The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
February 8, 2016 — 3B
‘M’ rolls to pair of
rivalry meet wins
Men’s and women’s
teams cruise to wins
over Spartans
By MAGGIE KOLCON
For the Daily
Normally,
when
Michigan
and Michigan State face off,
an intense showdown from
the in-state rivalry is to be
expected. But the Michigan’s
men’s and women’s swimming
and diving teams were all
smiles during Saturday’s dual
meet at Canham Natatorium.
The Wolverine women swept
every event to win, 180-81, and
the men finished first in every
event except diving to win in
convincing fashion, 173-93.
Despite it being Senior Day,
sophomore Clara Smiddy and
freshman Becca Postoll claimed
two
individual
events
each,
making their mark on the meet as
underclassmen for the women’s
team. Freshman Katie Duggan
also won the 500-yard freestyle
event to claim her first career
individual win.
On
the
men’s
side,
nine
Wolverines
won
individual
events. Junior Jason Chen placed
first in the 50-yard backstroke
and the 100-yard individual
medley, making him the lone
male Wolverine to win two
individual events. Senior Matt
McNamara had an outstanding
50-yard breaststroke, in which
he edged out Michigan State’s
Alec Kandt by less than a tenth of
a second.
Because
of
Michigan’s
dominance in the meet, it was a
bit of a surprise to see Michigan
trailing the Spartans in the last
event, the 200-yard freestyle
relay.
But
Michigan
senior
Anders Lie Nielsen came from
behind to win, ending the day on
a high note.
“We had an all-senior relay
in the end there, and we were
trailing a little bit,” Nielsen said.
“I just got really excited because
I love winning. I love winning for
the team, you know, so I didn’t
really have a choice. I had to get
my hand on the wall so I did it.”
The
Wolverines
used
the
dual meet as an opportunity to
experiment,
placing
athletes
out of their comfort zones and
into different events than they
normally swim. Senior Dylan
Bosch, an Olympic hopeful, tried
out the 500-yard freestyle event,
which was a departure from his
normal butterfly events. He won
by a significant margin of more
than 15 seconds.
“Today’s theme was just to
celebrate each other and to have
fun,” said Bosch. “We always
try to swim as hard as we can
in everything we do. I think
it’s actually kind of good to not
always put a huge emphasis on
your event and the three that
you’re going to be swimming at
championships.”
For the men, this win closed
out their fifth undefeated season,
and for the women, it gave them
an opportunity to prepare for the
Big Ten Tournament, which they
will be hosting in two weeks.
“It’s super exciting that we’re
hosting Big Tens,” said senior
Sarah
Kamstra.
“Today,
we
were all focusing on thinking of
this as a rehearsal almost of the
next meet, really just working on
consistency.”
The
men’s
team
will
be
resting up for their own Big
Ten
Championships,
which
start Feb. 24. With the help of
their experienced seniors, both
teams have a positive outlook
for what is sure to be an exciting
postseason.
SWIMMING & DIVING
Wolverines trounce Big Ten foes
‘Murderer’s Row’
continues to
shine in wins over
Maryland, Rutgers
By MATTHEW KENNEDY
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan wrestling team
traveled
east
this
weekend,
hoping to clinch a third-place
finish in the Big Ten. With
dominating wins at Maryland
and Rutgers, the eighth-ranked
Wolverines are guaranteed at
least that finish.
The wins come a week after
Michigan (7-1 Big Ten, 12-2
overall) suffered a blowout loss
to No. 1 Penn State.
“Everybody
knew
what
needed to be done and how we
needed to bounce back,” said
junior captain Adam Coon. “The
team is really great in that it can
bounce back and continue to
fight. It doesn’t need someone
to fire them up. Everybody is
self-motivated and able to get
himself up and get the job done.”
The Wolverines’ first East
Coast
test
was
Friday
at
Maryland. The first four weight
classes traded decisions to tie
the match at 6-6. After those,
however, it was all Michigan.
Junior Brian Murphy and
sophomore Garrett Sutton, the
157- and 165-pound wrestlers,
respectively,
each
won
decisions
to make the
match
score
12-6.
From
there,
things
only
got
worse for the
Terrapins
as
the
Wolverines’
so-called
“Murderer’s Row” took the floor.
