The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
January 23, 2017 — 3B
Michigan dominated at Illinois
After
forfeiting
the
125-
pound matchup for the third
meet in a row, the Michigan
wrestling team began its dual
meet against Illinois in a hole
before it even had a wrestler on
the mat.
And
the
night
hardly
improved from there for the
Wolverines, whose 34-6 defeat
at the hands of the 12th-ranked
Fighting Illini (2-2 Big Ten, 4-2
overall)
matched
Michigan’s
worst dual meet loss since
the
2009-2010
season.
The
loss dropped the 15th-ranked
Wolverines to 1-4 in the highly
competitive Big Ten — each
loss coming against a team
ranked 18th or better. Its stretch
of
conference
play
doesn’t
bode well for Michigan, with
matchups against No. 11 Rutgers
and No. 17 Wisconsin still to
come.
“I feel we could have wrestled
better,” said Michigan coach Joe
McFarland. “I think we need to
be a little more consistent. We
never got any momentum on our
side, and it snowballed against
us.”
The freshman trio of Logan
Massa, Stevan Micic and Myles
Amine — who have been so
integral
to
the
Wolverines’
success thus far this season —
all lost their matchups by three
points or fewer. Before Friday’s
meet, the three athletes held a
combined record of 48-5.
McFarland
acknowledged
the challenge of going on the
road against a quality Big Ten
opponent with a team so reliant
on young talent.
But Sal Profaci, a redshirt
freshman in his own right,
doesn’t buy that excuse. Profaci
— who competes in the 141-
pound class — was one of just
two Wolverines to win his
individual matchup.
“We’re not waiting until next
year to let us decide we’re going
to be a top-tier team,” Profaci
said. “We want to do that this
year.”
Coming into the meet, No.
2 Massa’s matchup with No. 1
Isaiah Martinez figured to be the
marquee event, and potentially
the key to a Michigan victory.
Instead, it was just another
Wolverine loss to pile on to the
cakewalk Illinois had previously
established.
Massa fell behind after a
high-crotch takedown at the
end of the first period, and
despite
aggressive
attempts,
failed to make up the difference
in the third period.
But McFarland believes it
could be a learning experience
that could prepare Massa for a
potential rematch between the
two.
“It was good for (Massa) to
see him, because he’s going
to continue to see him down
the road — whether it’s at the
(Big Ten Championships) or at
(the NCAA Championships),”
McFarland
said
“…
A
guy
like (Martinez) is a quality
opponent, and it came down to
one takedown at the end of the
first period and that was the
difference in the match.”
Fortunately
for
the
Wolverines, they may not be
forced to overcome an early
deficit due to forfeit much
longer. They have dealt with
multiple ACL injuries at the
weight class, but McFarland
says reinforcement is on the way.
Senior Conor Youtsey, a two-
time All-American, weighed in
for the match and is expected to
return to competition shortly.
While
McFarland
was
hesitant to provide an exact
timetable for Youtsey’s return,
he said the Wolverines have to
take a cautious approach.
“We’re
excited
to
have
(Youtsey) back in our lineup, and
I think he can help us a lot, but
at the same time we have to be
smart about how we’re doing it.”
Whenever he is able to return,
Youtsey will not only provide a
capable body in the 125-pound
class but also some much-
needed veteran experience for
the rest of the season.
Wolverines roll Northwestern
Redshirt sophomore Malik
Amine stepped onto the mat for
his dual meet debut on Sunday,
looking to set the tone for the
day. His was the first match of
the meet, and it took all of 48
seconds to accomplish his goal.
Amine made a quick reversal
and
pinned
Northwestern’s
Shayne Oster, giving his team an
early 6-0 lead.
“I don’t like sitting around,”
Amine said. “I like being warmed
up and just getting out there at
the beginning.”
The Michigan wrestling team
prevailed over Northwestern,
38-10, as the Wolverines racked
up two pins by Amine and
redshirt senior Conor Youtsey,
and four technical falls.
Michigan was coming off
a
two-game
losing
streak
against No. 6 Nebraska and
No. 12 Illinois, and though
Northwestern is not currently
ranked in the top 25 (NCAA),
the Wolverines clearly flipped a
switch on Sunday.
“The coaches sat us down
after the dual on Friday and
told us we need to go out there
and attack 100 percent of the
time,” said redshirt freshman
Jackson Striggow. “We had a
great turnaround in a span of
two days.”
Following Amine’s dominant
start to the dual, senior Brian
Murphy followed suit, sitting in
the driver’s seat for the whole
match in his 21-4 technical fall
victory
over
Northwestern’s
Ben Sullivan in the 157-pound
weight class. With a single-leg
takedown around 50 seconds
into
the
match,
Murphy
controlled the pace throughout,
amassing
riding
time
and
curtailing most of Sullivan’s
opportunities.
