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INDEX
Vol. CXXXII, No. 108
©2022 The Michigan Daily
NEWS............................ 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
MIC...............................6
OPINION.......................7
S P O RT S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 0
STATEMENT..........INSERT
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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
MINNEAPOLIS — As the No. 4
Michigan hockey team hoisted the
Big Ten Trophy following its victory
over No. 1 Minnesota, there was
almost an overwhelming sense of
familiarity to the night’s events. It
was deja vu all over again.
The
minor
details
changed,
the stars were different and the
Wolverines sported a newer, younger
coach. But on Saturday night, against
the same Golden Gophers (26-8-1,
overall) in the same arena and by
the same score, Michigan (24-11-3)
accomplished what it had a year prior
— again.
And for the first time in program
history, the Wolverines captured a
second straight Big Ten title.
“It feels great. It feels great,”
Michigan coach Brandon Naurato
repeated. “That’s a really, really
good team over there and an unreal
atmosphere this year and last year. …
You really have to earn it.”
In a contest that came down to
the wire in front of a rowdy sellout
crowd, that was what Michigan just
managed to do. Its patient, systematic
offense outlasted Minnesota’s fiery
rush and pushed it to a 4-3 victory.
But for a contest featuring two of
the nation’s highest flying offenses,
the night started at a subdued pace.
The Wolverines and the Gophers
toiled in the neutral zone for most of
the first period, each side unable to
string chances together.
Seven
minutes
in
however,
Minnesota caught a break. Michigan
sophomore
defenseman
Luke
Hughes launched a point shot that
was blocked and sent the other way
for a 2-on-1 score from forward Brody
Lamb.
That breakthrough was all either
side mustered, and the rest of the
period played out as a prolonged
feeling out process.
“I thought we were just OK, almost
very average in the first period,”
Naurato said.
In the second period though, the
wait-and-see tactics were thrown
out the window and replaced with a
flurry of goals.
The Wolverines pressed early,
maintaining zone possession and
moving pucks low-to-high. Three
minutes in, that all paid off for
freshman forward Rutger McGroarty
as he ripped a bobbling puck top shelf.
And 34 seconds later, back in front of
the net with another rebound on his
stick, it paid off for McGroarty again
as he put his team up 2-1.
“I don’t think those guys (on the
first line) were happy as a line with
how they played in the first,” Naurato
said. “ … For them to come out and
just get to the net, as simple as that
sounds, good things happen.”
With two back-to-back goals,
McGroarty almost instantaneously
flipped the game script by putting the
Wolverines up 2-1. And for the first
time, the Gophers were put on edge.
In danger, Minnesota returned to
what was working — its rush — and
the Wolverines had little answer for
it.
Midway through the second frame,
a wayward pass from McGroarty
in Michigan’s offensive zone ended
up on the stick of forward Jimmy
Snuggerud, who found Cooley with
open ice where he tied the contest.
And again, it was the Gophers’
explosive rush that put them back in
front early in the third when forward
Rhett Pitlick picked his way through
three Wolverines defensemen and
scored to put Minnesota ahead 3-2.
That lead didn’t last long though,
as freshman forward Seamus Casey
tied the affair four minutes later with
a standard point shot, again built off
of sustained pressure. The Gophers
were playing with speed, Michigan
with systematic patience, and as the
clock ticked down, there was nothing
to separate the approaches.
CHARLIE PAPPALARDO
Daily Sports Writer
BLUE
DEJA
Michigan tops Minnesota, 4-3, wins second straight
Big Ten Championship
JULIANNE YOON/Daily
JULIANNE
YOON/Daily
JULIANNE YOON/Daily
Comeback win sparks Michigan Big
Ten regular season title
Mason Parris clinches heavyweight
title at NCAA Tournament
Michigan secures eighth Big Ten
Championship in 10 years
National
champions
and
Olympians lined the bleachers of
Cliff Keen arena on Saturday to
celebrate 75 years of Michigan
men’s gymnastics. But by the end
of the meet, they had something
else to celebrate as the Wolverines
clinched the Big Ten regular season
title.
Led by seniors Adam Wooten
and Casey Cummings and juniors
Javier
Alfonso
and
Evgeny
Siminiuc, Michigan (11-6 overall,
3-1 Big Ten) completed a comeback
win against Illinois (10-4, 2-2),
winning the meet 411.250-405.550.
With such an esteemed crowd in
attendance, Michigan coach Yuan
Xiao understood the importance of
the moment.
“I’m
so
fortunate
for
an
opportunity like this,” Xiao said.
“My job is to make our alumni
happy and proud, and to make
Michigan proud.”
Even though the night ended in
celebration, small mistakes added
up early for the Wolverines, as
they found themselves down 3.7
points after the first two rotations.
