The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
December 12, 2016 — 3B

WRESTLING

MEN’S GYMNASTICS

Wolverines suffer narrow loss to Minnesota

“Disappointing” was the word 

Michigan coach Joe McFarland 
repeatedly used to describe his 
team’s 22-18 loss to Minnesota.

Coming off an appearance at the 

Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, 
the Michigan wrestling team 
headed into Sunday’s dual against 
the Golden Gophers after the 
Wolverines experienced a solid 
start to the season.

Michigan was focused on 

setting the tone from the start, 
and did just that throughout 
the initial stages of the dual. 
Freshman Sal Profaci defeated 
Gannon Volk with an 11-5 decision 
in the 141-pound category, giving 
the Wolverines a 3-0 lead.

In the 149-pound category, 

sophomore Zac Hall extended his 
team’s lead, beating the Golden 
Gophers’ James Berg with a major 

decision.

But Michigan’s initial success 

hit a snag in the 157-pound 
category 
after 
senior 
Brian 

Murphy lost a decision to Jake 
Short, cutting the Wolverines’ 
lead by three points.

Despite 
this 
temporary 

setback, 
redshirt 
freshman 

Logan Massa jolted new hopes 
into Michigan’s game after he 
defeated Minnesota’s Brandon 
Kingsley 17-2 via a technical fall. 
Massa’s win came one week after 
the rising star won an individual 
title at last week’s invitational. 

But the Wolverines could not 

convert this momentum into a 
win. Freshman Myles Amine lost 
a decision to Nicholas Wanzek, 
and junior Ernest Battaglia lost 
a major decision to the Gophers’ 
Robert Stevenson.

The 
Wolverines 
were 
in 

desperate need of a victory to 
turn their woes around. However, 

neither 
redshirt 
freshman 

Jackson Striggow nor freshman 
Dan Perry were able to cut their 
opponent’s lead, losing a major 
decision and by technical fall, 
respectively.

Michigan 
freshman 
Austin 

Assad’s following match against 
Steven Polakowski was therefore 
a must-win for the Wolverines. 
While Assad was able to keep 
the score close, it was not 
enough, losing a 6-4 decision to 
Polakowski. This put the Golden 
Gophers up 22-12, and Michigan 
was out of reach.

Though the score did not 

finish in the Wolverine’s favor, 
freshman Stevan Micic would 
end the dual on a high note. In the 
133-pound category, Micic pinned 
Minnesota’s Mitch McKee to win 
via a technical fall, but his victory 
was not enough to turn the tables 
for his team.

“Some of those matches, we 

just got out-handed, out-fought 
and out-hustled,” McFarland said. 
“We didn’t execute the way we 
should have.”

Despite 
seven 
out 
of 
10 

Michigan 
atheletes 
being 

freshmen, McFarland said that 
the team’s youth should not be an 
excuse for underperforming. 

McFarland 
also 
said 
that 

his team has to make some 
improvements this week.

The Wolverines will now have 

a couple of weeks to reflect and 
do that, with their next match 
not until their dual against 
Iowa after the winter break. 
Sunday 
reminded 
Michigan 

of the importance of starting 
well and taking advantages of 
opportunities when they present 
themselves.

“We had opportunities to score 

and we weren’t able to capitalize 
on that,” McFarland added. “And 
that cost us.”

Massa gives dominant 
effort in Michigan loss

Eight days before Logan 

Massa, the now-No.2 wrestler 
in the 165-pound weight class, 
faced off against Minnesota’s 
Brandon Kingsley, the redshirt 
freshman 
increased 
his 

momentum at the Cliff Keen 
Las Vegas Invitational. After 
going 6-0 in Las Vegas, Massa 
became the fourth wrestler 
in Michigan history to take 
the individual championship, 
earning the Big Ten Wrestler 
of the Week award for the 
165-pound 
weight class.

“That was 

a huge honor 
and winning 
out 
there 

was a great 
experience,” 
Massa 
said. 

“It 
gave 

me a lot of 
confidence 
going 
into 

the second part of the season.”

His road to the award began 

with victories over two top-
10 opponents. In his semifinal 
match, Arizona State’s then-
No. 9 Anthony Valencia proved 
not to be an issue, as Massa 
accumulated four takedowns to 
rack up 17 points. Valencia tried 
fighting back late in the first 
period, but Massa retaliated 
in the third, earning the 17-4 
victory.

“I was patient, attacked a 

lot and let the points build up,” 
Massa said. “I’ve been being 
offensive, having fun with it 
and building off each match.”