No.
2
redshirt
freshman
Logan
Massa
continued
his
impactful season with a 26-10
technical fall win. His opponent,
Johnny Sebastian, gained most
of his points with escapes, as
Massa’s overwhelming offense
was simply too much.
Michigan’s advantage Sunday
was its immense share of the
riding time. Already ahead
by a sizable margin, redshirt
freshman Myles Amine utilized
the momentum of the rest of his
team as well as riding time to
grab a 21-6 win.
Redshirt
junior
Aaron
Calderon fell to Northwestern’s
Mitch Sliga by a 13-2 major
decision in the 165-pound match,
joining heavyweight freshman
Dan Perry, who was pinned
around the six-minute mark in
his contest, as the two losses for
the Wolverines on the day.
In
the
197-pound
match,
Striggow prevailed, 6-3, in a highly
contested match that was back-
and-forth for much of its duration.
Striggow snagged two early points
for escapes and was able to stave
off the Wildcats’ rebuttal.
“(You) just have to have faith
in what you do, and know that
when you keep grinding on him,
he will break down eventually,”
Striggow said.
With a solid lead, Michigan
delivered a dagger with three
wins from Youtsey and redshirt
freshmen Stevan Micic and Sal
Profaci. Micic prevailed via
technical fall, 17-2, and Profaci
again utilized riding time to
come out with a hard-fought 7-3
decision.
Michigan’s
hardened
ideology was evident in the
closer matches, where certain
techniques were not yielding
positive results. Both Striggow
and Profaci won by less than
five points, but with riding time
and aggressiveness, the matches
ended in the Wolverines’ favor.
Michigan will look to bring
the early aggressiveness back
home to finish a long stretch
of Big Ten matchups against
Rutgers on Friday.
“We have to continue to
talk about it and work on
it,” said Michigan coach Joe
McFarland. “Young teams can
be inconsistent and we saw that
on Friday. We bounced back well
today, though.”
KEVIN ZHENG/Daily
Redshirt freshman Sal Profaci managed to win his individual matchupy needed
KEVIN ZHENG/Daily
Redshirt freshman Jackson Striggow prevailed in his highly-contested match.
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Writer
ROBERT HEFTER
Daily Sports Writer
Wolverines stomp Cornhuskers on the road
After dropping the first game of
its road trip to No. 3 Maryland on
Thursday,
the
Michigan
women’s
basketball team was determined
to return home from Nebraska
with a win Sunday.
The
Wolverines
(5-2
Big
Ten, 16-5 overall) thoroughly
outplayed
the
struggling
Cornhuskers (1-7, 5-16), executing
on all facets of the game to earn
an 84-51 victory. For the third
time in four games, four Michigan
players contributed double-digit
points: freshman guard Kysre
Gondrezick, sophomore guard
Nicole Munger, sophomore center
Hallie Thome, and junior guard
Katelynn Flaherty.
Gondrezick set the tempo
early in the first period, assisting
Thome for a layup at the 8:57 mark,
then stealing the ball and taking it
for a layup of her own less than
thirty seconds later. By the end of
the first quarter, Gondrezick had
seven points — including another
fast-break layup — and went on to
record 13 points, four assists and
two boards.
Flaherty once again led the
team in scoring, finishing the
game with 27 points on 11-for-16
shooting, and Munger came off
the bench to go 4-for-6 from the
3-point line. Meanwhile, Thome
notched 15 points, working hard
down low to make it to the free-
throw line, where she went 7-for-9.
The collective scoring efforts
from the quartet helped Michigan
end the game with a noteworthy
57.4 shooting percentage from
the floor. Flaherty, Thome and
Gondrezick are Michigan’s top
three scorers this season, but
Munger’s 18-point performance
was a season-high — and only one
point shy of a career-high.
“(Munger) was outstanding,”
Barnes Arico said. “She just gave
us a different look from the floor
spot. She’s a guard for us, but
when Hallie went and got in foul
trouble and they stayed in that
zone, we needed another scoring
threat on the inside. Nicole
provided that.”
Despite
the
33-point
win,
Nebraska
appeared
dangerous
in
the first quarter,
shooting
70
percent
from
the floor. But
Michigan’s
defense
stood
tall to weather
the storm, and
the Cornhuskers’ shooting fell to
just 40.8 percent by the game’s
end.
Nebraska
has
typically
relied on sophomore forward
Jessica Shepard — the 2016 Big
Ten Freshman of the Year — but
the Wolverines shut her down,
limiting her to just four points.
Michigan’s primary defensive
standouts were Thome and junior
forward Jillian Dunston. Dunston
had six rebounds and three
assists against the Cornhuskers,
outrebounded only by Thome,
who had a team-high of eight
defensive boards.
But Dunston was
the
Wolverine
who
clearly
overwhelmed the
6-foot-4 Shepard.
