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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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