And build off it he did. Massa 

went on to win the tournament 
with a win over Wisconsin’s 

then-No. 
2 
Isaac 
Jordan, 

capturing a title that only 
three Wolverines before him 
had earned. The victory also 
allowed him to advance to the 
No. 2 spot in the country. 

By amassing enough riding 

time late in the third period, 
Massa was able to earn the one 
point advantage needed to win 
the match over the three-time 
All-American.

“He goes out and continues 

to 
execute 
and 
attack,” 

said 
Michigan 
coach 
Joe 

McFarland. “Logan does a 
great job. … He’s progressing 

because he goes 
out and wrestles 
hard.”

Building 
off 

his 
success 
a 

week 
earlier, 

Massa 
forced 

Kingsley to the 
mat in his dual 
match 
Sunday 

and 
practically 

controlled 
the 

bout the entire 

time. His 17-2 victory over 
Kingsley came as no surprise, 
though, as he improved his 
already perfect season to 15-0.

Though 
the 
Wolverines 

lost the dual meet against 
No.18 Minnesota to start off 
the Big Ten campaign, Massa 
was able to lead by example 
with his decisive win over his 
opponent.

McFarland said that Massa’s 

successes 
stem 
from 
his 

consistent intensity in practice 
and in meets. With the rest of 
Big Ten play coming up, Massa 
will look to notch a few more 
Big Ten Wrestler of the Week 
awards as Michigan seeks to 
become a dominant force in the 
conference.

Blue notches victory 
in intrasquad meet

From the moment the Maize 

and Blue Intrasquad began to the 
moment it ended, Cliff Keen Arena 
was never silent. But it wasn’t 
because of the crowd. On the 
sidelines, the booming cheers and 
words of encouragement from the 
Michigan men’s gymnastics team 
filled the room as they supported 
their teammates. 

“As soon as I heard the 

team behind me, I just got the 
confidence in my abilities,” said 
freshman Mitchell Brown. “It 
helped me realize that I knew how 
to get the job done.”

The sideline support clearly 

paid off for the team’s newest 
members, as four of the team’s 
eight 
freshmen 
— 
Brown, 

Mack Lasker, Justin Murphy 
and Thomas Paul — all earned 
mentions in the awards ceremony 
in their collegiate debut. Lasker 
and Paul took first-place titles in 
the pommel horse and still rings 
during the first and third rotation, 
respectively, each with a score of 
13.500.

This 
annual 
intrasquad 

functioned as a way to get the 
men’s gymnastics team in a 
competitive 
mindset, 
and 
to 

give the freshman a taste of 
competition in preparation for the 
upcoming regular season.

The Blue team outperformed 

Maize in four out of the six events 
— floor, pommel horse, still rings 
and high bar — contributing to 
its 242.450 to 236.550 victory 
Saturday afternoon. 

Blue maintained a solid lead 

throughout most of the dual, 
with the exception of the end of 
the third rotation, where Brown 
and redshirt sophomore Marty 
Stretch’s 
outstanding 
vault 

performance put Maize ahead.

Sophomore 
Emyre 
Cole 

proved himself key to the Blue 
squad’s 
domination, 
earning 

the all-around title with the top 
score of 78.100. His highlights 
included taking joint first-place 
titles on both vault and high bar, 

with scores of 14.600 and 13.900, 
respectively. 
He 
additionally 

placed second on floor after 
sticking a two-and-a-half twisting 
double back, and earned a joint 
third-place title on still rings. 

Placing 
second 
all-around 

with a score of 77.050, Stretch 
impressively 
executed 
his 

routines as well. He took the joint 
event title for vault with a score 
of 14.600, and took the event title 
for parallel bars with a 13.650. 
Additionally, he earned second 
place on still rings and third place 
on the high bar. 

Senior captain Tristian Perez-

Rivera and sophomore Justin 
Hopgood secured event titles as 
well. Perez-Rivera scored a 13.900 
with a strong floor routine in 
the first rotation, and Hopgood 
earned his joint first-place title on 
high bar in the final rotation, also 
scoring a 13.900.

The intrasquad was not only a 

debut for the freshmen, but also a 
debut for the new Code of Points 
that was implemented for the 
2017 season. The starting values 
for routines in every event have 
been altered, with vault start 
values being lowered by .040 and 
all other event start values being 
lowered by .050. 

“It will probably take a season 

for (the new rules) to become 
natural,” said Michigan coach 
Kurt Golder.