Redshirt sophomore Aaron
Calderon pinned the Maryland
wrestler
in
the
177-pound
round to garner six points for
Michigan. After a major decision
by junior Domenic Abounader,
the No. 4 184-pound wrestler
in the country, and a technical
fall forced by sixth-year senior
Max Huntley, the No. 6 197-
pound wrestler in the country,
the scoreboard
read
27-6
and
victory
was
all
but
assured for the
Wolverines.
Still in store,
though,
was
heavyweight
Adam
Coon,
who registered
Michigan’s
second pin of
the day to cap a 33-6 victory.
Two
days
later,
the
Wolverines moved from College
Park to Piscataway to take on
No. 12 Rutgers.
The
match
against
the
Scarlet Knights proved to be a
lot tougher than Friday’s bout,
with Rutgers taking a 16-10
lead with just three weight
classes remaining. Those three
weight classes, though, were all
Michigan needed.
Abounader
started
the
comeback for Michigan with
a five-point technical fall in
the 184-pound match. His big
performance was followed by
Huntley, who had an even bigger
six-point pin in the 197-pound
bout. With one match remaining,
Michigan had suddenly jumped
out to a 21-16 lead.
Still,
though,
the
match
was not over, as Rutgers could
potentially tie or take the lead.
Coon, an All-American, made
sure that didn’t happen, pinning
the
Rutgers
heavyweight
wrestler to guarantee a 27-16
victory for the Wolverines.
“I got to my attacks right
away
and
there’s
always
improvement to make,” Coon
said. “But overall, I had a couple
solid matches and was happy
with this weekend.”
The
weekend
sweep
was
especially impressive given the
proximity of the two matches
and the fact that they were both
on the road.
“(Two weekend road meets)
definitely prepares them,” said
Michigan assistant coach Sean
Bormet. “Rutgers has a good
arena for wrestling, they have a
good crowd — it’s a loud crowd,
it’s a real excitable crowd. It was
great for our guys to compete in
that kind of environment again.
That’s what it’s like at the Big
Tens and the NCAAs.”
RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily
Alec Pantaleo and the Michigan wrestling team bounced back from a loss to Penn State for a strong weekend showing.
“That’s what it’s
like at the
Big Tens and
the NCAAs.”
Wolverines go 2-1
in weekend series
Loss to Georgia
spoils otherwise
strong weekend
for Michigan
By MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Writer
The
Michigan
women’s
tennis team has been steadily
climbing the rankings this year,
and the ITA National Indoor
Championship in Madison gave
the team another opportunity
to impress against some of its
toughest competition of the
year.
A loss to No. 2 Georgia (5-1)
marred what was an otherwise
successful
weekend
for
the
Wolverines
(4-2),
who
beat
No. 11 Miami (4-2) and No. 18
Louisiana State (6-2).
“It’s
definitely
a
tough
weekend with three in a row,”
said Michigan coach Ronni
Bernstein. “Each team is tough.
There’s no easy match when
you come (to the ITA National
Indoor Championship).”
Michigan’s biggest test came
Saturday
against
the
Bulldogs, but
it was unable
to pull off the
upset.
The
bottom of the
Wolverines’
lineup
struggled
to
get
anything
going
in
a
match
that
they lost, 4-1.
Back-end
struggles
have
been a theme so far this year
for Michigan, something the
team will need to improve in the
future.
“It’s just kind of the top of
the lineup coming through right
now,” Bernstein said. “So we
just have to work on that, get
everybody getting it done.”
Despite
this
loss,
the
Wolverines felt good about its
weekend overall, successfully
fulfilling the expectations they
set for themselves in every
match.
“As far as how we competed
all weekend, I’m really happy
with the girls,” Bernstein said.
“I feel like coming away, we
competed really hard, and we
talk about that a lot.”
Michigan was led in its
matches by freshman Brienne
Minor,
who
was
the
only
Wolverine to go undefeated in
singles matches over the three-
day tournament. While the first-
year player is new to the scene,
she has been impressive the
entire season, and it should be
no surprise to see her as one of
the top performers on the team.
“Her
level
has
really
exploded,”
Bernstein
said.
