4E - Tuesday, September 6, 2011

NEW STUDENT EDITION

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Capping perfect season, Russell becomes the
first national champion at Michigan this year

By DANIEL WASSERMAN
Daily Sports Writer
March 21, 2011-
PHILADELPHIA - He did it.
All year long, redshirt junior
Kellen Russell has taken one
match at a time - notching a
perfect regular season record -
but it was clear his sights were
set higher: winning a national
championship.
And on Saturday night at
the Wells-Fargo Center, Rus-
sell won his first career title
- after his 39th consecutive vic-
tory - defeating Cal Poly's Boris
Novachkov, 3-2, in the 141-pound
title.
The national title was Michi-
gan's first in any sport during the
2010-11 school year.
Led by Russell, the 11th-
ranked Wolverines (5-3 Big Ten,

11-5 overall) placed 15th in front
of a record attendance of 104,260
across the three-day tournament
in the Wells Fargo Center.
With no score midway
through the second period of the
title bout, Russell encountered a
scary moment when he heard his
ankle pop as it was rolled under
his body.
"He was very hobbled - he
could hardly put any weight
on it, but he was trying to get
through the match and he made
some adjustments out there,"
Michigan coach Joe McFarland
said. "He knew he couldn't pen-
etrate, he couldn't drive off that
ankle, so he controlled the tide
and waited for that kid to take a
shot and he looked for an oppor-
tunity."
Russell would find that oppor-
tunity, scoring on an escape to go

ahead 1-0. He took that lead into
the third period, but Novachkov
responded with an escape of his
own.
With just 32 seconds remain-
inginthe match, Russell didwhat
he does best: score a takedown
off a scramble. When Novach-
kov lunged at Russell's weakened
ankle, Russell was able to turn
him and score a takedown to go
ahead, 3-1. Novachkov respond-
ed with an escape moments later,
but it was too little, too late.
"It feels amazing," Russell
said after the win. "It's a great
honor to even compete for the
University of Michigan. All
the people in my life that have
helped me throughout school,
wrestling and everything else,
it really pushed me to be a better
student and a better athlete and
that led me to Michigan.

"And just to be able to wrestle
for them is great. And to win a
national title, I feel like I'm able
to give back a little to them and
show the wrestling community
how great of a university the
University of Michigan is."
Russell's success in Philadel-
phia was a far cry from his disap-
pointment in 2009, where he was
also the top seed, but was upset
in the second round and man-
aged only a seventh-place finish.
"I felt really comfortable
here all weekend," Russell said.
"I didn't feel nervous, just felt
excited the whole time. So that
was a huge difference between
me two years ago and me now,
just kind of growingup and feel-
ing more confident in my wres-
tling."
Redshirt freshman Eric Gra-
jales was the only other Wolver-

ine to win two matches in the
championship bracket.
Grajales, trailing in his first
match by six points entering the
final period, beat West Virginia's
Brandon Rader ina shocking pin
with just over a minute to go.
The chaos continued into Gra-
jales' next match, where he faced
the top-seeded, former national
champion Darrion Caldwell of
North Carolina State. In the clos-
ing seconds of a scoreless first
period, Caldwell dislocated his
shoulder, propelling Grajales
into the next round.
"Nobody wants to win like
that, and nobody likes to see
anybody else get hurt like that
in this sport," Grajales said after
the match. "I feel bad for him, I
feel for him."
Grajales wasn't able to sustain
the momentum, losing his next

two matches to fall a win short of
All-American status.
Sophomore Sean Boyle also
fell a win short of becoming an
All-American. Boyle won three
of his first four matches, but a
takedown by Oklahoma's No. 8
seed Jarrod Patterson with 30
seconds left ended Boyle's bid.
Redshirt senior Anthony Bion-
do ended his storied Michigan
career with a 2-2 weekend, as
did junior Zac Stevens. Redshirt
sophomore Ben Apland went
1-2, while redshirt junior Justin
Zeerip and redshirt freshman
Dan Yates were both winless.
The Big Ten was well repre-
sented, with six teams finish-
ing in the top 15, highlighted by
Penn State, which won its first
national title. The Nittany Lions'
championship is the conference's
fifth straight.

