The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, January 26, 2022 — 11
At Indiana, Caleb Houstan’s
role is finally realized
LANE
KIZZIAH
DAVID WOELKERS
Daily Sports Writer
SportsWednesday: In Bloomington
road win, Wolverines look like the
team they could have been
Penn State dominates Michigan, 29-6, as Michigan
drops many tight bouts
Holman, Women’s track team lead the day at Michigan Invitational
As redshirt-sophomore Cole
Mattin walked onto the mat, it
still seemed like the No. 3 Michi-
gan wrestling team had a chance
to keep its dual meet against No.1
Penn State within striking dis-
tance.
After three bouts, the Nittany
Lions were leading by five, and
Mattin was preparing to wrestle
a winnable match — certainly one
that he needed to win.
Instead, he wrestled for just 15
seconds.
As Mattin collapsed, clutch-
ing his ankle, everyone wear-
ing maize and blue at Crisler
Center let out a sigh of despair.
Not just because Penn State was
now ahead by eleven points, but
because everything that pos-
sibly could go wrong for Michi-
gan was going wrong. After six
matches, just one of which the
Wolverines won, the fans’ wor-
ries were confirmed, and Michi-
gan (5-1 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) left
the Crisler Center dominated
by the Nittany Lions (13-0, 5-0),
29-6, in their biggest dual meet
of the season.
Throughout the entire night,
Michigan looked overwhelmed
as inability to score takedowns,
injuries and crushingly tight loss
after loss doomed the Wolver-
ines.
The night started with No. 1
graduate student Nick Suriano
winning his toughest match of
the season over Penn State’s No.
7 Drew Hildebrandt. But present
even in Suriano’s victory was a ten-
dency that would plague the team
for the rest of the night, as Suriano
won the match, 2-1, without scor-
ing a takedown.
“The area that was real glar-
ing tonight was just basic hand-
fighting,” Michigan coach Sean
Bormet said. “We didn’t fight
hard enough to get to the ties we
needed to be in and we weren’t
constantly clearing their ties. It’s
an area we got exposed tonight
and it slowed down our offense.”
After
Suriano,
the
wheels
began to come off.
Redshirt
freshman
Dylan
Ragusin was the first to fall, 8-1,
narrowly
avoiding
surrender-
ing a major-decision victory to
Penn State’s No. 1 ranked Roman
Bravo-Young as the clock ran
out. Following Ragusin at 141 lbs,
graduate student Drew Mattin
filled in for recently-scratched
graduate student Stevan Micic
to face the Nittany Lions’ No. 1
ranked Nick Lee. Mattin was out-
paced and surrendered a techni-
cal fall late in the third period,
losing 21-6.
As Cole Mattin hobbled off of
the mat 15 seconds into his match,
the Wolverines were behind, 14-3,
and had yet to score a takedown.
Redshirt junior Will Lewan
changed that at 157 lbs in a victory
over Penn State’s Terrell Barra-
clough in which he was able to
outmuscle his opponent to score
two single leg takedowns and win
the bout 5-2, making the match
14-6.
Up until that matchup, even
though the Wolverines suffered
tough losses, it felt as if each
match had a clear aggressor. Each
result could have been expected
coming into the night.
But at 165 lbs, the tide turned.
From 165 all the way to heavy-
weight, each match was nearly
identical. The wrestlers took
the mat, wrestled three peri-
ods of incredibly tight, mostly
scoreless action, surrendered a
late takedown, and lost by one
or two points. In every match,
it felt like the Wolverines were
just about to break through, but
never did.
At 174 lbs, graduate student
Logan Massa had the Nittany
Lions’ Brady Berge lifted in the
air but couldn’t finish. At 184 lbs
graduate student Myles Amine
lost a scramble in overtime. And
at heavyweight Mason Parris led
into the third period, but gave up a
late takedown and got ridden out.
But the match most indicative
of the team’s woes was at 197 lbs,
where Pat Brucki lost to Penn
State’s No. 2 ranked Max Dean in
overtime. Brucki scored two take-
downs and surrendered none in
regulation, but still couldn’t close
out the match. He entered the
third period ahead, and only had
to escape to earn a victory, but
instead got ridden out.
“We gotta clean up the bottom
wrestling,” Bormet said. “Espe-
cially when we’re getting to our
feet and are in position to hit cut-
outs, we discussed and worked
that area several times, but it has
gotta work here.”
Each bout filled the arena with
hope — even after the team result
was decided — that the individual
wrestlers could earn themselves a
major victory over top ranked oppo-
nents. But Penn State never faltered.
Overall the Nittany Lions out-
wrestled Michigan. Their hand
fighting was stronger, their shot
defense was better and their fin-
ishes were cleaner. Their wres-
tlers consistently found ways to
get their hands raised in matches
that felt like fifty-fifty tossups.
Of the five matches the Wolver-
ines lost to end the night, none
was decided by more than three
points.
