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January 09, 2017 - Image 9

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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
January 9, 2017 — 3B

Michigan alumni help one of their own in Scott Matzka

The tunnel from the Michigan

hockey locker room opened and
28 former players skated onto the
ice at Yost Ice Arena on Saturday
night. Some players knew Scott
Matzka personally from their
time
in
Ann
Arbor.
Others

participated simply to see old
friends and to help a member of
the “Michigan family.”

But one player stood out from

the rest. He was a bit younger
and a few feet shorter. Wearing
his father’s No. 10 jersey, Owen
Matzka joined his father’s former
teammates in the pre-game skate
and would later score a goal.

“That’s probably the most

difficult emotional thing I’ve
had to deal with,” Scott Matzka
said. “I see the guys out there,
laughing and having a great time,
but seeing (my son) really pulls at
my heartstrings.

“It’s so cool that he’s getting

some of these cool experiences,
and stuff he’s never gonna forget.
I’m trying to not cry and not get
emotional, but I see him out there
and then I’m tearing up.”

Matzka was diagnosed with

ALS in the summer of 2014. The
event Saturday featured Matzka’s
former teammates taking on the
Detroit Red Wings alumni club
to raise money for
ALS.

After
the

pre-game
skate,

Matzka and his
family stood at
center
ice
and

participated
in

the
ceremonial

puck
drop.

Matzka thanked
the
1,500-

plus
fans
in

attendance.

Then, Matzka joked with the

players, urging them to avoid
suffering a heart attack during
the game.

Designed to raise awareness

and funds for Matzka’s ALS
foundation (MyTurn), the event
also reunited former Wolverines,
some of whom have lost touch

with each other
over the years.

Josh Langfeld

is
only
one

example.
They

played
together

at
Michigan

but
distance

keeps them from
seeing each other
regularly.
This

game,
though,

provided
an

opportunity
for
the
former

linemates to reconnect.

“It was awesome,” Langfeld

said. “A truly great experience.
Scott was my roommate freshman

year in West Quad. We won the
national championship together,
we did a lot of great things. … He
was my guy. We leaned on each
other a lot over the years, so it’s a
great thing to celebrate.”

Added Matzka: “I haven’t had

a chance to stay in touch with all
these guys, and it sucks that it has
to be under these circumstances,
but it’s incredible to see everyone
that’s shown up. The guys, the
fans, people that are helping out
around the rink. It’s hard to put
into words.”

It
wasn’t
just
former

Michigan players who enjoyed
participating in the game, as the
event also involved a team of
former Red Wings players. Dave
Coulier, perhaps best known as
“Uncle Joey” from the television
show “Full House,” relished the

opportunity to play with the Red
Wings while supporting Matzka’s
cause. Coulier has played with
the Red Wings alumni team
before and heard about the event
from some of his
friends who went
to
Michigan.

Though
he

lacks a personal
connection
to

Matzka
and

the disease, he
recognized
the

importance of the
event and what it
meant to Matzka
and his family.

“I think you’ve got a lot people

with big hearts, who realize
the importance of life, and how
something like ALS can affect
family and friends and personal

lives,” Coulier said. “It’s brave
on a whole other level, and guys
just want to come out and support
that. (They say) ‘Hey we’re
looking out for you and we’re here

to lend a hand.’

“It’s something

we love to do.
We love to get
together and play
hockey, but it’s
especially
great

when
you
can

take that and turn
it
into
helping

someone
and

their family.”

The
game

itself featured 17 goals, with the
Wolverines’ alumni holding off a
late comeback by their Red Wings
counterparts in a 10-7 victory.
The score had little importance,

though. What mattered was that
Matzka’s teammates all returned
to support, honor and play for
him.

“Obviously
as
a
team,

especially being from the class
of 1998, and then you go ‘99, ‘00
and then ‘01, whenever you have a
cause like that, the Michigan men
assemble,” said former Wolverine
forward Matt Herr. “It was great
to
see
everybody.
Whenever

there’s a cause or a teammate
needs you, nothing ever changes,
the guys are there.

“It was fun tonight to get out

there, put the skates on, and
great to see Scott and his family.
I think it meant a lot to these guys
to be able to do that with Scott.
If there is anything we can do to
help another Michigan man, it is
always good.”

