The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, March 20, 2018— 7

Season, careers come to an end for Wolverines

Like father, like son, the old 

cliché goes.

And this was never more true 

for Michigan wrestling coach 
Joe McFarland than it was 
Saturday night.

The Wolverines capped a 

wildly successful regular season 
Saturday night in Cleveland, 
finishing 
tied 

for fourth place 
at 
the 
NCAA 

Wrestling 
Championships 
with 
80 
team 

points.

Although 

the 
team 

failed 
to 
take 

home any first 
place 
finishes, 

Michigan placed 
five 
wrestlers 

on the podium, all of whom 
garnered All-American honors. 
Among them were redshirt 
sophomore 
133-lb 
Stevan 

Micic and fifth-year senior 
heavyweight 
Adam 
Coon, 

each the runner-up at their 

respective weight class.

But 
for 
McFarland, 
the 

magnitude of the night went 
far beyond the team’s success. 
For McFarland — who retired 
following the championships 
— the story began in Cleveland, 
many years ago.

Joe 
McFarland 
Sr., 

McFarland’s father, settled in 
Cleveland 
following 
service 

in World War II. He retired 

there following 
33 years as a 
firefighter.

Saturday, 

his 
son, 
Joe 

McFarland 
Jr., retired in 
Cleveland — the 
city where he 
was raised — 
after 33 years 
as a wrestling 
coach 
in 
a 

pseudo-tribute 

to his father.

While 
recounting 
the 

similarities, McFarland could 
not help but get nostalgic, and 
said the parallels to his father’s 
career made the moment all the 
more special.

Also special — as he has been 

all season — was Coon, who 
steamrolled his way through 
the preliminary rounds before 
falling to Olympic gold medalist 
Kyle Snyder of Ohio State in the 
championship round.

In the wake of McFarland’s 

retirement, Coon sang praises 
of his coach and mentor.

“Coach 
McFarland 
has 

definitely given me lots of 
opportunities,” 
Coon 
said. 

“He 
gave 

me 
the 
great 

opportunity 
to 

wrestle 
here 

at 
Michigan, 

so I’m forever 
grateful for that 
and this great 
opportunity he 
gave me. And I 
just 
appreciate 

everything he’s 
done 
for 
the 

program, as well as helping me 
grow as an athlete.”

For Coon, the night was 

nostalgic, 
too. 
Following 

his 
dual’s 
completion, 
the 

curtain closed on his Michigan 
wrestling career. But despite 

his impressive collection of 
accolades, Coon, rightfully so, 
wanted to be known as more 
than simply a great wrestler.

“What I’ll be known for 

I hope is for my work ethic 
and just what I brought to the 
team in being a leader and just 
working hard every day to give 
everything I had,” Coon said. 
“I hope I’ll be remembered 
as a good person and a man of 
faith, and that’s all I can hope 

for, that people 
will 
remember 

my 
personality 

and what it was 
like rather than 
all the accolades 
and stuff like 
that.” 

McFarland 

recognizes 
Coon’s 
importance, too. 
Back in October, 

when his star heavyweight was 
just returning to form following 
a 
year 
off 
due 
to 
injury, 

McFarland complimented Coon 
by saying “he leads by example 
more than anything.” 

In addition to leading by 

example, 
Coon’s 
personality 

was a huge factor in the team’s 
growth throughout the season, 
and enabled the team to mesh as 
a collective unit.

“This was a different team 

because it was such a close-knit 
bond between everybody on 
the team,” Coon said. “It was 
great to see how everyone grew 
with their technique and their 
work ethic in the practice room. 
Individually everybody knew 
how to step up their game to get 
more out of practice and out of 
competitions than I’ve seen in 
all these guys’ recent past so it 
was great to see everybody pick 
it up one more level.”

It speaks volumes to Coon 

as a leader that he is more 
concerned with his legacy off 
the mat than on it. Then again, 
Coon is just following the 
example set by his legendary, 
and now retired, coach.

‘M’ beats in-state rival 
to start Big Ten season

The No. 8 Michigan men’s 

tennis team (11-2 overall, 1-0 
Big Ten) got to four points so 
quickly against Michigan State 
(6-9, 0-1) that the coaches let the 
Wolverines play out the rest of 
the matches on court, resulting 
in a 7-0 senior-led sweep of the 
Spartans.

Riding a seven-match win 

streak into the conference play, 
the Wolverines had the Spartans’ 
number right from the get-go. 
Using their own boisterous chants 
of “GO…BLUE” and suffocating 
doubles play, Michigan won the 
first point in twenty minutes 
with 6-0 wins at No. 1 and No. 3 
doubles.

“I 
think 

third 
doubles 

was a big lift 
for 
us,” 
said 

Michigan head 
coach 
Adam 

Steinberg. 
“They 
got 

off to a great 
start and just 
lit the fire for 
everybody else. 
We needed that.

“We’ve been up-and-down 

(in doubles). We’ve had some 
good moments and some bad 
moments, but we are not going 
to be a great team until we start 
dominating the doubles point. 
That was great to see.”

But the Wolverines were not 

done, as senior Carter Lin used 
the energy of the home crowd to 
propel himself to a 6-1, 6-2 win at 
No. 4 singles.

“Carter Lin has been fantastic 

this year,” said senior Alex 
Knight. “We always go into a 
match thinking we are already 
up because he does such a great 
job. He battles super hard and 
he’s a great team guy. We look to 
him to lead on the singles court 

and he always does that.”

