including eight of his 10 second-semester outings. He has defeated ranked opponents in five of his last seven matches, including a 3-2 decision against Rutgers' fourth-ranked Nick Suriano in his last bout (Feb. 17). Micic also earned a dominant 14-1 major decision over Ohio State's No. 6 Luke Pletcher (Jan. 25). Last year, Micic posted bonus points in 81 percent of his wins (21/26).
• Freshman heavyweight Mason Parris earned takedowns in the first and third periods to defeat Maryland's ninth-ranked Youssif Hemida, 6-2, on Feb. 15. It was Parris' third win over a top-10 opponent this season -- sixth over a ranked opponent -- and second over a 2018 NCAA All-American.
• Parris has faced ranked opponents in four of his last six matches. He also clinched the Wolverines' 19-17 dual win at Ohio State in the final bout, defeating No. 19 Chase Singletary, 6-3, behind two takedowns and 1:13 in riding-time advantage. With the win, Parris avenged one of his three season losses -- a 15-9 decision to Singletary in the Ohio Intercollegiate Open semifinals (Nov. 11).
• Fifth-year senior Alec Pantaleo surged back into the nation's top five at 157 pounds -- he is a consensus No. 5 -- after defeating Ohio State's then-No. 6 Ke-Shawn Hayes, 3-2, on Jan. 25. Pantaleo, who has also seen limited action after missing most of the first semester with mononucleosis, has faced ranked opponents in six of his last nine bouts -- with four wins in those matches. Pantaleo took sixth place at Midlands (Dec. 29-30) at 149 pounds but returned to and will remain at 157 pounds, where he took fifth place at last season's NCAA Championships.
• Sophomore/freshman Jelani Embree has claimed four straight dual wins after dropping a narrow 5-3 decision to Penn State's No. 2 Shakur Rasheed (Feb. 1) in his first match back from injury. Embree, who missed all of January due to injury, is 13-4 on the season and went 7-1 in dual meets.
U-M Individual Rankings
| Wt. | Wrestler | InterMat | Flo | TW | TOM | AWN | WIN |
| 125 | Drew Mattin | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| 133 | Stevan Micic | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 141 | Kanen Storr | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| 149 | Malik Amine | NR | NR | 21 | NR | NR | NR |
| 157 | Alec Pantaleo | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 165 | Logan Massa | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| 174 | Myles Amine | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 184 | Jelani Embree | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 17 | NR |
| 197 | Jackson Striggow | NR | NR | 18 | NR | 19 | 16 |
| Hwt | Mason Parris | 6 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
Up Next
Thu-Sat., March 21-23 -- at NCAA Championships (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Players Mentioned