0
6

Michigan men's soccer loses 2-1 to Akron in
national semifinal, ending College Cup bid

FILE PHOTO/DALY
Icers suffer overtime
loss in NC AA filial to
Minnesota-Duluth

By MATT SLOVIN and I think that thing goes."
Daily Sports Writer Soony's near miss would prove
to be the Wolverines' best chance
Dec. 13, 2010 - to stave off elimination and shock
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - the team that defeated them 7-1
Despite being outscored 12-2 in in mid-October.
its last two meetings with Akron, The game started with a rare
no one believed another blowout early goal for the Wolverines -
was in the cards for the Michi- senior forward Justin Meram's
gan men's soccer team in Friday's strike from the top of the circle
national semifinal here on the marked the first time in the tour-
campus of UC Santa Barbara. nament that the team scored a
In fact, the team was mere first-half goal.
inches from snatchingwup a set- "It was a great way to start
and-half lead before eventually off," Meram said. "We had the
falling to the third-seeded Zips, momentum."
2-1, in the College Cup. With the 1-0 lead, it appeared
After many attempts were that tenth-seeded Michigan
squanderedbyAkron'slightning- could pull yet another upset
fast defense, the Saad brothers and advance to Sunday's title
hooked up on a pass that found game against Louisville, which
Soony streaking toward goal. advanced earlier in the evening
"There weren't that many with a victory over North Caro-
options," Soony said after the lina.
game. "I decided to try and sneak However, Akron did not let
it in. Sometimes it works, some- the early disadvantage stifle
times it doesn't." its opportunities - those were
After miraculously weav- plentiful in the rest of the half as
ing the ball through a sea of Zip the Zips outshot the Wolverines
defenders, the shot ricocheted off 14-4. In the game's 33rd min-
of the post and was harmlessly ute, Perry Kitchen blasted one
cleared. that stunned Michigan redshirt
"It came off his foot ... and you junior goalkeeper Chris Blais for
think it had a good chance to the equalizer.
go," Michigan head coach Steve The stalemate stood for much
Burns said. "It came off the inside of the second half. Michigan
of the post. One less layer of paint appeared poised to regain the

By CASANDRA PAGNI
Daily Sports Writer
April 11, 2011-
ST. PAUL, Minn. - It was one
shot members of the Minnesota-
Duluth hockey team will remem-
ber for the rest of their lives.
And one the Wolverines would
give anything to have back.
Just over three minutes into
overtime of the NCAA Champi-
onship game, the Michigan hock-
ey team was on the losing end of
the battle. The Bulldogs defeated
the Wolverines, 3-2, securing
their program's first NCAA title
and sending Michigan's seven
seniors and the rest of the team
back to Ann Arbor empty hand-
ed, all in a matter of seconds.
"It's the opportunity of a
lifetime gone in the blink of an
eye," sophomore forward Jeff
Rohrkemper said.
While the outcome of game
came down to one shot by the
Bulldogs, the Wolverines had
more than 60 minutes in which
they could have controlled the
outcome. Minnesota-Duluth out-
shot Michigan all night, but the
resilient and defensive-minded
Wolverines continually found
ways to battle back.
Even when Michigan took
its ninth penalty of the game -
a boarding call to sophomore
forward Kevin Lynch with just
under 10 minutes remaining
in regulation - the Wolverine
penalty killers preserved the tie.
The Bulldogs boast the 10th best
power play in the nation, but
Michigan was able to hold the
Minnesota-Duluth man advan-
tage to 11 shots on nine opportu-
nities and allowed them to score
on it once.
"You never want to kill nine
or 10 penalties in a game," senior
forward Carl Hagelin said. "But
today we had to do it. And obvi-
ously some guys get more tired
than others. It's tough ... I think
we did a good job, only allowed
one goal and they had a really
good power play. So obviously
some of us got a bit tired by play-
ing too much PK."
The Wolverines got out to an
early lead when senior forward
Ben Winnett scored his fifth
goal of the season - and second
goal of the Frozen Four - five
minutes into the first period, but
Minnesota-Duluth sustained
pressure on Michigan defend-