“(Shepard)
was obviously a
major
concern
for us after the
performance she
had
last
year,”
Barnes Arico said.
“I think (Dunston) has a year
more experience underneath her
belt, and I think our team does.
We have a lot of pieces returning
so we’re more of an experienced
squad. We spent a lot of time
talking about what we needed to
do against her, and I thought we
executed the game plan.”
Noticeably missing from the
pack of double-digit scorers was
senior guard and captain Siera
Thompson,
who
scored
just
three points, but still contributed
offensively with seven assists.
“I just think that (scoring) is
probably number five on her list
of things to do,” Barnes Arico
said. “Her leadership has been
incredible. ... She just does so
much for us.”
While the Wolverines were
expected to beat the basement-
dwelling Nebraska, it was still a
confidence-building victory for
Michigan.
“I think it was a test of our
team’s focus (to lock in) on
this game,” Barnes Arico said.
“Especially
after
playing
at
Maryland, it’s easy to get up to
play the number three team in
the country. But to play them
down to the wire, and then have
to get ready for a team that’s at the
bottom of the league right now,
and at their place — teams can
slip up on games like that. And I
think tonight really showed our
maturity.”
EMMA RICHTER/Daily
Sophomore guard Nicole Munger scored a season-high 18 points and neutralized Nebraska’s Shepard in Michigan’s win.
After falling to No. 3 Maryland on Thursday, ‘M’ defeats Nebraska on Sunday
MAGGIE KOLCON
Daily Sports Writer
MICHIGAN
NEBRASKA
84
51
She just gave us
a different look
from the floor
spot
WATER POLO
Michigan faces early
tests in first tourney
Sixteen Californians on the
Michigan women’s water polo
team traveled home to kick off the
2017 season at the UCSB Winter
Invitational in Santa Barbara,
Calif., where the Wolverines went
3-2 in the pool after facing five
consecutive top-25 opponents.
Michigan began the weekend
facing No. 2 Southern California
in a top-10 battle. After freshmen
utility player Maddy Steere scored
two goals in the first period, the
Wolverines only managed to find
the back of the net once more,
falling to the powerhouse 11-3,
as the Trojans scored the game’s
final eight goals.
But Michigan bounced back on
the second day of the invitational,
defeating No. 25 CSU Bakersfield
by nearly the same margin that
it had lost to USC, 11-2. Four
Wolverines netted at least two
goals in the rout, including
sophomore attacker Julia Sellers
who
scored
a
hat-trick, helping
Michigan
put
together
an
impressive
second
half
in
which
it
outscored
CSU
Bakersfield, 9-1.
In its second
top-10 game of
the weekend, the
Wolverines took
on No. 9 UCSB, the tournament’s
host. The Gauchos led 3-2 at
the break, but Michigan once
again put together a successful
second half to down UCSB, 7-4.
Sophomore defensive player Kim
Johnson scored twice to help
the Wolverines overcome the
halftime deficit. Senior center
Allison Skaggs provided the final
blow, beating the Gauchos’ goalie
with a beautiful backhanded goal
to give Michigan its seventh goal
of the game.
In addition to some strong
offensive
performances,
the
Wolverines
played
lockdown
defense, holding CSU Bakersfield,
UCSB, and Cal State Northridge
to a combined 11 goals.
“I thought defensively we
did a really, really good job,”
said Michigan coach Marcelo
Leonardi.
Two highly recruited freshmen
who were making their collegiate
debuts fueled Michigan’s success
this past weekend. Offensively,
Steere totaled nine goals including
her first career hat trick, while
goalie Heidi Ritner recorded over
40 saves.
“I thought they both did a
fantastic job,” Leonardi said.
“Heidi was able to keep us in
games early. … and Maddy gave us
not only a punch at the two-meter
defender position, but she was
also able to score.”
In their third top-10 matchup
of the tournament, the Wolverines
battled No. 3 UCLA. Sellers
recorded her second hat trick of
the year, but it was not enough to
fuel Michigan to victory, as it fell
to the Bruins, 12-5.
To close out
the
weekend,
the
Wolverines
faced off against
No. 23 Cal State
Northridge.
The Wolverines
began
play
aggressively and
took an early 4-0
lead. From there,
they never let up,
finishing off the
Matadores, 18-5. Michigan was
dominant, with Sellers, Steere,
junior Caroline Anderson and
Johnson all notching at least three
goals.
After competing against a slew
of ranked opponents so early
in the season, it is no question
that, along with an opportunity
for some of the players to return
home, Michigan gained valuable
experience in Santa Barbara.
“I think that the level of play
that we faced only makes us
tougher,” Leonardi said. “If you
want to be the best, you’ve got to
play the best.”
ZACH GAN
For the Daily
If you want
to be the best,
you’ve got to
play the best