The senior class of the No. 2 Michigan wrestling team went out with a bang last Sunday afternoon with a 29-7 rout of in-state rival Michigan State.

"I think this win showed that we"re still on track and that we"re still wrestling intense," Michigan coach Joe McFarland said. "We have to keep this thing rolling right to the end. Sometimes, guys get anxious and look ahead to Big Tens and Nationals around this time in the season, but our guys did a great job of staying focused on this match."

Matt Brink, Otto Olson and Andy Hrovat were all victorious in their final bouts in Cliff Keen Arena as the Wolverines won eight of 10 matches in the dual meet.

"The seniors on this team I can"t say enough about them they"ve been a big part of the success of this team," McFarland said. "I got a little emotional out there too.

"I remember recruiting the kid, and the next thing I know I"m saying goodbye to them in Cliff Keen."

The match at 125-pounds between Michigan"s No. 9 A.J. Grant and the Spartans" No. 13 Chris Williams was expected to be the best of the night, but it didn"t happen that way.

In their previous bout, at Michigan State on Dec. 7, Grant won a close 6-2 decision over Williams. This time around it was all Grant wrestling mistake-free en route to a 6-0 victory.

"A.J. wrestled great," McFarland said. "He dominated the entire match, and wrestled hard for the full seven minutes. He never gave (Williams) the opportunity to score."

The best matches of the day came at 157, 165 and 197 pounds matches that all went to overtime.

Michigan wrestlers Ryan Bertin and Kyle Smith each pulled out victories, but 165-pound senior Charles Martelli fell short in his last dual meet at home.

Michigan State"s Anton Hall scored a point for riding time to send the match into overtime, and then scored a takedown midway through the extra period to beat Martelli 6-4.

The two had met at the previous dual meet with Hall winning that match as well.

Michigan was without 141-pounder Clark Forward who is still recovering from an ankle infection he suffered in Iowa City two weeks ago. McFarland expects Forward to be ready for the Big Ten Championships next weekend.

Redshirt freshman Nick Velissaris stepped in at the 141-pound weight class and "competed well" for the Wolverines as McFarland put it, but lost a 11-3 major decision to Michigan State junior Charles Sageman.

This senior class has had their best season ever this year with a 9-2 Big Ten record, 16-3 overall and is looking to improve on their seventh-place finish at last year"s NCAAs their best finish as a class. In their four years together the seniors have posted a team record of 46-13-2.