ers and senior netminder Shawn
Hunwick all night.
The Bulldogs tied the game at
one just under two minutes into
the second period and then took
the 2-1 lead eight minutes later
on the power play. But led by a
strong class of seniors, Michi-
gan kept confidence high on
the bench. It had been down in
plenty of games this season, even
in the NCAA regional semifinal
against Nebraska-Omaha.
Near the end of the second
period, junior defenseman Greg
Pateryn slapped a shot from the
blue line in front of Minnesota-
Duluth netminder Kenny Reiter.
In front of the net, sophomore
forward Jeff Rohrkemper got a
hold of the puck and back-hand-
ed it to beat Reiter on the right
side to tie the game at two.
"I think the top players just
about neutralize each other
throughout the game, and it's
an unexpected or unsung hero
that ends up scoring a goal ...
Rohorkemper's goal was a fluky
goal, but it was a huge goal."
Hunwick, who made 40 saves
against North Dakota on Thurs-
day to lead the Wolverines to the
NCAA Championship, kept the
Wolverines in the game again
on Saturday. Dubbed "Tiny
Jesus" by Michigan fans for his,
at times, indescribable saves in
St. Paul, Hunwick lived up to the
nickname and got the Wolverines
to overtime against the Bulldogs.
While Hunwick kept the
Minnesota-Duluth offense and
power play at bay long enough for
the Wolverines to have a chance
on Saturday, sudden-death over-
time was a different story.
At 3:22 into the extra frame,
Minnesota-Duluth senior Kyle
Schmidt's scored the eventual
game winner. When Bulldog for-
ward Travis Oleksukgot the puck
behind the net on the right side
of Hunwick, he slid it to Schmidt
who one-timed it to Schmidt for
the winninggoal.
"It's a tough loss," Michi-
gan coach Red Berenson said.
"Shawn Hunwick was terrific.
He gave us a chance and it wasn't
to be."
Pateryn added: "We knew it
was going to be a really ugly goal.
We knew it was going to be quick.
This is what overtime is some-
times. We knew it was going to
take one shot and it did, but it
wasn't for us."

lead down the home stretch
when Soony's shot found metal,
not nylon. A discouraged Wol-
verine squad hunkered down
against the bombardment of
shots from Akron, who ultimate-
ly won the NCAA Championship
on Sunday.
The lead was finally surren-
dered in the 74th minute when
Kofi Sarkodie sank one off of a
free kick from just outside of the
Michigan box. Wolverine fans
who made the trip to the College
Cup - college soccer's final four
- had visions of Sarkodie mak-
ing similar moves en route to a
hat trick in the two teams' earlier

MARK J. TERRILL/AP
matchup.
"Those are dangerous free
kicks," Burns said. "They had a
good look at the back post."
It would prove to be the game-
winner after desperate attempts
by Michigan were thwarted.
On its way to the College Cup,
the Wolverines trekked into
unchartered territory by advanc-
ing further than any other team
in the program's 11-year history.
But the clank off of the post
that echoed through Harder Sta-
dium long after the facility had
emptied may have very easily
cost Michigan a continued run
and a chance to hoist the cup.