While impressed with many of 

the skills he saw executed by both 
teams, Golder was disappointed 
with the hit percentage, which 
was around 50 percent and was 
lower than it had been a few weeks 
prior during training in the gym. 
Golder attributed this difference 
in part to the crowd and to the 
harder surface the gymnasts were 
landing on in Keen as opposed 
to the practice gym, where the 
softer floor gave way for easier 
dismounts.

Golder intends to focus on 

hit percentage in the upcoming 
weeks as the Wolverines approach 
their regular season, which will 
begin Jan. 14 at the Windy City 
Invitational in Chicago.

Michigan starts season with exhibition win

Crisler Center hosted an 

exciting atmosphere Saturday 
with the fans’ first chance since 
April to watch the Michigan 
women’s 
gymnastics 
team 

compete. From the crowd to the 
celebrity judges — who included 
former football players to radio 
personalities — most of the 
building clapped along to senior 
Nicole Artz’s floor routine, 
which she concluded with her 
signature point at the judges.

The 
meet 
between 
the 

Wolverines 
and 
Eastern 

Michigan may have just been 
an opportunity for the women 
to practice their routines in a 
competition setting, but that 
doesn’t 
mean 
they 
weren’t 

taking it seriously.

After trailing at the end of the 

first rotation, the Wolverines 
stepped it into gear and earned 
a victory, 196.200-194.750.

Five new freshmen joined 

this season’s roster, and they 
had to step up. A wrist injury 

kept 
out 
sophomore 
Olivia 

Karas — last year’s Big Ten 
Freshman of the Year — who is 
still recovering from surgery in 
the summer.

Michigan’s 

first 
rotation 

was 
on 
the 

vault. 
Three 

freshmen 
competed 
and 
proved 

that 
nerves 

wouldn’t affect 
them. 
Senior 

Talia Chiarelli 
stumbled 
on 

her 
landing, 

though 
fortunately 
for 
the 

Wolverines, 
her 
score 
was 

dropped.

Meanwhile, 
Eastern 

Michigan was competing on the 
bars. Natalie Gervais slipped 
off the bar during a release 
move and could not continue 
her routine. She received a zero 
for her performance and didn’t 
compete again for the rest of the 
day, but her teammates kept the 
competition alive.

Michigan fared much better 

on the bars. It finished all six 
routines cleanly and freshman 
Lexi Funk stuck her first career 
landing. But, it was Artz and 

junior 
Brianna 

Brown who shined 
in this event. They 
both finished with 
a 9.925 and pulled 
the 
Wolverines 

into the lead.

Funk 
and 

freshman 
Polina 

Shchennikova 
were the lead-off 
routines on the 
beam, 
an 
event 

that demands near perfection. 
Though they did wobble at 
times, 
they 
finished 
what 

appeared to be solid routines. 
They were awarded a 9.650 and 
9.300, respectively. Michigan 
coach Bev Plocki saw decent 
performances and didn’t think 
the scores reflected them, and 
she soon found out why.

“I said something to the 

judge 
and 
she 
said, 
‘The 

celebrities gave her a 9.0,’ and 

they thought because she had 
a stumble on her dismount they 
took it from a 10.0 to a 9.0,” 
Plocki said. “I was like, ‘Dudes, 
you can have two falls for a 9.0.’ 
But I mean, that’s the fun of 
it, hearing commentary from 
a person who doesn’t really 
know or understand. It’s fun to 
hear what are the things they 
appreciate about it.”

Sophomore Emma McLean 

earned a 39.400 for the day, 
securing 
her 
an 
all-around 

victory. Due to her hard work 
during fall workouts, she was 
able to add two more events to 
her competition.

“It was really fun,” McLean 

said. “The last time I did that 
was my senior year (in high 
school), and it was reminding 
me of what it was like and I 
really enjoyed it.”

It was an exciting experience 

for the entire team, but the 
fun of the day didn’t take the 
team’s attention away from 
the improvements it needs to 
make before the season starts in 
January. 

MAX KUANG/Daily

Redshirt freshman Stevan Micic beat his opponent, but Michigan fell to Minnesota, 22-18, Sunday afternoon at Cliff Keen Arena.

CHRISTIAN NEUBACHER

For the Daily

Redshirt freshman maintains perfect 
15-0 record after beating Minnesota

“He goes out 
and continues 
to execute and 

attack.”

ROBERT HEFTER

Daily Sports Writer

ANNA MARCUS

For the Daily

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

Sophomore Emma McLean notched an all-around victory en route to the Wolverines’ exhibition win Saturday at Crisler Center.

PAIGE VOEFFRAY

Daily Sports Writer

“I was like, 

‘Dudes, you can 
have two falls 

for a 9.0.’ ”