“There’s just some basic basic
skill level, fundamental wres-
tling, that we’ve got to clean up,”
Bormet said. “I think tonight put
the magnifying glass on a few
of those areas, the handfights,
cleaning up the bottom, and hand
control.
CHARLIE PAPPALARDO
Daily Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON — It’s how
it was supposed to happen,
right?
A raucous sea of red erupt-
ing after a made bucket, a
crowd waiting for someone —
anyone — to make a mistake, or
to at least miss a shot, and let
its beloved Hoosiers back into
the game.
The crowd never got that
moment. Instead, it got crowd-
silencing threes from Caleb
Houstan.
In a game that Michigan
needed to win, the talented
freshman stepped up time and
time again, just as he did in
Tuesday’s win over Maryland,
to help lead his team to its best
victory of the season.
When Houstan was asked
postgame to break down his
recent shooting form, he didn’t
need to say much:
“I mean, it always feels good
to make shots,” Houstan said.
“I think I’m in a really good
place right now.”
He hasn’t always had that
feeling, though. Yet, he still
remained in the gym, putting
shots up, holding firmly onto
his confidence.
“He hasn’t changed,” asso-
ciate head coach Phil Martelli
said on Jan. 17, a day before
Houstan
first
snapped
his
major shooting slump. “He’s
still a young guy that… gets a
lot of shots up. He works on his
game.”
But it was always going to
take more than just working on
his game during a cold streak.
More than practice shots.
Eventually
Houstan
was
going to have to play like he
did Sunday, when the home
crowd had to hold its breath
every time he had the ball in
his hands. When that happens,
the Wolverines are a different
team.
A more dangerous team.
The Hoosiers felt that first-
hand today to the tune of 19
points on 5-of-7 shooting from
beyond the arc for Houstan. He
was a killer. He played like the
five-star prospect he came in
as, like Michigan’s best recruit
of the millennia.
Houstan is one of the rea-
sons that the Wolverines came
in with sky-high expectations
and why they cratered. When
he struggled, so too did Michi-
gan. But, now that he’s playing
like this, momentum is start-
ing to gather.
“I just admire being around
a guy like Caleb,” Michigan
coach Juwan Howard said. “I
see so much growth in him,
game after game.”
While Houstan wasn’t quite
ready for the burden that was
laid upon him at first — a start-
ing role on an expected nation-
al
championship
contender,
coming in fresh with tremen-
dous expectations of filling
a gaping perimeter void — he
has grown into it. Lately, the
19-year-old sharpshooter is no
longer passing up driving lanes
or bricking wide-open threes,
and while there is still the
occasional missed shot, those
are now diluted by confident
swishes.
There’s no way of knowing if
this run will sustain itself. But,
if it does, there is also no tell-
ing what the Wolverines’ ceil-
ing will look like. A team that
has a dominant paint presence
paired with outside shooters
that will drain shots? Tough to
match up with.
That’s what Houstan was
always supposed to be for
Michigan. A wing that pro-
vides
a
consistent
outside
threat,
someone
who
the
opposing team always has to
chase around because if they
give him an open look, forget
about it.
So, when the game was
already well past decided and
Houstan caught another pass
on the wing, what happened
next should come as no sur-
prise.
His fifth and final three, a
cherry on top of his best game
of the season in the Wolver-
ines’ best win of the season.
The statement made was a loud
one, and while that was lost on
most of the fans who had either
left or were making their way
toward the exits, it wasn’t lost
on Howard:
“He’s
always
been
rock
solid, every time, all the time,”
Howard said. “To come in and
practice, getting his work in,
watching film, learning the
game and staying dialed in
mentally.
“It’s beautiful.”
SPENCER RAINES
Daily Sports Writer
TESS CROWLEY/Daily
The Michigan track and field team competed in its third meet of the season,
with the women taking home multiple titles.
This isn’t the season the Michi-
gan men’s basketball team was
supposed to have.
Before the start of the year, The
Daily’s beat predicted the Wolver-
ines would finish second in the
Big Ten and end the year with a
Big Ten Tournament win and exit
the NCAA Tournament
by the Elite Eight at the
earliest, seeing Michi-
gan reach as far as the
National Championship
game.
And
they
weren’t
alone.
After
clinching
last year’s regular season
Big Ten title and bringing
in the nation’s second-
ranked recruiting class,
there was no reason to
think
Michigan’s
momentum
wouldn’t carry over. Between the
return of sophomore center Hunt-
er Dickinson and the additions of
two five-star freshmen in wing
Caleb Houstan and big man Mous-
sa Diabate, it was widely accepted
that Michigan was among the best
in the Big Ten.
But the team that took the
floor for the first game — and
almost every one since — hasn’t
looked like one that could make
it to March, let alone April. The
roster that, on paper, should
be one of best in the nation has
failed to come alive. Houstan,
thrust into the starting lineup
from the first game, struggled to
live up to the hype. The defense
faltered. Overall, the Wolverines
failed to live up to their lofty
expectations.
