The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Wednesday, January 11, 2023 — 9 Michigan shuts out CSU Bakersfield as Big Ten season looms COLE MARTIN Daily Sports Writer In the first period of the Michi- gan wrestling team’s dual meet against CSU Bakersfield on Sun- day, No. 2 heavyweight fifth-year senior Mason Parris wasted little time. Not even two minutes in, Par- ris earned a near-fall on Jake Andrews before mercifully end- ing his night with a quick pin — already his eighth pin and 15th win of the season. And Parris’s quick finish encapsulated the afternoon for the Wolverines. On Sunday, Michigan (5-0 overall) made quick work of CSU Bakersfield (0-1), defeating the Roadrunners, 36-0, to secure the Wolverines’ first shutout in five seasons. “It’s always a goal,” Michigan coach Sean Bormet said of the shutout. “We just wanted to see 10 guys put their best wrestling on the mat.” Michigan started the night with a decision win by 125-pound graduate Jack Medley, whose per- formance was just the tip of the iceberg for the team. The Wolverines continued to ride decision wins from No. 5 133- pound redshirt sophomore Dylan Ragusin and No. 20 141-pound redshirt junior Cole Mattin. Mat- tin bounced back from his loss on Friday night with a strong rever- sal in the third period to eliminate any chance of his opponent earn- ing the riding time point, clinch- ing his victory in the process. 149-pound redshirt freshman Chance Lamer added to his come- from-behind victory on Friday with a major decision win, scoring a near-fall and three takedowns. No. 5 165-pound redshirt junior Cam Amine made his second dual appearance of the season after recovering from an injury. He wrestled to a technical fall and pushed Michigan’s advantage to 21 points to remain undefeated on the season in the process. Clearly, his addition to the lineup is of paramount significance for Michigan. “(Cam’s return) was great,” Bormet said. “Great injection to have him back in our lineup this weekend. … It added another big spark to our team (and) another huge jump with Cam and just the way he was competing.” After Amine’s performance, Michigan’s victory was all but set in stone. An impressive takedown in the last seconds of the third period clinched a bounce-back victory for 197-pound redshirt sophomore Brendan Yatooma, and finally, Parris finished his opponent to end the domineering contest. After a successful non-confer- ence schedule, Bormet is hope- ful about the growth the team has shown as the Big Ten sea- son looms, which will have the Wolverines facing off against former national champions and top-ranked opponents. But despite the challenges that lay ahead, Bermet is adamant that his team will be ready to face them head-on. “We all know how tough the Big Ten is,” Bermet said. “We’ve got a tremendous schedule this year that we’re really excited about, some big challenges and some huge opportunities as a team. (We want to) keep the guys excited … energized (and) training hard and competing with time, energy and intensity.” And for success in such a loaded conference, Michigan will need the intensity from its shutout to radiate throughout the rest of the season. Sports WRESTLING Michigan finishes second in competitive Super 16 meet The Michigan women’s gym- nastics team’s first meet looked like a national championship. All four teams ranked in the pre- season top 10, with the fourth- ranked Wolverines facing off against No. 1 Oklahoma — the defending national champions — No. 5 Auburn and No. 10 UCLA. At the inaugural Super 16 meet in Las Vegas on Saturday night, Michigan finished second with a score of 197.400 behind the Sooners — who took the top spot with 197.925. The Tigers finished third with 197.350 while the Bru- ins finished last with a score of 197.250. The Wolverines faced some early adversity beginning the night on beam, an event that requires precision and leaves no room for error or nerves. “Beam is absolutely the hard- est event to start on because you have all this excited energy when you’re starting a meet — espe- cially a meet of this magnitude,” Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. Junior Naomi Morrison led off with a skillful mount, but two significant wobbles during the routine, however, earned her a 9.700. Senior Gabby Wil- son and junior Carly Bauman followed and scored 9.725 and 9.775, respectively. The struggles continued for Michigan as senior Sierra Brooks uncharacteristical- ly received a 9.200 — the compe- tition’s lowest score of the night on any event. In order to scratch Brooks’s score with a higher one, the Wol- verines needed their last two gymnasts to hit their routines. Star graduate students Abby Heiskell and Natalie Wojcik were up for the challenge. Neither vet- eran was immune to the impreci- sions affecting their teammates and made some small mistakes of their own, but poise and stuck landings gave Heiskell a 9.825 and Wojcik a 9.850 to keep Mich- igan’s