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