The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
Monday, February 5, 2018 — 3B

‘M’ holds on against No. 15 Nebraska

Joe McFarland was fired up.
As the Michigan wrestling 

coach gestured to the crowd to 
stand up and make some noise, 
McFarland himself was bouncing 
around the bench.

The Michigan faithful inside 

Cliff Keen Arena answered his 
call and energized 165-pound 
redshirt sophomore Logan Massa 
as he scored a pivotal two-point 
takedown 
in 
sudden-death 

overtime.

Massa’s victory all but solidified 

a hard fought dual-meet win for 
the 
fourth-ranked 
Wolverines 

(6-1 Big Ten, 9-2 overall) against 
No. 15 Nebraska (5-2 Big Ten, 7-4 
overall).

Coming off of a huge road win 

against Iowa last week, there 
was 
some 
concern 
Michigan 

would overlook the Cornhuskers. 
Though this apprehension was 
eased by the end of the night, few 
of the Wolverines’ seven wins 
appeared to come easy.

“That’s the crazy thing about 

the Big Ten in wrestling is that 
every week you’re going to have 
a tough opponent,” said 184-
pound fifth-year senior Domenic 
Abounader. “You get a day or two 
to dwell on it and look at the tape to 

see what you did wrong and what 
you did right and how you can get 
better. But in four, five days you’re 
going to have another tough kid.”

Abounader’s victory got the ball 

rolling for the Wolverines after a 
lottery had determined the dual-
meet would start at 184 pounds 
instead of 125, as meets typically 
do. Fifth-year senior heavyweight 
Adam Coon recorded a technical 
fall to bring his record to 20-0 on 
the season, while No. 5 133-pound 
redshirt sophomore Stevan Micic 
also did enough to earn a major-
decision win.

With that being said, Michigan 

did slip up a few times throughout 
the night. Despite beating the fifth-
ranked wrestler in the 197-pound 
weight class last week, fifth-year 
senior Kevin Beazley suffered 
an upset loss to his Nebraska 
opponent.

One of the team’s mantras this 

season has been staying aggressive 
and pouncing on every point rather 
than simply defending a lead. At 
times, the Wolverines seemed to 
get away from that.

“I addressed that in the locker 

room with the guys,” McFarland 
said. “You can’t start looking at the 
clock. You start doing that and you 
start defending and bad things are 
going to happen. We saw that at a 
couple of weight classes tonight. 

Kevin’s got to wrestle a complete 
match. If he wrestles a complete 
match, he beats that kid every 
time.”

Overall, 
though, 
the 
team 

collected itself right when things 
seemed to be getting too close for 
comfort. Michigan was up just 
15-10 prior to back-to-back star 
performances from Massa and 
redshirt junior Alec Pantaleo. 
Pantaleo came alive in the third 
period of his match at 157 pounds, 
scoring a final second takedown to 
punctuate his win.

“He put an exclamation point on 

that match,” McFarland said. “And 
the fans appreciated it, they loved 
it. They went crazy.”

If the crowd was raucous after 

Pantaleo’s win, Massa’s nearly 
brought the roof off of the building. 
Having battled through injuries all 
season, he won for the first time in 
five matches.

“Can’t tell you the last time I lost 

four matches in a season let alone 
a row,” Massa said. “So, mentally 
I wasn’t all there. I’ve just been in 
the room working my butt off like 
six hours a day with the coaches.”

Added 
McFarland: 
“Logan 

needed that win. He dug down 
deep and gutted out a tough, hard-
fought win and he needed that. 
That’s going to help him down the 
road.” 

CAT MYKOLAJTCHUK/Daily

Michigan coach Joe McFarland told his team in the locker room to stay aggressive against Nebraska.

CONNOR BRENNAN

Daily Sports Writer

Wolverines slip past No. 6 Ohio State

The pressure of going last is no 

problem for Dmitri Belanovski.

The senior knew the stakes 

when he stepped up to the high 
bar for the No. 7 Michigan 
men’s gymnastics team’s final 
routine of the day. A poor 
performance would have meant 
a second consecutive loss for the 
Wolverines, but Belanovski hit 
a high bar routine packed with 
difficult releases and ended with 
a stuck dismount to give the 
team its first win of the season, 
defeating No. 6 Ohio State.