night alive. “We had some wobbles, but we hung in there,” Plocki said. “It was not the start that we had hoped for, but there’s plenty of teams in the country who would love to start with that score.” With only a decent beam showing, the steep competition left the Wolverines in last place going into their floor rotation. Junior Reyna Guggino led off with a score of 9.800. Then, three straight scores of 9.925 gave Michigan an energy surge it des- perately needed. The Wolverines’ success on floor did not stop there as Brooks took an opportunity to avenge her missed beam routine. She landed her first and second pass and showcased her personality and artistry to tie for first on the event with a score of 9.950. Brooks’s massive floor perfor- mance kickstarted a strong finish to the night. As her team tried to battle back, Brooks continued to deliver. She stuck her vault and received another 9.950 along with a double fist bump from her coach as she walked off the mat. In her last rotation, she hit her bar routine, complete with a masterful transition to the low bar and a stuck dismount to earn her third 9.950 on the night. “I think (Brooks) probably let a little bit of nerves get to her on beam, but she’s a competitor,” Plocki said. “She let that go. She put it out of her mind. She came back and kicked butt on the other three events.” Although Michigan remained in last place through the first ANNA FUDER/Daily three rotations, strong floor and vault performances put the Wolverines within striking dis- tance of Auburn and UCLA. Both teams also struggled when they rotated to the beam event, put- ting Michigan in position to sur- pass them. Along with Brooks’s impres- sive bar performance, Heiskell scored a 9.925 on bars and Wojcik sealed the Wolverine’s resur- gence in the anchor position with a 9.975. Wojcik’s clean releases and perfect dismount led her to tie for first place in the event. “We had the most difficult rotation, and we lost to last year’s national champions by about five-tenths,” Plocki said. “Overall, for the first meet, I’m very proud and really excited for what’s to come.” Faced with tough competi- tion and a poor start, Michigan embraced the adversity and proved that they are still one of the elite gymnastics teams in the country. But as they continue the season, they’ll look to fix the issues the meet also exposed. Michigan continues success in season opener As the reigning Big Ten Cham- pions, the No. 2 Michigan men’s gymnastics team returned plenty of star power in hopes of another strong season. In its first meet of the season it delivered with convincing wins over No. 14 Greenville and No. 15 Simpson. In the process it showed the potential the Wolverines have to sustain last year’s success. Success is something that the Michigan men’s gymnastics team has become accustomed to lately. Just look at the last two years. The team won two straight Big Ten Championships, and won a share of the 2022 regular season conference title as well. Head coach Yuan Xiao was named Big Ten Coach of the Year and College Gymnastics Associa- tion Regional Coach of the Year in his first season – all as the interim head coach. Xiao then earned the job officially following the season. The Wolverines were led last year by then-junior Paul Juda, an ath- lete with an extensive list of awards including international appearanc- es and 2022 NCAA national cham- pionships in the all-around and vault events. The list of awards this team has won can go on seemingly forever, but that does not guarantee them anything this year. Following Saturday’s event, senior team captain Adam Woo- ten, 2021 and 2022 All-American in the high bar event, spoke about his feelings for the coming season after their first event. “It’s a good base is how I would describe it in a general sense,” Woo- ten said. “That being said, we have a really long way to go. When we’re starting the season there’s always going to be mistakes.” In such a young season mistakes are bound to happen, yet the stan- dard is high for the Wolverines. Wooten’s words prove that the Wol- verines are without a doubt satis- fied with their victory, but there is always a path for improvement throughout the season. Michigan was not at full power for this meet, the most obvious absence being the aforementioned Juda as he sat out to let more inex- perienced athletes compete. His absence leaves lots of room for high- er scores at future events. Even with Juda’s absence, Michigan showed in its 400.600 score that it has what is needed to continue success in a strong program: talented young athletes behind the veterans. “I’m biased obviously, but I don’t think we have a weak lineup that we could put up,” Wooten said. “I’m so proud of the guys.” Veterans like Juda and Woo- ten have proven track records, but Saturday’s meet proved that they have plenty of talent behind them. In their first collegiate meet, freshmen Landon Blixt and Fred Richard looked to