The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, January 25, 2018 — 7
Hot Wolverines humbled by the strength of the rest of the conference
With consecutive sweeps for
the first time in three seasons,
the No. 17 Michigan hockey team
has positioned itself in the top
half of the Big Ten standings and
is back in the hunt for an NCAA
Tournament bid.
Since defeating then-No. 9
Minnesota and then-No. 12 Penn
State, the Wolverines (7-7-2-1
Big Ten, 12-10-2 overall) have
jumped from No. 27 to No. 15 in
the PairWise rankings. These
rankings are annually a solid
indicator of qualifiers for the
16-team NCAA Tournament and
Michigan is within the cutoff,
determined not to dip out of
contention.
The Wolverines, after being
sixth in the conference standings
earlier this season, are now the
sole owner of third place with 24
points — only one ahead of the
Nittany Lions and one behind No.
6 Ohio State. They look primed
to host a best-of-three series for
the first round of the Big Ten
Tournament.
But in one of college hockey’s
most dominant conferences, all
can change in a moment’s notice.
And with eight Big Ten games left,
Michigan knows that.
“We could easily be on a four-
game win streak or a six-game
losing streak, so I think we know
to take it game by game, weekend
by weekend,” said sophomore
forward Jake Slaker. “We don’t
try to look ahead or look in the
past, we just kind of take it how it
comes.”
The
Big
Ten
has
seen
unprecedented
depth, with six of
the seven teams
in the top-20 in
PairWise and the
conference
foes
splitting
series
regularly.
At the end of
last season, the
point differential
between
the
second and fifth-ranked teams
in the Big Ten standings was 14
points. This year, it’s currently
five.
That’s not to say the standings
won’t revert to last year’s larger
gaps between teams. But by the
looks of it, most of the conference
order — apart from No. 1 Notre
Dame, which is 14 points ahead
of the pack — may not be decided
until the final weeks of the regular
season.
Slaker
acknowledges
the
newfound parity in Big Ten
competition has led to a tighter
race for the back half of the season.
“From last year playing in the
Big Ten, it was a little bit more
separated, but I think this year
it seems every team is equal,” he
said. “No matter what, any team
you play, it’s going to be an absolute
battle and any team can win any
game. Every game
is so important
in the Big Ten
because
you
know
everyone
is
flipping
and
flopping, between
second,
third,
fourth, whatever
place.”
From
a
practical
standpoint,
the strength of
conference opponents helps with
PairWise rankings. Wins against
highly-ranked Big Ten teams
catapult the victors to greater
positioning — a la Michigan
moving 12 spots over the past two
weekends. Falling to these same
top-tier teams doesn’t hurt the
losers much — because of its RPI,
Penn State dropped just four spots
from No. 12 to No. 16 after being
swept by the Wolverines.
The new conference intensity
hasn’t only kept programs afloat
in the rankings, though. The
toughness has also led to an
improvement
in
overall
play,
according to Michigan coach Mel
Pearson.
“It’s made us better,” Pearson
said. “It’s forced us to be better
because if you don’t, you’re going
to get your rear end handed to you
every night and you have to show
up and compete.
Fortunately,
we’ve been pretty
good
lately.
I
think
the
first
half, you saw we
were inconsistent,
giving up six goals
and five goals and
now we’re a little
bit more locked in.
“There’s
no
trap
game
or
sandwich
game
because you just have to keep
going. The biggest thing is keeping
the energy level up because week
after week after week, you keep
playing good teams.”
For
Pearson,
it’s
vital
to
block out the noise and outside
distractions.
He
constantly
reminds his players to concentrate
on the tasks at hand — building
on recent successes, continuing
to improve in weaker areas and
maintaining momentum down the
stretch.
“It’s just human
nature
to
look
at the standings
or
people
talk
to you about the
standings
or
ask
you
about
the
PairWise,”
Pearson
said.
“They’re all aware
of it, they look at
it. But right now,
as coaches, we
have to try to —
when we have the opportunity
with them — get them to focus on
the other things, the other things
that we need to do that’ll help.”
