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.”