carry on the tradition of the team’s recent success. Blixt took home first in the floor event en route to taking first in the all around competition, where he beat out his only compe- tition, a teammate in sophomore Rithik Puri. Richard showed his prowess by taking home first in the horizontal bar event. “We had our number one guy, Paul Juda, not competing but I see the depth,” Xiao said. “I think this is a team that will be growing from today.” Past seasons show that this team is set up for success. They have proven winners and young contributors that have only shown glimpses of the success they can create. While only one meet in, Michigan has shown it has the potential to continue its long term success deep into this season. Now, they look to make good on their promises. MEN’S GYMNASTICS WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS JENNA HICKEY/Daily REKHA LEONARD Daily Sports Editor Michigan wins first meet, beats Greenville and Simpson JONATHAN WUCHTER Daily Sports Writer In his first event at Michigan, Landon Blixt performed a strong floor routine, flipping through the air and sticking every landing. The bench and crowd erupted as the freshman’s 13.800 in the first rotation set the tone for the domi- nant performance the Wolverines cultivated in their first meet of the season. On Saturday afternoon, No. 2 Michigan (2-0) defeated No. 14 Greenville (1-1) and No. 15 Simpson (0-2) convincingly, winning all six events at both the team and indi- vidual level. The Panthers edged the Storm 373.100-341.350, but nei- ther came close to the Wolverines’ score of 400.600. “We wanted to see our freshmen compete for the first time at Cliff Keen (Arena),” Michigan Coach Yuan Xiao said. “They showed their talent.” Greenville and Simpson per- formed on the floor in the second and third rotation, but no individ- ual routine came close to catching Blixt’s. The Wolverines secured the top four individual performances in the event, with junior Kyle Shuttle, sophomore Lais Najjar and senior Casey Cummings just behind Blixt. Together their individual efforts gave the team an event winning score of 65.550. In Michigan’s second rotation, pommel, Xiao continued to give opportunities to his freshmen, as Fred Richard and Eric Hoe com- peted alongside Blixt. Once again, the freshman flexed strong rou- tines as Richard and Blixt placed second and third. However, it was senior Markus Shears who impressed the judges and won the event with a 14.450. While many of Michigan’s top gymnasts from last season, includ- ing last year’s all-around individ- ual national champion senior Paul Juda, gave way for younger team- mates to gain experience, senior Adam Wooten provided some star power. The Wolverines looked to sweep the first three events on the rings and build upon a commanding lead heading into the final three events, and Wooten delivered. Opponents failed to match his dominant rou- tine, winning the event convinc- ingly. His younger teammates provided strong support as they finished second through fifth in the event as well. “I’m so proud of the guys that we have on this team,” Wooten said. “Everyone is working so hard.” Michigan’s hard work led to a strong performance throughout the early events. Halfway through the meet it had the lead — its 200.400 stood convincingly above the Panthers’ 184.400 and the Storm’s 165.250. Next for the Wolverines was the vault. Even without Juda — last year’s vault individual national champion — Michigan continued its dominance. Cummings and sophomore David Wolma tied for the win with scores of 14.350. Four Wolverines posted scores over 14.000, helping Michigan post its best single event score of the match, 70.650. Already holding a secure lead, the young Wolverines continued to live up to Xiao and Wooten’s praise. This time it was Najjar who finished first on the parallel bars, with Blixt placing second. In the final event, high bar, Wooten’s solid 14.300 routine got bested by Richard’s score of 14.550. Wooten and Richard led a team score of 67.100, completing the six event sweep for Michigan. “I’m so happy for the team per- formance,” Xiao said. “And we know this is not our full poten- tial.” Xiao’s squad — while filled with underclassmen — was able to dominate inferior competition even with many of the Wolver- ines’ top gymnasts from the 2021 Big Ten Championship team not competing. The development of these underclassmen could com- pliment Michigan’s proven stars and help propel it to compete for the long season ahead. MEN’S GYMNASTICS The Michigan women’s gymnastics team finished second in its season-opening meet. In it’s first meet of the season, the Michigan men’s gymnastics team showed potential to build off of recent success. JENNA HICKEY/Daily The Michigan men’s gymnastic team convincingly won its first meet of the season. SAMUEL NOVOTNY For The Daily KATE HUA/Daily For the first time in nearly five years, the Michigan wrestling team shut out an opponent.