The focus has worked up
to this point. A second-half
resurgence for a once-sluggish
team, contributions from skaters
starting to rise to the occasion and
statement wins have all propelled
the Wolverines lately.
Despite the turnaround hot
streak to start off the new year,
Pearson sees his team completely
differently
heading
into
the
weekend road series against the
Buckeyes — not as a team that is
already in contention but one that
still has much yet to prove.
“We’ve been fortunate because
every team has been ahead of us,”
Pearson said. “Minnesota was
ahead of us, we leapfrogged them.
Penn State was ahead of us in the
standings, then we leapfrogged
them. And now we get another
opportunity (at Ohio State).
“At some point, we might
become the favorites, but we’re
still going to relish that underdog
role and the role fits us well. I
don’t pay much attention (to the
rankings), I just know we have
to continue winning and then
everything takes care of itself.”
EVAN AARON/Daily
Sophomore forward Jake Slaker says the parity in the Big Ten this season has kept the Wolverines on their toes.
BENJAMIN KATZ
Daily Sports Writer
Wolverines looking to hammer their opponents
This season, there’s been an
additional factor motivating
the Michigan wrestling team
to compete at its best week in
and week out and it’s exactly
what you would expect: a toy
hammer.
A replica of Thor’s hammer
to be exact.
Mjolnir,
the
name
for
this
fearsome
hammer,
is
wielded by the
Norse
god
of
thunder,
Thor,
and is one of the
most ubiquitous
symbols
of
strength
in
existence.
Capable
of
leveling
mountains,
the
fabled tool struck fear into
the eyes of the beholder and
propelled Thor into eternal
notoriety, a legacy that still
holds today.
Now,
Mjolnir
serves
a
slightly different purpose as
the Wolverines compete each
week for control over the
hammer.
The object is simple. Score
the most individual points in a
match and the hammer is yours.
Obtain a pin and the wrestler is
rewarded with an additional 15
points towards the hammer.
If a wrestler happens to win
the hammer that week, they
are forever immortalized as
their name is
drawn on the
hammer
as
a
symbol of their
triumphant
victory.
While
the
incentive
of
winning a small,
toy
hammer
seems to pale
in
comparison
to the feeling of
winning a match outright, this
intrasquad rivalry has worked
wonders
on
the
wrestlers’
aggressiveness.
“We want to make sure that
we’re
constantly
out
there
aggressive and scoring,” said
fifth-year senior Adam Coon.
“A person who only gets a
takedown at the end would
only get two points toward the
hammer, but a guy who wins
seven to nothing, obviously
that guy was more involved,
but in the match score it’s still
only three points. So we want
to make sure we are rewarding
the guy who’s attacking.”
The tradition began last
season
as
associate
coach
Sean
Bormet
introduced
the
concept to inspire
more
individual
points and team
competition.
The team has
been
incredibly
receptive to the
new trophy, even
silently
keeping
track of the standings during
the meet to see where they
rank. Some of the athletes
will even strive for additional
takedowns in a match in order
to compete for the hammer.
For instance, in the Dec.
10 bout against Oregon State,
redshirt
sophomore
Myles
Amine strategically positioned
himself to score a last second
takedown by ostensibly letting
his opponent escape to compete
for the hammer, a feat he then
split with Coon as they both
secured 20 individual points.
“It gets these guys competing
with each other,” said Michigan
coach Joe McFarland. “We just
don’t throw it
out there all
the time and
internally,
it
gets these guys
competing
with
each
other over who
can score the
most
points.
Not
all
the
fluff
stuff,
just
in
our
practice room from weekend to
weekend.”
Across all collegiate sports,
many
teams
have
certain
motivational props used to
galvanize support for their
program. Whether it be the
Miami football team’s turnover
chain, Ohio State’s pin chain
or the variety of different
turnover trash cans, all of these
items seek to add an additional
layer of competition to give a
team the extra edge.
What separates Michigan’s
Mjolnir, however, is its lack of
glitz and glamour. All of the
other items are brandished on
the arena of competition, while
the hammer humbly awaits its
victor at the Bahna Wrestling
Center.