“I love going last. When the 

pressure’s on, I’m usually at my 
best,” Belanovski said. “That’s 
what I’m here for.”

Michigan 
opened 
the 

competition on floor exercise, 
where freshman Jacob Moore 
stuck multiple tumbling passes, 
including his final triple full, on 
his way to a score of 14.950 — the 
new NCAA-leading score on floor.

Following Moore was Anthony 

McCallum. The junior fell on his 
first tumbling pass, then went 
down on his third pass with an 
injury.

However, the Wolverines were 

able to bounce back when junior 
Emyre Cole flew high on his 
tumbling passes in an energetic 
routine to score 14.50 and place 
second on the event.

Michigan had difficulty on 

pommel horse, with freshman 
Cameron Bock and junior Mack 
Lasker both falling during their 
routines. Moore and junior Uche 
Eke earned the team’s top scores 
on pommel horse, scoring 13.85 
and 13.75, respectively.

After competing in just two 

meets in 2017 and missing the 
entire 2016 season with injuries, 
sixth-year senior Tristian Perez-
Rivera made his long-awaited 
return to competition on the 
still rings with a score of 13.80. 
Redshirt junior Marty Strech 
performed well with strong holds 
and only a small misstep on his 
dismount to tie for fourth place on 

the event with a score of 14.20.

Five of the six Michigan 

gymnasts performed a Kasamatsu 
full on vault, with Krystek sticking 
his landing.

Cole stood in for the injured 

McCallum as the anchor on the 
vault and performed an excellent 
Yurchenko with two and a half 
twists to score 14.30 and win the 
event title.

“I had a little bit of a mental 

block going into vault … so today 
just felt great to break that and just 
represent Michigan,” Cole said. 
“We have this saying in the gym, 
we say ‘Be prepared, just be ready 
to handle anything.’ We weren’t 
going to let (McCallum’s injury) 
stop us from winning today.”

Eke stuck his double pike 

dismount on the parallel bars 
to cap off a skillful routine that 
scored 14.15, good for third on the 
event. Belanovski stuck his double 
pike as well, placing slightly lower 
than Eke with a score of 14.10.

Going into the final event, both 

teams were fired up and chanting 
along with the fans in what 
appeared to be a competition for 
which team and its fans could 
be louder. This fire was a great 
sign for the Wolverines, who lost 
energy toward the end of their 
loss against Oklahoma.

“We talked about it after the 

last week’s meet, and we talked 
about it just prior to the meet 
during lineup,” said Michigan 
coach Kurt Golder. “I think it was 
their focus.”

Coming off of a difficult 

competition on high bar against 
Oklahoma, the Wolverines were 
locked in. Krystek led off with 
a solid routine with no major 
errors. Bock recovered from his 
fall in the previous meet to put in 
a clean routine that ended with a 
nearly stuck dismount, earning 
Michigan’s highest score on the 
high bar and placing second 
overall on the event.

The meet came down to the 

final 
competitor. 
Belanovski’s 

stuck dismount and resulting 
score of 13.10 were met with 
celebration from his teammates 
and gave the Wolverines the 
411.850-410.650 victory over the 
Buckeyes.

Michigan fought hard for its 

first win of the season, making the 
celebration after the final routine 
that much more enjoyable. 

“I didn’t know (we had won), 

really, until after the meet was 
over.” Golder said. “I thought we 
had won, but they’re a very strong 
team, we just feel very fortunate 
that we got by them.”

BAILEY JOHNSON

Daily Sports Writer

AARON BAKER/Daily

Dmitri Belanovski and Michigan beat No. 6 Ohio State this weekend.

Three takeaways from Michigan’s win over Nebraska

On Friday, the No. 4 Michigan 

wrestling team triumphed over 
No. 15 Nebraska 24-10 in the type 
of scrappy, hard-fought meet that 
one can expect from an elite Big 
Ten matchup.

The bout featured five ranked 

matchups, a thrilling overtime 
finish and last minute takedowns, 
all contributing to the ethos of a 
hungry Wolverine team.

