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February 13, 2020 - Image 5

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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, February 13, 2020 — 5A

Michigan learning to adapt with three wrestlers out on Olympic redshirts

Shortly
after
the
World
Wrestling Championships ended,
Michigan coach Sean Bormet met
with his competitors in a hotel
room. They had 24 hours to make
a decision.
At the week-long competition,
two
Michigan
wrestlers
had
qualified for the Olympics. Two
others had a shot at Olympic
Trials. But now, they had to decide
if they wanted to remain with
the Wolverines or disenroll from
classes and take Olympic redshirts.
Worlds ended on Sept. 22. The
add/drop deadline was Sept. 23.
Each wrestler had put this choice
aside for a bit, but now, they had to
make a decision.
The
NCAA
offers
Olympic
redshirts to wrestlers who meet
certain conditions: past national
team members, top-3 finishers
at NCAAs, top-8 finishers at the
Senior U.S. Open or previous
medalists at Cadet, Junior or U23
Worlds. This year, Michigan —
coming off a fifth-place finish at the
NCAA Championships in 2019 —
had four wrestlers who met those
conditions.
Myles Amine and Stevan Micic
both finished fifth at Worlds —
competing for San Marino and
Serbia, respectively — and punched
their tickets to Tokyo. Logan Massa
and Kanen Storr both compete for
the United States and would have
opportunities throughout the year
to qualify.
Because
they
compete
for
European countries, Micic and
Amine had travel obligations that
would make attending classes
difficult. Olympic wrestling has just
six weight classes compared to the
NCAA’s 10, so Micic needs to drop a
weight and Amine is moving up one
in preparation.
The four decided that whatever
they did, they would do it together.
Amine, Micic and Massa were set
to be fifth-year seniors, and they
wanted to complete their last year
of eligibility together to ensure the
team was as strong as possible that

year. Storr, a redshirt junior, had
two years left, so he could go either
way.
By the end of the day, they’d
made their decision: All four
withdrew from classes to chase
their dreams. And with that, the
rest of the Wolverines entered
uncharted territory.
Though he’s just in his second
year
as
head
coach,
Bormet
competed for Michigan in the
early 1990s and returned as an
assistant coach in 2011. Through
his years with the program, Bormet
doesn’t remember an instance of
the Wolverines using even a single
Olympic redshirt. At the start of
the season, Bormet had to take a
team with high expectations and
navigate through the loss of four of
its top wrestlers.
Michigan scuffled out of the gate,
dropping a dual to North Carolina
and finishing in the middle of the
pack at invitationals. Meanwhile,
Storr realized his chances for the
Olympics were dwindling — his
main hope to qualify for Olympic
Trials was to win an NCAA title.
So he registered for classes for
the winter semester and pulled
his redshirt at the Midlands
Championships in December.
“Midway through the (fall)
semester, I thought, ‘I really don’t
wanna put off school any longer.
I wanna wrestle a long time, so
there’s no point for me to delay my
career,’ ” Storr said. “And ... I think
me coming back was just a good
little kickstart to kind of start the
second half strong.”
Storr’s
return
helped,
but
the results for the team have
nevertheless been mixed. Michigan
still has three top-10 wrestlers —
Storr and redshirt freshman Will
Lewan are both ranked No. 9 in
their respective weight classes,
while sophomore Mason Parris is
No. 2 in the country at heavyweight.
But there’s only so much three
wrestlers can do.
Many of the Wolverines’ matches
tell similar stories: Michigan starts
out stong and builds up a lead, but
that cushion evaporates as the
middle of the lineup comes up —

the spots Massa, Amine and Micic
usually fill. Young wrestlers try
their best to hold their own against
tough Big Ten competition. Then
Parris comes and tries to save
the day. Sometimes it’s enough.
Sometimes it isn’t.
Bormet admits that he’s a
competitive person and he’s not
fully satisfied with Michigan’s
results. But he also views this
season as a challenge to his entire
staff — how can they get the most
out of a depleted roster?
Sometimes, wrestlers have had
to compete in higher weight classes
than normal — redshirt junior
Tyler Meisinger has wrestled at
three different weights this year
and junior Reece Hughes has
wrestled at four.
Michigan knows it’ll take its
lumps at times. From there, it
becomes about limiting damage.
Even in losses, individual wrestlers
can mitigate the blow by keeping
opponents from earning bonus