“She’s coming and volleying and
not just relying on her ground
strokes, which are amazing. But
she’s just playing at a high level.
She’s playing loose and she’s
playing confident.”
It was this kind of play that
led Michigan to its two wins on
the weekend, and the kind of
play that has gained the team
some national
recognition
this year. But
the team tries
not to focus
on
rankings
or what others
say about their
team.
“It’s
still
early,
so
I
don’t
know
how accurate
(the rankings) are,” Bernstein
said. “You just have to keep
winning, and the rankings will
come.”
Next weekend the Wolverines
will host Notre Dame in hopes
of continuing the winning ways
of their young season. If they
do, whether the team wants to
acknowledge it or not, there’s no
doubt they will continue to rise
in national prominence.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
“You just have
to keep winning
and the rankings
will come.”
Michigan sweeps Blue Devils
Wolverines rout
No. 25 Duke,
continue five-match
winning streak
By JARED BERSON
For the Daily
The Michigan men’s tennis
team’s
hot
start
Sunday
should’ve served as a warning
for No. 25
Duke
that
the ranking
didn’t
intimidate the Wolverines. After
earning the doubles point with
a 2-0 sweep, Michigan didn’t
let up, sweeping Duke 7-0 to
extend a stretch in which the
Wolverines are 32-1 over their
last five matches.
Michigan
juniors
Jathan
Malik
and
Tyler
Gardiner
opened doubles play by taking
a 5-0 lead and cruising to a 6-2
win. Sophomore Runhao Hua
and redshirt sophomore Alex
Knight then completed a rally
from being down, 4-2, to take
the No. 1 doubles game 6-4 and
secure the doubles point for
Michigan.
The
doubles
momentum
that Michigan built paid off
immediately, as Hua jumped
all over Blue Devil TJ Pura,
establishing a 5-0 lead in the first
set of his singles match before
closing it 6-3. Michigan won all
six opening sets of singles action,
continuing its strong run of play.
The No. 1 singles match,
which
featured
Duke
sophomore Nicolas Alvarez, a
2015 All-American and Malik, a
British international student in
his first year with the Michigan
program, did not disappoint.
Malik dominated the first set,
6-2, but Alvarez came back with
an early break in the second set.
Malik got the break back for
4-4 in the second, displaying
superior net skills to win break
point. Alvarez started showing
frustration after being broken
in the second set and really
appeared flustered when Malik
clipped
an
alley-line
from
beyond the baseline to gain
a 5-4 advantage. A beautiful
lob at 5-4, 15-15, sparked the
break that clinched the match
for Malik. At match point, the
crowd clapped for Malik, who
kept Alvarez deep beyond the
baseline and finished the match
with a clinical volley to claim a
6-2, 6-4, victory for Michigan.
“When I play my best, I don’t
think there’s very many players
in college tennis who can beat
me,” Malik said following his
impressive performance.
Michigan junior Kevin Wong
finished off his Blue Devil
opponent quickly, breezing past
Ryan Dickerson, 6-2, 6-2. Just
minutes after Malik closed out
his win over Alvarez, Knight
polished off Catalin Mateas, 6-4,
6-2, and the Wolverines went
up, 4-0, to clinch the match. The
Wolverines clinched the match
in only one hour and 52 minutes,
sweeping all eight matches that
were finished and improving the
team’s record to 5-1 overall.
But Michigan did not let up.
Hua, a sophomore from Shanghai,
ended his strong performance on
the day with a commanding 6-4,
6-3 win over Pura, and Michigan
sophomore Carter Lin pulled out
a tough 3-set match over Duke
senior Josh Levine, winning 6-4,
4-6, 6-4.
“We have no seniors, and that’s
really unusual, to have the same
team returning,” said Michigan
coach Adam Steinberg. “My goal
was to get these guys together by
this year… and I feel like we can
go from a good team and become
great.”
Regardless
of
a
lack
of
experience,
the
Wolverines
believe they can succeed.
“We can be the best team in
the country,” Knight said. “We
know we have a chance to win
every spot.”
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Michigan men’s tennis coach Adam Steinberg has guided his team to a 32-1 mark in its last five matches, including a 7-0 win over Duke on Sunday.
DUKE
MICHIGAN
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