The name of the game this 

week for Michigan was avoiding a 
post-big-win slump. In a shocking 
upset last week, the Wolverines 
took down long-time Big Ten 
powerhouse Iowa in a meet that 
was decided by the final matchup.

They prevailed against top 

competition, but not without some 
minor scrapes and bruises along 
the way. The Daily assessed the 
wrestling team and reflected over 
the major takeaways from the 
meet.

Logan Massa is back
Redshirt 
sophomore 
Logan 

Massa returned from leg injury 
in a big way. He defeated the 
12th-ranked Isaiah White in an 
overtime classic.

After three periods, the score 

was tied, 1-1, with each wrestler 
getting away with only one escape. 
Then, the crowd rose to its feet to 
show support for the 165-pounder 
in the sudden-victory overtime 
round. White took a shot at Massa’s 
legs, a move he would instantly 
come to regret as Massa countered 
and delivered the match-sealing 
takedown.

“When it comes down to 

overtime, it’s whoever wants it 
more,” Massa said. “There’s not as 
much skill, not as much strategy 
and I knew that kid was gonna 
break after that last shot he took. I 
knew that was everything he had 
and I wasn’t gonna give up until I 
couldn’t walk off that mat.”

This 
win 
was 
especially 

meaningful for Massa, since he 
had lost his last four matches. 
Granted, the losses were all at the 
hands of top-10 ranked opponents, 
but a losing streak is not something 
that Massa is used to.

“I’ve been battling injury and I 

lost four matches in a row,” Massa 

said. “I can’t tell you the first time 
I lost four matches in a season, let 
alone a row, so mentally I wasn’t 
all there, so I’ve been in the room 
working my butt off for six hours 
a day.”

Now, Massa has left all his past 

losses behind him and is working 
to get healthy and foster the right 
mentality to secure victory.

“This win was awesome, those 

matches are the matches that I 
need,” Massa said. “Now, let’s 
say I’m 75 percent. When I get to 
100 percent in March, that’s only 
gonna get worse. All those losses 
that I had, I’m gonna reverse them 
come March. Those are gonna 
make me better and they’re only 
gonna make me train harder, so 
come March they better be ready 
because I’m comin’.”

Kevin 
Beazley’s 

inconsistencies

Last week, fifth-year senior 

Kevin Beazley stepped up and 
delivered 
a 
career-defining 

performance by upsetting then-
fifth ranked Cash Wilcke from 
Iowa. This week, Beazley seemed 
to have left his aggression in Iowa 
City. He fell to Erik Schultz, an 
opponent he handily defeated 
earlier in the season.

Beazley jumped to an early lead 

by securing a takedown in the 
first period. He then erroneously 

went on the defensive, desperately 
trying to cling to his lead.

It’s a strategy that plagues all 

athletes. The defense becomes 
complacent, only worrying about 
the big play. Then suddenly, an 
upset happens.

“He 
didn’t 
wrestle 
seven 

minutes,” said Michigan coach Joe 
McFarland. “He’s looking at the 
clock halfway through the match 
and you can’t do that. Kevin’s gotta 
wrestle a complete 
match, he wrestles 
a complete match, 
he beats that kid 
every time. That 
one, 
he 
wasn’t 

focused on the 
right stuff in those 
moments and you 
gotta 
focus 
on 

scoring the next 
point and getting 
the next position.”

In order to find consistent 

success this season and heed 
McFarland’s advice, Beazley must 
wrestle as if he’s down two to a 
higher-ranked 
opponent 
every 

time. When he does, success is 
imminent.

Latter five weight classes 

cement elite position

Four of the five Wolverine 

wrestlers in the heaviest five 
weight classes are ranked in the 

top 10. With that, other teams will 
have a difficult time traversing the 
second half of the program.

With Massa back in the lineup 

and rapidly approaching peak 
competing form, he, redshirt 
sophomore Myles Amine, redshirt 
senior 
Domenic 
Abounader, 

Beazley and fifth-year senior 
Adam Coon serve as Michigan’s 
iron wall.