But, facing Indiana on the road,
Michigan came away with an
80-62 win, by far it’s most impres-
sive of the season.
When asked whether the team
is playing up to its potential or if
there’s room left to grow, Michi-
gan coach Juwan Howard cited
effort as the most important fac-
tor.
“I’m just proud of how hard
the team competed today,” How-
ard said. “… We’ll continue to go
back in the gym each
and every practice and
see how we can grow. It
was beautiful to see all
the contribution com-
ing from everyone that
touched that ball.”
The Wolverines final-
ly exhibited the skilled
roster that’s been touted
all year with Dickinson,
Diabate and Houstan all
scoring in double digits.
“This team has a chance to get
better and better each and every
game,” Howard said. “And with
how the roster is designed with a
mixture of juniors and seniors and
sophomores. … They’re getting
better and better every game.”
Michigan started the game
5-for-6 from beyond the arc. The
Wolverines have hardly been
known for their 3-point shoot-
ing this season,
going a total of
12-for-45 across
their three most
recent
games.
But, on Sunday,
Michigan
got
hot, shooting a
total of 11-for-17.
The
Wol-
verines
fell
into a rhythm
on all parts of
the court, the
defense
boxing
out the Hoosiers
and allowing for
frequent Michigan runs. They dis-
played the type of energy expected
of the conference leader the Wol-
verines were supposed to be.
“Defense is really getting the
job done for us,” Howard said.
“Defense sometimes creates the
offense. It’s great when you see
the ball go through the net, it defi-
nitely builds confidence in play-
ers.”
Added Dickinson: “I think guys
are just playing to their abilities.
The hard work in the gym is finally
paying off. I’m really proud of my
team out there.”
More than just playing to their
abilities, they’re filling the holes
— both offensive and defensive
— that emerged from the Wolver-
ines’ blind spots early in the sea-
son.
So what do you get when you
add strong defense to long-range
shooting and contributions from
up and down the roster? A well-
rounded team that could have a
shot at a post-season run, the team
that the Wolverines were sup-
posed to be.
The question then becomes, is
this a fluke or is it the new normal?
Coming off a victory in its first
scored meet of the season, the
Michigan track and field team
returned to their home track
for a third-straight weekend,
hosting a field of 16 colleges and
dozens of unattached individual
athletes for the Michigan Invita-
tional.
Though the event was not
scored team-wise, the individu-
al competition was fierce, with
everything from meet records
to international benchmarks
being set at Saturday’s meet.
Ultimately it was the women’s
track team that had its mem-
bers shine brightest for the
Wolverines, winning five of its
nine events.
“Our women’s program in gen-
eral is pretty darn strong right
now,” Michigan coach Kevin Sul-
livan said. “We can compete with
anyone in the conference. Poten-
tial can be a dangerous word, but
they have lots of it.”
Michigan got off to an explosive
start in the meet, as sophomore
Aasia Laurencin and freshman
BreeAna Bates posted convincing
victories in the women’s 60-meter
dash and women’s 60-meter hur-
dles respectively.
It was sophomore Ziyah Hol-
man’s performance in the wom-
en’s 600-meters that generated
the most buzz among the crowd,
however, as Holman and fresh-
man Savannah Sutherland dueled
it out entering the final turn. With
a final push, Holman both won
the event, and posted a facility
record in the event with a 1:29.26
time — just one one-hundredth of
a second faster than the previous
record.
“I’m glad I could do the least
and win my race, getting the
record is an extra thing,” Holman
said. “I always feel more comfort-
able on this track, and it helps me
get in the right mindset for travel
meets.”
On the men’s side, the Wol-
verines’ two victories of the day
came in the 600 and 800-meter
dashes. In the 800-meter, senior
Derrick Simmons finished half a
second faster than the next best
runner, while in the 600-meter
sophomore Dubem Amene posted
a meet record time on the route to
victory.
Dubem wasn’t the only Amene
to win on the day however — his
sister, senior Chika Amene, post-
ed a victory in the women’s 400-
meter dash.
“My sister brought me into
track,” Dubem said. “She doesn’t
understand how much she moti-
vates me. She started it for both of
us, and I want to get to her level
before I’m done.”
With the end of the Michi-
gan Invitational, the team now
enters a significant road stretch,
with just one of their remaining
six regular season meets being
hosted in Ann Arbor. Sullivan,
however, is focused on a different
perspective.
“We have quite a few athletes,
particularly on the men’s side,
that will be returning after this
weekend, so we’re excited to get
some depth.”
EMMA MATI/Daily
Freshman wing Caleb Houstan’s offensive
dominance at Indiana showed his impor-
tance in Michigan’s lineup.
EMMA MATI/Daily
Against Indiana, the Michigan basketball team showed
flashes of what it was predicted to be.
GRACE BEAL/Daily
The Michigan wrestling team faced its first loss of the season against a
top-ranked Penn State squad.