The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Wednesday, September 3, 2014-?A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, September 3, 2014- 7A
WRESTLING
Two bronzes for
Coon in Croatia
Record-setting losses worry Ryan
M' standout one
of
in b
Wo
two to compete
)oth styles at Jr.
rld Tournament
By ZACH SHAW
Daily Sports Writer
It's not difficult to realize
that heavyweight wrestler
Adam Coon excels on the mat.
For the fans at the FILA
Junior World Tournament in
Zagreb, Croatia, it took less than
a day. In case they forgot, he
reminded them four days later.
At the championships Aug.
6-10, the Michigan sophomore
went a combined 8-2 with
five pins against world-class
competition to take bronze in
both the Greco-Roman and
freestyle divisions.
"I feel like I wrestled pretty
well," Coon said in a video
interview with
FloWrestling.
"I tried to
push the pace "I tr
as much as
possible. I push t
went out there
to dominate, as m
and there were
some matches pOns
that I did
dominate."
Coon
began his week by pinning
Stepan David of the Czech
Republic at the 45-second
mark. He followed with an 8-5
comeback win over Korea's
Seungchan Lee and a pin of
Hungary's Adam Mertse in the
quarterfinals.
The lone defeat of Coon's
day was to Sergey Semenov
of Russia, the eventual gold
medalist. Coon rebounded
after a long break, though, by
pinning Japan's Arata Sonoda in
the opening minute to preserve
bronze. I
"I had some ups and downs
through it," Coon said, "and
got caught in some positions I
didn't like and got beat up a little
bit here and there. But I kept
working to battle back and got
the fall that I needed (to secure
bronze)."
Coon's bronze was the only
U.S. medal in any Greco-Roman
weight class, but the Michigan
standout wasn't content with
just one medal.
Coon - more comfortable in
the freestyle - maintained his
initial impression by breezing
to another 4-1 record four
days later. His day began with
consecutive 10-0 technical falls
over China's Qiang Tao and
India's Rangi Roubaljeet, and
he added a pin over Azerbaijan's
Oyan Nazaryani.
Like earlier in the week, the
semifinals proved troublesome
for Coon. Facing familiar foe
Amar Dhesi of Canada, Coon
fell in a heated 7-6 decision.
Struggling early, Coon mustered
a comeback and looked poised
for a one-point victory with 18
seconds to go.
But confusion with scoring
stopped the match, giving Dhesi
time to recover, and he tallied
a two-point takedown with
just five seconds left to seal
the victory.
Coon pinned
Turkey's
ied to Yusuf Emre
Dede in the
he pace next match to
take bronze,
iuch as but the loss
.be" stung.
sible. I was
digging that
underhook
the entire
match," Coon said. "I had that
body lock and knew I could get
it. He kept square with me, so I
figured I go with that body lock,
toss it and see what happens.
"You have to put the previous
match behind you and get after
it in the last match. I'm happy
for the bronze but upset for the
loss that came with it."
Despite aspirations for gold,
Coon settled for medalingtwice
despite being one of just two
wrestlers from any country to
compete in both styles at the
event.
"It was a bit of a juggling
act going between two teams,"
Coon said. "But it was nice
to have all those teammates
supporting me. I couldn't have
done it without the coaching
staffs or my teammates. They
were the ones pushing me and
helping me."
ByJAKELOURIM
Daily Sports Editor
Young as it is, the Michigan
women's soccer team has tried
to stay away from focusing on
results early in the season. But
the worst two-game stretch in
program history might be cause
for concern.
Never had the Wolverines
lost two weekend games by a
combined eight goals. They
hadn't given up five since a 6-0
loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee
in 2009 and hadn't surrendered
eight in two games since Aug.22
and 24, 2008.
"Friday, we didn't represent
Michigan - we didn't represent
anybody," said Michigan coach
Greg Ryan. "Representing
Michigan athletics has got to
be the thing that always shows
up for us. If we play like we did
Friday night, we'll get beat badly."
After Michigan escaped
with a pair of 2-0 wins over Cal
State Northridge and Bowling
Green the previous weekend, its
issues snowballed in San Diego.
The back line, which is playing
with four new starters at times,
broke down, most notably with
an own goal against San Diego
State on Sunday.
The offense misses all-time
leading scorer Nkem Ezurike,
who was often the only forward
last season. Even the goalkeeping
position, which returned
sophomore Taylor Bucklin, is up
for grabs between Bucklin and
freshman Megan Hinz.
But most importantly, the
Wolverines couldn't respond
to deficits this weekend - and
Ryan doesn't necessarily see that
getting much better.
"If we get down a goal, maybe
we can come back," Ryan said.
Women's soccer coach Greg Ryan has never suffered through such a lopsided weekend, Michigan was outscored 8-0.
"But so far, we're not there yet.
It could happen, I'm not saying
it won't, but it didn't happen
Sunday, didn't happen Friday,
hasn't happened yet. Until it
happens, I'm not sure there's
evidence to support the fact that
it's going to happen."
In the past two years,
Michigan has lost eight times,
only once by more than one goal.
The Wolverines were in every
game, even at their worst.
Ryan continued to talk about
the team's inexperience: Senior
midfielder Jen Pace, a captain,
did not start a game last season,
while junior midfielder Cassie
Collins started just four.
"When we got down our
first goal, everyone was a little
frazzled because it was the first
goal we'd given up and it came
so fast in the game," said junior
midfielder Corinne Harris. "We
have decided that we're always
going to get together after
goals to make sure we can keep
pushing through."
The Wolverines haven't
trailed much in recent seasons
- falling behind just six times
last year. But on Friday, San
Diego's first goal was followed 18
minutes later by another, which
was followed eight minutes later
by another. Sunday, the own goal
came eight minutes after the
first goal.
"Last year's team didn't get
down very often," Ryan said.
"That was a reflection of that
team, they were so determined
and focused. Our mantra was
relentless, and that team was
relentless. This group is just
beginning to learn what it
means to play with that kind of
an effort."
Ryan told his team after the
game Sunday that five players
had good performances. He
declined to name them to
the media, but noted that the
Wolverines will need more
players competing. He hoped
that by calling those players
out to his team, others would
follow them.
Until they do, there might
be more crooked results. In the
meantime, there might be one
remedy to responding to one-
goal deficits: not allowing them
in the first place.
"I think realistically, this is a
team that at this point anyway,
isn't going to (go) well if we're
down a goal," Ryan said. "We
haven't showed the signs yet
that we can create enough
opportunities to go down a
goal. Our focus is going to be on
team defending and not giving
up a goal."
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Adam Coon was disappointed not to claim gold, but he impressed in Croatia.
JOIN THE DAILY OR
ADAM COON WILL
EAT YOU*
MASS MEETINGS THURSDAY,
SEPT. 4 AND SEPT.11 AT
420 MAYNARD
*THIS STATEMENT IS NOT ENDORSED BY
ADAM COON
A
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