28 players took the ice for

the
Wolverines,
but
Herr

believes many more could have
participated. Numerous alumni
reached out to Chris Frescoln
and L.J. Scarpace, who helped
organize the event. Herr guesses
that Michigan had the potential
to “fill six teams.”

The night included reunions,

tearful hugs, jokes about college
life, and of course, a hockey
game. Yet, most importantly, it
honored Matzka and his fight
against ALS.

“Thank you on behalf of all

of Michigan for your strength
and for everything that you are
doing,” Herr said to Matzka
during the event. “It takes a lot of
courage, to stand up and say, ‘Hey,
we’re gonna battle this.’ With two
small kids and a wife, it breaks
your heart.

“He could have done a lot

of things like (say) ‘Hey, I feel
sorry for myself.’ But that’s not
the Michigan way, and that’s
not Scotty Matzka. Instead, he’s
chosen to get the word out and
help other people, and hopefully
that carries on and keeps battling
ALS.”

AVI SHOLKOFF
Daily Sports Writer

COURTESY OF JAMES COLLER

Former Wolverine Scott Matzka, who has ALS, was honored with an alumni game between his old Michigan teammates and former Red Wings players.

With two small
kids and a wife,
it breaks your

heart

It was

awesome. A
truly great
experience

Amine bests fellow All-American

It was the first minute of his

match against Iowa’s No. 13
Alex Meyer and Myles Amine
made it clear that he had been
saving all his energy while on
the sidelines for the mat.

“I try to stay calm,” 174-

pound
redshirt
freshman

Amine said after winning, 6-5.
“ ... I don’t want to waste too
much energy screaming or
yelling. I’m definitely rooting
for those guys and hoping that
they win the match, but I have
to stay calm and reserve all
my energy before I wrestle.
Mentally, probably I will be
cheering these guys on but
physically probably you won’t
see me getting up there and
screaming at the ref or doing
anything crazy.”

Right off the bat, a double-

leg takedown put Amine in
the lead. Going into the second
period, he had notched over a
minute of riding time. In the
second period, Meyer managed
an escape to even the score
before
surpassing
Amine’s

riding time to take the lead in
the third period.

With the score tied at 5-5

in the final minute of the
match, a reversal gave Amine
a one-point advantage that
eventually
earned
him
the

victory. Amine’s win was one
of two matches falling in favor
of Michigan in its sold-out dual
meet against the Hawkeyes last
Friday night.

“I think the best point in that

match was that one right off the
whistle,” Amine said. “Going
forward, I think I wrestled a
pretty tough third period, just
staying offensive and kind of
pushing myself. I think I could
have gone a little harder in that
third period … That’s something
to work on.”

The match marked the third

time this season that Amine has
won against an All-American,
and the fourth time he has won
against a ranked opponent.
Amine only recently moved
into the top-10 nationally after
being unranked at the Cliff
Keen Las Vegas Invitational
(Dec. 2-3), where he beat two
All-Americans.

“He panicked there a little

bit at the end,” said Michigan
coach Joe McFarland. “But
he’s a tough kid, he’s got a huge
upside.”

As if Amine’s win wasn’t

impressive enough, it also came
at a critical time.

“He was out of practice

for a little while,” McFarland
said. “He’s just getting back
into it after being off the mat
for a period of time, so I was a
little worried about where he
was going to be. To be honest
with you, a couple days ago we
weren’t sure he was going to
go wrestle, but he’s that kind
of kid. That didn’t deter him at
all.”

Of the 10 wrestlers in the

starting lineup, he is currently
one of seven redshirt freshmen.
For McFarland, the lack of
experience creates a learning
curve, but he can look to
wrestlers like Amine as an
example.

“Believing in yourself and

doing the little things, that’s
what you need to do to win
the match,” McFarland said.
“Those matches that we won
— Logan Massa, Myles Amine,
those guys did the work, they
did all the hard things.”

Amine
finds
the
energy

of his teammates to be a
motivator.
Specifically,
he

highlighted redshirt freshman
Logan Massa, who is currently
undefeated and ranked at No. 2
in the national rankings. Massa
also won his match Friday
against Iowa’s Joey Gunther.

“I try my hardest not to focus

on the matches before me,”
Amine said. “But when you
watch somebody go out there
on your team and just dominate,
it kind of gets you excited, gets
you ready to wrestle. It’s a good
one-two punch with Logan and
I. He comes first and he’s always
going to bring the pressure and
the heat, so sometimes I feel the
thing I (have) to do is to keep up
and to not let the nerves get to
me.”