Against Nebraska, they won 

four of their five 
matchups 
— 

two to ranked 
opponents. 
Unlike traditional 
matches, 
the 

latter five weight 
classes went out 
early. Abounader 
led off the meet 
for the first time 
in 
his 
career 

and 
did 
not 

disappoint.

Overall, these five consistently 

produce dominant performances 
that will be pivotal for the 
remainder of the dual season.

“We won a lot of the scrappy, 

hard-fought 
matches 
tonight,” 

McFarland said. “Those are always 
good to win. There were moments 
in those matches where some of 
those matches could’ve gone either 
way and our guys took control.”

JACOB KOPNICK
Daily Sports Writer

CAT MYKOLAJTCHUK/Daily

Redshirt sophomore Logan Massa broke a four-match losing streak, defeating 12th-ranked Isaiah White.

‘M’ celebrates the past, 
present over weekend

The 
Michigan 
swimming 

and diving team — on both the 
men’s and the women’s side — 
has a long and rich tradition of 
training swimmers to compete 
not only as a Wolverine on the 
collegiate level, but also at the 
highest level in the world: the 
Olympics.

Eighty-seven swimmers have 

gone on to the Olympics from 
the University of Michigan from 
1900 to now. On Friday night at 
Canham Natatorium, former 
Olympians Peter Vanderkaay, 
Chris 
Thompson, 
Charlie 

Houchin, John Piersma, Sean 
Ryan, Melinda Harrison, Ginny 
Fuldner 
and 
Mike 
McWha 

returned to the pool where they 
swam as students and were 
recognized mid-meet for their 
exemplary accomplishments.

For Michigan coach Mike 

Bottom, it was a touching 
tribute to that inspired his 
swimmers. 

“It gives us an idea,” he 

said, “of where some of these 
student-athletes are gonna go.”

The 
most 

decorated 
Olympian 
in 

attendance was 
Vanderkaay, 
a 

2006 graduate. 
Vanderkaay 
won 
gold 

medals in the 
4x200-meter 
freestyle 
relay 

in both 2004 
and 
2008. 

He 
also 
won 

a bronze medal in the 200-
meter freestyle in 2008 and a 
bronze medal in the 400-meter 
freestyle in 2012.

“(Being back) brings back 

a 
lot 
of 
great 
memories,” 

Vanderkaay said, “I’d say most 
of them are from training. The 
bond with my teammates is 
what I remember the most … I 
talk to my classmates probably 
every day. We have a group 

chat.” 

Also honored Friday night 

was 
John 
Piersma, 
who 

competed as part of the United 
States Olympic team in Atlanta 
in 1996. Piersma, who attended 
Michigan from 1993-96, spoke 
with a fondness in his voice as 
he thought back to his time as a 
student. 

“The pool is the same, even 

coming back twenty years later 
it’s still a welcome place to 
come,” Piersma said. “… Great 
memories.”

As the seniors were also 

being honored that night, the 
past and the present were being 
celebrated together in a way 
that, of course, brought to light 
thoughts of the future for the 
swimmers competing in the 
pool that day.

“We always tell everybody 

that not everybody on the team 
is gonna make the Olympics, 
but everybody on the team is 
gonna help somebody make the 
Olympics,” Bottom said. “All of 
them can claim a little piece of 
that as a team.

“...You can bet that there 

are gonna be Olympians in 

Tokyo. 
We’re 

gonna have five 
or six of these 
individuals 
in 

the Olympics.”

It’s hard to 

ignore the clock 
counting 
down 

to 
the 
Tokyo 

Olympics 
as 

it 
stands 
on 

the wall of the 
natatorium. The 
Olympic 
rings 

are displayed on the wall on the 
other side of the block ‘M’ near 
the back of Canham. For many 
athletes that competed Friday, 
the Olympics are on their minds.

As 
the 
swimming 
and 

diving team made a point of 
celebrating the seniors leaving 
the program and the Olympians 
who left the program long ago, 
a sense of tradition was evident 
throughout the natatorium. 

MEN’S SWIM AND DIVE

“We won a lot 

of the scrappy, 

hard-fought 

matches tonight.”

MAYA SALINAS

For the Daily

“You can bet that 

there are gonna 

be Olympians 

in Tokyo.”