With 
Michigan 
up 
2-0, 

Knight was locked in a grueling 
first set at the No. 2 singles spot 
with 
Michigan 
State’s 
Josh 

Mukherjee, squeaking out a 7-5 
win before making adjustments 
and asserting his dominance 
with a 6-0 second set to close out 
the Wolverines’ third point.

“I had so many deuce points 

and I was a little anxious going 
into it. We had a big crowd,” 
Knight said. “Once I realized, 
‘Hey, you’re getting the balls 
you worked for. You’re just 
getting them a lot earlier than 
the players you typically play 
against,’ then it was easy from 
there.”

Senior Davis Crocker followed 

up 
Knight’s 

triumphant effort 
with one of his 
own at No. 5 
singles, winning 
the fourth point 
and 
sealing 

the win for the 
Wolverines 
6-2, 

6-3.

However, 
the 

most 
special 

moment of the day 

occurred when senior Runhao 
Hua — who normally competes 
at No. 2 singles — cranked out a 
gutsy three-setter, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8, 
at the No. 1 position to start off 
his final season.

“(Hua) has had a great year. 

He’s on a big winning streak. I 
felt like he’s a senior. Let’s give 
him a chance to play one before 
he graduates,” said Steinberg. 
“He’s earned it. He’s been 
playing unbelievable, so we felt 
like this is a time we can make a 
change and give him a chance. I 
think he’s deserving of it.”

Michigan 
isn’t 
getting 

complacent as there is a long 
Big Ten season ahead. But the 
Wolverines 
will 
enjoy 
this 

rivalry win for now.

Michigan sweeps Iowa, Nebraska

Michigan can breathe a sigh of 

relief.

After weeks of struggling on 

the court, the women’s tennis 
team snapped a five-match losing 
streak to start its Big Ten season 
with two straight wins.

“We’ve talked all week that 

really our season is starting 
again,” said Michigan coach 
Ronni Bernstein. “We’re just 
going to take it one match at a 
time and see what we can do, 
there’s still a lot to play for.”

The Wolverines were on the 

road against Iowa and Nebraska, 
winning 6-1 and 4-3, respectively.

Friday evening saw Michigan 

(2-0 Big Ten, 5-8 overall) revert 
back to typical form. It clinched 
the doubles point easily with 
No. 1 and No. 3 doubles earning 
victories and dropping just four 
games between them.

Braced with the 1-0 advantage, 

sophomore 
Brienne 
Minor 

took the court for her singles 
match and defeated Hawkeye 
Zoe Douglas — earning her first 
singles win at No. 3 since her 
NCAA Championship victory and 
subsequent knee surgery. While 
she has been back to full health 
for some time, her confidence 
was lacking. This may have been 
the breakthrough she needed, 
a sentiment the rest of the 

Wolverines can understand.

“The thing we talked about 

is just forgetting what’s in the 
past,” Bernstein said. “We can’t 
go back to any of those matches. I 
think the biggest thing was to just 
change our presence.

“When things are difficult, 

what 
are 
we 

gonna do — be 
tough and fight 
through 
it 
or 

are we gonna go 
away.”

With the Iowa 

victory under its 
belt, 
Michigan 

took its newfound 
toughness 
and 

put it to the test 
against a strong 
Nebraska (13-3, 2-1) squad.

At 
first, 
it 
appeared 
the 

Wolverines were lost once again. 
Senior Mira Ruder-Hook was 
locked into a cross court rally, 
but in her attempt to keep the ball 
away from the net player Ruder-
Hook’s inside-out forehand sailed 
wide. Michigan had dropped the 
doubles point.

While not ideal, it wasn’t the 

nail in the coffin. But then the 
first singles match to finish was 
a 6-0, 6-2 loss from Ruder-Hook. 
The Wolverines were in a 2-0 
hole.

But their confidence didn’t 

waver. The next four Michigan 
players were victorious, with 

junior Kate Fahey securing the 
team win. Fahey’s consistency 
was the guiding light through 
the Wolverines’ rough patch, but 
Sunday, she didn’t have to carry 
the team alone.

“It’s unbelievable at the top 

spot to know that Kate is going to 

come 
through,” 

Bernstein 
said. 

“But I think the 
biggest thing is all 
the pressure can’t 
be on her all the 
time. We needed 
other people to 
step up. … That’s 
going to help us 
play looser and 
freer and that’s 
how we’re going 

to get better as a team.”

With the rest of the team 

catching up to Fahey, the team 
chemistry may just be starting 
to 
click 
for 
Michigan. 
The 

Wolverines 
have 
chosen 
the 

perfect time to get their season 
back on track, and the hopes of 
winning the Big Ten no longer 
seem so far-fetched.

Maybe 
Michigan’s 
season 

really is just beginning.

DARBY STIPE/Daily

Junior Kate Fahey clinched Michigan’s win over Nebraska on Sunday.

PAIGE VOEFFRAY

Daily Sports Editor

6-1 and 4-3 wins mark strong start to the Big Ten season

“We’re just 

going to take it 
one match at a 

time.”

MAX KUANG/Daily

Michigan coach Joe McFarland announced his retirement after Michigan’s finish at the NCAA Tournament.

ADAM RICH

Daily Sports Writer

“I’m forever 

grateful for that 

and this great 

opportunity.” 

“I hope I’ll be 

remembered as a 

good person and 

a man of faith.” 

AKUL VIJAYVARGIYA

Daily Sports Writer

“They got off 
to a great start 
and just lit the 

fire.”

MEN’S TENNIS