And as Amine just cracked

the
national
rankings,

McFarland can clearly see what
the trajectory of his career may
be.

“He’s going to be really really

good,” he said. “We need more
of those kind of efforts. We’ve
got a lot of work ahead of us.”

SOPHIE CLOHERTY

Daily Sports Writer

Wolverines dominated by Iowa

As soon as redshirt freshman

Logan Massa claimed Michigan’s
first victory of the evening in
the
165-pound
weight
class,

it appeared that it could turn
the dual meet around. Massa
dominated his opponent from
beginning to end to remain
unbeaten, but it wasn’t enough
to propel the wrestling team to
victory, as it fell to No. 3 Iowa (2-0
Big Ten, 6-0 overall), 31-7.

Massa finished with seven

takedowns, five of which came
in the first period. With 2:30
minutes of riding-time, Massa
cruised to a 16-6 major decision
victory.

Redshirt
freshman
Myles

Amine
wanted
to
keep
the

momentum going in the 174-pound
match, and he didn’t disappoint.
He earned an early single-leg
takedown against 13th-ranked
Alex Meyer to give him the lead,
but even after a tough first round,
the score was just 2-1.

After
a
locked-hands
call

against the Wolverines and an
escape from Meyer, the score
was tied at five. With Amine’s
riding time dwindling, he needed
to act fast in order to secure the
win. Amine delivered with a late
reversal, winning 6-5.

Massa and Amine cut Iowa’s

lead to 10, but Michigan proceeded
to drop the next three matches.

The Wolverines lost too many

matches that could have easily
gone the other way, and Iowa
capitalized on Michigan’s weak
moments.
Redshirt
freshman

Stevan Micic and No. 1 Cory
Clark were evenly matched at 133
pounds, as two stalemates were
called in the first period resulting
in a tie at the outset.

Micic had the sold-out crowd

on their feet with a reversal,
but after complaints from the
Hawkeye bench there was an
official review. Fortunately for
Iowa, the call didn’t stand and the
second period ended with both
men still scoreless.

Clark escaped quickly at the

beginning of the third period and
finished with a 1:55 riding-time
advantage, ultimately securing a

2-0 win.

“Things didn’t go the way I

planned it to,” Micic said. “If
the match would have changed
a little bit I would have had my
hand raised, but it really doesn’t
matter right now. It only matters
what happens at the Big Ten
Tournament
and
the
NCAA

Championships
in
a
couple

months.

“That’s
what

I’m training for
everyday.
That

means
little

improvements
and
seeing

mistakes I make
now and fixing
them for later.”

With
an

18-point deficit heading into the
final match, Michigan’s hopes for
a win were impossible. The only
thing the Wolverines could hope
for was to try to cut the Hawkeye
lead by as much possible.

Unfortunately
for
the

Wolverines,
freshman

heavyweight Dan Perry couldn’t
overcome
his
inexperience

against No. 6 Sam Stoll.

There was an official review

after
Perry
wasn’t
awarded

what Michigan thought was a
takedown, though in the end
he was not given the points. It
wouldn’t have mattered anyway,
because Stoll pinned Perry with
38 seconds left in the first period.

Stoll grabbed Perry’s left leg

to throw him off balance, forcing
Perry to fall on his back. His

inexperience
as a freshman
may
have
led

to
a
slight

panic,
which

allowed Stoll to
overpower him.

“I
just
told

the
guys,

‘Guys, we had
opportunities
to
win
these

matches,
we

just didn’t do the work.’ ” said
Michigan coach Joe McFarland.
“We can get a little tougher, we
can get a little better. Some of
that’s just working on our grit.

“In
some
of
those
close

matches, we just melted in the
third period and let some of those
matches get away from us. And all
that is is hard work and believing
in yourself, and doing the little
things you need to do to win the
match.”

MAX KUANG/Daily

Redshirt freshman Stevan Micic fell to No. 1 Cory Clark in a close contest.

MAX HUANG/Daily

Redshirt freshman Myles Amine secured a late reversal to win his match, 6-5.

PAIGE VOEFFRAY

Daily Sports Writer

Former Wolverines and Red Wings came together to play a game at Yost Ice Arena to raise money for ALS awareness.

Things didn’t
go the way I
planned it to

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