The week’s winner does not
pound his chest or find the
nearest camera to advertise
his new accolade. Rather, he
returns to his teammates with
bragging rights and a will to
defend his title in the coming
week.
CAT MYKOLAJTCHUK/Daily
Fifth-year senior heavyweight Adam Coon (left) believes that Thor’s hammer motivates the Michigan team.
Coon’s quick pin helps
Michigan earn victory
Occasionally great feats can
occur in short periods of time.
For
example,
Thomas
Jefferson wrote the Declaration
of Independence in just 17 days.
Similarly and maybe even more
impressive,
Beyonce
and
the
The-Dream composed the 2000s
anthem “Single Ladies” in a mere
twenty minutes. Kobe Bryant once
dropped 81 points on Jalen Rose
and the Raptors in 42 minutes of
action and Usain Bolt became the
world’s fastest man after running
200 meters in 9.58 seconds.
And
yet,
these
all
pale
in
comparison
to
fifth-year
heavyweight
Adam
Coon’s
performance Friday night at Cliff
Keen Arena.
Satirical comparisons aside, in
the first matchup of the night, Coon
pinned his Wisconsin opponent,
Ben Stone, within 40 seconds.
From the start of the match, Coon’s
intentions were clear.
“You could tell he was really,
really looking for it,” said Michigan
coach Joe McFarland. “Right
away I turned to our 125-pounder
and said, ‘You better be ready to
go. This thing is not going seven
minutes.’ ”
Coon
was
placed
in
the
unfamiliar position of wrestling
first in a dual-meet. The NCAA
stipulates that in a dual-meet
setting, both teams’ coaches must
agree on which weight class to
start the meet with. Traditionally
they decide on 125 pounds. If
there is no agreement, the starting
weight class is drawn randomly
and the other weight classes follow
sequentially. This time around,
heavyweight was drawn.
“That was different,” Coon
said. “I haven’t started a match
since sophomore year, and that
was my only time starting one. It
is definitely a different experience.
I’m used to ending it, not starting
things up, so there’s a little bit (of)
different nerves there.”
Whatever nerves Coon had
before the match were alleviated
pretty quickly as he hip tossed
Stone to the mat. Michigan fans
in attendance weren’t in their
seats long before Coon delivered
the fall. In addition to firing up
the crowd, Coon’s quick pin also
helped galvanize his teammates in
the 29-10 rout of the 23rd-ranked
Badgers.
“That’s always good to start off
like that,” said 184-pound senior
Domenic Abounader, who also won
his matchup in decisive fashion.
“It gets the team going, gets some
momentum going and gets some
confidence going for our team.”
The momentum was evident, as
the next four Wolverine wrestlers
won their matches. This run
included another first-round pin by
149-pound redshirt junior Malik
Amine, who was quick to praise
Coon.
“I love it,” Amine said. “I think
Coon’s a pinner. I think he’s one of
the best pinners in the country and
he doesn’t get a lot of attention, but
the kid’s a great wrestler.”
Coon improved to 17-0 on
the season with an 8-0 record in
dual-meets this season after the
win on Friday night. While the
goal from the outset has been
to win a national championship
both individually and as a team,
excellent
performances
like
Fridays are always welcomed by
Coon.
“I thought I kept calm and just
worked my way back into it,” he
said. “When (Stone) started to
move, I kind of set myself up for
that throw. I was just calm and
worked position.”
Though the match went well
for Coon — the No. 2 heavyweight
in the nation — there will
undoubtedly be bigger tests ahead
in both the Big Ten and NCAA
Tournament, especially if he wants
to put a ring on it.
CONNOR BRENNAN
For the Daily
“It gets these
guys competing
with each
other.”
JACOB KOPNICK
Daily Sports Writer
“Not all the
fluff stuff, just
in our practice
room...”
Thanks to a replica of Thor’s hammer, Michigan has found added inspiration
“The biggest
thing is keeping
the energy level
up.”
“I just know
we have to
continue
winning.”
WRESTLING