points
or
major
decisions

potentially allowing a teammate
like Storr or Parris to aid in a
comeback later.
Meanwhile, Amine, Micic and
Massa are still in Ann Arbor. They
go through individualized workout
regimens, but still occasionally
practice with the team, along
with providing moral support and
offering advice. That gives the
wrestlers a chance to learn from
some of the best in the sport —
and an extra year to compete with
them, too.
“It’s not the end of the world
cause it’s … just a redshirt,” Lewan
said. “They’re gonna get back and
be able to wrestle for us still. It just
gives me a longer time to get people
that good in the room.”
It’s not hard to see the flip side
of the struggles this year. Amine,
Micic and Massa plan to return for
their final year of eligibility next
season. Storr will be back too, along
with Lewan and Parris. That’s 60

percent of Michigan’s lineup spots
going to top-level wrestlers. With
that much talent and experience,
the Wolverines have a good chance
to contend nationally.
There
are
a
few
roster
complications, of course. Losing
three wrestlers to the Olympics
wasn’t part of any long-term
plan for Bormet; rather, it was
something that the athletes and
staff only started discussing in the
last 6-8 months. That would throw
a wrench into even the best thought
out recruiting plans, but the
nature of wrestling scholarships
mitigates that issue somewhat.
Division I wrestling teams get
9.9 scholarships to work with;
Michigan has 33 athletes on its
roster this year. So most wrestlers
are on just partial scholarship, if
they’re on scholarship at all.
On the other hand, the redshirts
mean there are people who believed
they would have lineup spots next
year who suddenly won’t. But

any wrestler knows that intense
roster competition comes with the
territory, and Bormet believes the
idea of a powerhouse team next
year will be just as enticing.
“Even in the recruiting process,
that’s talked about a lot,” Bormet
said. “And when you go to a school
that has a really good wrestling
program like ours and a really
competitive program, next year
we’re trying to put our best lineup
on the mat to win a national
championship, guys know that
it’s gonna be competitive to get a
starting spot.”
Bormet sees it as a two-way
street. Of course it’s a sacrifice for
any college coach to lose three of
his best wrestlers for a season. But
wrestling is also one of the most
difficult sports to make an Olympic
team in — just 16 athletes make it at
each weight.

Hayhurst helped by position switch

Back
in
December,
Mel
Pearson leaned back in his
chair at Yost Ice Arena and
reflected on graduate transfer
forward Jacob Hayhurst’s first-
half performance.
At
the
time,
Hayhurst
had only one goal through
his first 20 games — after
Pearson picked him up as a
graduate transfer because of
his offensive ability. In each of
his last two years at Rensselaer
Polytechnic
Institute
(RPI),
Hayhurst led the Engineers in
points with 23.
But when he started at
Michigan, the offensive output
dried up. In game after game,
Hayhurst found himself with
Grade-A scoring chances, but
just couldn’t find the back of
the net. It took until Nov. 8 for
him to light the lamp, and it
was the only goal he scored in
the first half of the year.
“I thought he’d be a better
goal
scorer,”
Pearson
said
Dec. 11. “He’s had some great
chances, even this weekend he
had some. Saturday, (he had)
some great looks. He just can’t
finish.”
When the Wolverines came
back from the mid-season break,
it appeared that Hayhurst’s old
issues had come back with him.
In the second game back — the
GLI
championship
against
Michigan Tech — he caught
the post late, when Michigan
needed a goal to tie things up
and force overtime.
Then the Wolverines got
back into conference play, and
a switch flipped. After moving
from center to the wing in late
November, Hayhurst looked
settled in his new role by the
time Michigan went to Notre
Dame in early January.
It was a move made by
necessity

Hayhurst
was
injured in November and it
wasn’t clear if he’d be able to
play, so Pearson had him work
as the extra skater instead
of centering a regular line in
practice — but it ended up being
exactly what Hayhurst needed

to find his footing.
“That’s been an awesome
transition for me,” Hayhurst
said Wednesday. “Wing wasn’t
something that I was really
used to to start the season. …
I think jumping to a wing just
gives you a little more space.
You get to kind of observe
the ice a little more instead of
having a definite defensive-end
responsibility where you need
to pick a guy up and stay on
him, so it definitely gives you a
lot more option for creativity.”
Complicating the adjustment
was that Hayhurst’s transition
in roles at Michigan wasn’t just
moving from center to winger
— he went from go-to scorer to
playing more of a depth role.
At RPI, Hayhurst carried the
mantle of the leading scorer
on a team that struggled to get
wins. For the Wolverines, even
when they were struggling for
most of the year, the offense
has come by committee, and
Hayhurst has spent most of the
year on the third line. Adjusting
to a new role, in a new system,
at a new school, took longer
than anyone expected, but now
it looks as though Hayhurst has
fully acclimated.
“I don’t think, for me or
for the coaching staff, things
transitioned as fast as we
would’ve liked,” Hayhurst said,
“but I think now you can see
that they’ve finally transitioned