Pommel horse is a familiar struggle
for Michigan, and the Fighting
Illini took full advantage. The
small-yet-loud Illinois crowd was
right behind them with cheers and
chants of their own, along with
Illini gymnasts shouting, “I-L-L”
and the away fans promptly yelled
back “I-N-I.”
But
the
Wolverines
gained
momentum on still rings, with
Wooten and Alfonso both scoring
above a 14.000. However, the
Illini had no intention of allowing
Michigan back in the fight. Down
3.65 points after three rotations was
not ideal for the Wolverines, but the
small amount of momentum proved
valuable.
“We have this thing where we
say we have to stay in our bubble,”
Cummings said when asked how
Michigan stays competitive in
come-from-behind wins like these.
“We know the routines toward the
end are (strengths) and so we just
try to focus on the fact we know we
can come back from anything.”
ETHAN WHITE
For The Daily
After
three
tough
days
of
competition at the NCAA Wrestling
Tournament, one Michigan wrestler
remained in the finals — No. 1
heavyweight and fifth-year senior
Mason Parris. And after his last seven
minutes of wrestling as a Wolverine
in which he overpowered No. 3 Greg
Kerkvliet of Penn State throughout
the entire bout, Parris stood atop the
podium.
His lifelong goal of becoming a
National Champion was achieved in
the last match of his collegiate career.
Parris was the runner-up in the
2021 NCAA championships his junior
year, losing to the Nittany Lions’
Gable Steveson, who went on to win
an Olympic gold medal later that
summer. Parris would fall to Steveson
in the Big Ten Championship final
in 2020 and 2021, taking home All-
American honors both years. But this
season, Parris refused to come up
short.
Following a perfect 33-0 regular
season, Parris didn’t slow down and
dominated his opponents at every
stage of the tournament. In the first
four rounds of the tournament, he
won two bouts via major decision and
beat Iowa’s No. 4 Tony Cassiopi with
a 16-1 technical fall in the semifinal.
Preparing for the second national
championship bout of his career,
Parris rode the momentum he had
built up in the previous rounds and
remained poised.
“I wasn’t really nervous at all,”
Parris told The Daily. “I was very
confident in myself and felt really
good and believed in my abilities.”
In
the
final
bout,
Parris’s
confidence was on full display. Going
up against a familiar foe in Penn
State’s No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet, whom
Parris defeated for the Big Ten title
just two weeks prior, Parris was in
full control the entire seven minutes.
Thirty seconds into the match, Parris
defended a leg attack from Kerkvliet
and scored a takedown on a fireman’s
dump before riding Kerkvliet out
in the period and garnering 2:30 of
riding time. Parris started on the
bottom in the second period, earning
an escape point – and Kerkvliet only
scored on a stalling call near the end
MEGAN SMITH
Daily Sports Writer
By the time Abby Heiskell stuck
her round-off one and a half twist
landing — becoming just the second
athlete to score a perfect 10 on the
beam at the championship — any
lingering doubts about whether the
Wolverines would leave Coralville,
Iowa, as back-to-back Big Ten
champions were certainly put to
rest.
Competing in the second session
of the day alongside Michigan
State (8-1 Big Ten, 14-2 overall),
Iowa (6-2, 11-6) and Ohio State (6-3,
16-5), No. 2 Michigan (8-1, 19-2)
established an early lead and never
looked back, cruising to its second
consecutive Big Ten Tournament
Championship.
“We knew that we had to be
on our A-game tonight and I was
really proud of our performance,”
Michigan coach Bev Plocki said.
In Michigan’s first rotation of
the day, fifth-year seniors Natalie
Wojcik and Heiskell, as well as
junior Carly Bauman and senior
Sierra Brooks all scored 9.950 on the
uneven bars to put the Wolverines
at the front of the pack. With senior
Gabby Wilson’s added score of 9.925,
Michigan’s gymnasts combined for
49.725 points — tying the program
record in the event.
Having taken note of the scoring
in the previous session, Plocki
explained that the Wolverines were
aware that bars and beam would be
the two easier judged events, and
planned accordingly.
“That’s a great rotation for us to
end on floor and vault,” Plocki said,
“But we knew that we were gonna
have to build up a sizable lead to
make sure they didn’t catch us in the
last two events.”
And build a sizable lead Michigan
did. It set the tone for the night on
the uneven bars, and then kept that
pace on the beam.
Brooks scored her second 9.950
of the day before Heiskell earned
her perfect 10. Heiskell, who
decided to return for a fifth season
with the Wolverines back in June
of 2022, is intent on enjoying every
second of it.
CONNOR O’LEARY
HERRERAS
For The Daily
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