6
I
6

Michigan falls to resilient one-seed Duke, 73-71

By ZAK PYZIK shots," Beilein said. "Every one
Daily Sports Editor that he took, when he took a shot
it looked like it was going in just
March 21, 2011- barely on the front rim. And the
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Darius last one was like the Illinois shot
Morris is typically the most reli- (in the Big Ten Tournament). I
able Wolverine with the ball. thought it would be the one that
But with just 5.6 seconds left might get us up over the top here."
in the Michigan men's basketball Duke responded with a jump-
team's third-round NCAA Tour- er, and with 19.3 seconds remain-
nament game against Duke on ing Michigan called a timeout
Sunday, Morris drove and missed down by just three points.
a floater as the buzzer sounded. After a Duke shot-clock viola-
Michigan fell to the top-seeded tion and a Morris layup, Michi-
Blue Devils, 73-71. gan was down two points with
With less than seven minutes 5.6 seconds remaining. But Mich-
left, Michigan forward Jordan igan couldn't complete the upset,
Morgan and Duke forward Kyle as Morris bricked the final shot
Singler sat on the bench with of the Wolverines surprising sea-
four fouls and Wolverine forward son.
Evan Smotrycz was headed there Duke's defense started the
as well after notching his fifth. game playing Michigan very
"(The foul trouble was) very aggressively around the perim-
big," Michigan coach John eter. After missing their first
Beilein said. "I said in most of three 3-pointers because of the
my previews, I said one of the big Blue Devils' perimeter play, the
things with our team: Coach K's Wolverines went on to make five
teams have always got to the foul 3-pointers to conclude the first
line like that. Two thingshappen, half and to head into the locker
we're very good foul shooters, room trailing, 37-33.
and they put your better guys on But in the second half, things
the bench at times. So they did changed quicker than the Wol-
that...Your top eightguys will get verines could have imagined.
two, three on the bench. We sure After Hardaway Jr. missed
had them there." two 3-pointers, Duke sudden-
Morgan came in for the Wol- ly pushed its lead to 12 points
verines and responded with a thanks in large part to senior
dunk to spark a comeback that guard Nolan Smith. At that point,
put Michigan within two posses- Duke fans erupted, and even
sions of Duke. As the Wolverines Blue Devil coach Mike Krzyze-
trailed by four points with about wski was dancing on the bench
a minute remaining, Michigan - Michigan was essentially play-
freshman Tim Hardaway Jr. hit ing a road game against the Blue
his first 3-pointer of the after- Devils in Charlotte.
noon. And with Hardaway Jr.'s "At one point coach called a
clutch basket, the Wolverines timeout and was trying to show
trailedby just one possession. us his hops," Smith said. "Some-
"(Hardaway Jr.) had great times coach just wants to show

that he's athletic too and then he
was just so excited."
Though Duke had the momen-
tum, Michigan climbed out of
the hole after having five play-
ers finish in double digits. The
Wolverines simply made the last
mistake.
Utilizing its four-guard - and
sometimes five-guard - offense,
Michigan forced Duke to play just
one big man when they usually
play at least two. Forward Ryan
Kelly was Krzyzewski choice for
most of the game. Kelly scored
just four points but also had to
defend against freshman guard
Evan Smotrycz - who tallied 11
points in the first half.
On Morris's last shot, Kelly
was the closest defender in front
of him.
"(Morris) had been playing
very well," Kelly said. "I just tried,
to make a little distraction. At
that point whatever happens -
you are prepared for anything at
that point."
Along with Kelly was anoth-

FILE PHOTO/DAILY
er unfamiliar face - freshman
guard Kyrie Irving. Irving had
just returned from a season-long
injury in Duke's second-round
win against Hampton - where
he played just 20 minutes. He had
only practiced with the team two
and a half times before Sunday's
game.
But Irving looked fresher than
ever against the Wolverines.
After not seeing much action in
the first half, he finished with 11
points and three rebounds. More
significant than anything else
was his presence at the free throw
line - he sank 9-of-10 shots from
the charity stripe on Sunday.
Ultimately, Duke's stellar
guard play from Irving and Smith
helpedDuke squeak by Michigan.
"I just thought, I don't want to
take this Duke jersey off," Smith
said. "Michigan was playing us
tough so I thought I didn't want
to lose. I love playing for Duke
and I look forward to playing
with my teammates. I didn't want
to lose"