and I think it’s at a good point
in the year where the whole
team’s hot. We’re heading into
playoffs, we’re kind of on a roll,
so I think everything’s going
really well.”
In his seventh game as a
winger — after playing center
for almost his entire career
— Hayhurst found twine for
his second goal in a Michigan
sweater. Three games later,
he added another. Two weeks
after that, he scored a goal in
each of the Wolverines’ wins
over Wisconsin.
Both
goals
against
the
Badgers
were
highlight-reel
tallies — and Saturday night’s
goal was the eventual game-
winner.
The
goal-scoring
acumen Pearson saw when
looking for a transfer back in
the spring was finally coming
to light.
“You see it,” Pearson said.
“The goal he scored Friday,
he just had patience. Most
guys will just bang that puck
right back into the pile, but
he fakes, takes some time,
takes a step. He’s got the net
to shoot at. And then even on
the goal on Saturday, it was all
individualistic, but you can see
the skill and the change of pace
and the deception that he has.
“He knows how to put the
puck in the net. I think he’s
positioned to have a really good
finish here.”

Livers, Brooks proving dangerous

EVANSTON – Michigan’s
game
plan
against
Northwestern on Wednesday
night
was
clear
from
the
outset: make the most of a size
advantage and attack the paint
all night long.
The first five minutes of
the
contest
made
it
clear
that the plan needed some
adjustment. The Wolverines
went 0-for-8 attacking the
rim over that stretch. Despite
being significantly smaller, the
Wildcats looked surprisingly
solid defending the paint.
So Michigan changed its
approach, looking more to the
outside, searching for open
shots and able shooters.
And there, in the steady
hands of a pair of juniors, was
the solution to Wednesday
night’s
problems.
Forward
Isaiah Livers and shooting
guard Eli Brooks combined
for 35 points, 10 rebounds and
a fair number of electrifying
shots, helping Michigan to a
79-54 win.
With Livers’ recent long-
awaited return from a lingering
groin
injury,
Michigan’s
offense has been finding some
of the energy and movement

it had been lacking without
him. Livers had 17 points
Wednesday night, but he was
also key in keeping the ball in
motion on offense, in creating
opportunities
not
just
for
himself, but for everyone.
“When I’m out there, I mean,
yeah I try to get my shot, cause
coach (Juwan) Howard tells me
to be aggressive, but also, I’ve
been able to move the ball,”
Livers said. “If I’ve been on
top, I’m trying to orchestrate,
get (Jon Teske) the ball, try to
swing it to Eli for a 3, get (Zavier
Simpson)
downhill,
Franz
(Wagner) doing what he does. I
just — I know my players, so I
know who to swing it to.”
But
Livers
is
one
of
Michigan’s top talents, and
with that mantle comes added
pressure
from
opposing
defenses. In situations where
Livers can’t get open, Michigan
turns to Brooks, who Livers
refers to as “the silent assassin.”
When the Wolverines get him
an open shot, more often than
not, the result is nothing but
net. Often, it’s enough to shift
the rhythm, the pace of the
game back to Michigan.
When
Northwestern
started making a run late, the
Wolverines needed something
to swing the momentum back

to them, something to stem the
purple tide. So they looked to
Brooks outside.
He buried it from the arc.
“That was huge,” Howard
said. “Eli made that three
when we’d been struggling to
score, but more importantly,
struggling to make a play. The
three was huge. It gave us that
momentum that we needed.”
Both players have proven
themselves capable of making
those kinds of poster-worthy,
morale-boosting
plays

throughout the season. Late in
Wednesday’s game, a resurgent
Livers — still nursing the
remnants of that nagging groin
injury — couldn’t resist making
one more.
He
got
the
feed
from
sophomore point guard David
DeJulius. The result: a massive,
one-handed
airborne
dunk.
The healthy Michigan crowd
at Welsh-Ryan Arena exploded.
Livers — and the Wolverines
they knew — were finally back.
“Every time I run down the
middle, Dave is always giving
it back to me,” Livers said,
grinning. “I already knew. I’m
there in my take-off zone, want
to jump off one. I’m all good.
No injuries. So it was exciting
to get a dunk — two dunks —
and finish a game.”

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Michigan coach Sean Bormet is dealing with a depleted roster because of Olympic redshirts, but figures to have an improved lineup in the 2020-21 season.

BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Editor

ASHA LEWIS/Daily
Graduate transfer Jacob Hayhurst has seen dividends since moving to wing.

ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer

ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Junior forward Isaiah Livers combined with Eli Brooks for 35 points against Northwestern on Wednesday night.

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