After aiming to win their respective divisions, only three of the eight Michigan wrestlers at nationals advanced to the quarterfinals. Those three wrestlers — fifth-year senior Alex Pantaleo, redshirt junior Stevan Micic and redshirt junior Myles Amine — were all two-time All Americans, all in their third quarterfinal appearances at the NCAA Tournament and all looking to push the Wolverines to a top-five team finish.
And that they did.
The No. 4 Michigan wrestling team began its meet with the four graduating wrestlers — Amine and Pantaleo, as well as redshirt juniors Sal Profaci and Mike Volyanyuk — being honored with their families. The former two set the tone for a dominant victory over Clarion with a pair of convincing wins to open senior night.
In doing so, the Michigan wrestling junior reminded everyone of his No.1 ranking in the weight class and his undefeated title as he took down Suriano with one re-shot high crotch midway grab, ending the match 3-2 in favor of the Wolverines.
By pinning Matthew Vinci at 4:04 into the match, the sophomore brought Michigan back to its winning ways in the team’s return to Cliff Keen Arena. The fall gave the Wolverines a lead they would never relinquish and Michigan shook off its first loss of the season, beating Northwestern (3-10 overall, 1-7 Big Ten) by the score of 30-9. The commanding win saw the Wolverines drop three matches — all by decision — while the seven victories included two decisions, three major decisions and two falls.
While this change in Northwestern’s lineup set up a battle of stars, Micic took down Rivera twice in the first period to take a 4-1 lead and never looked back. He would go on to log two more takedowns and 3:20 of riding time to earn a convincing 10-4 win.
An undefeated record under a new head coach. A potential number one ranking. Unrivaled clout going into postseason tournaments. A lot was riding on this Friday's wrestling meet in State College, PA.
Parris’ efforts were rewarded with the deciding victory in the meet, earning the Wolverines three team points and a 19-17 win.
“Well, I obviously want to kill them every time. I want to win every single match, as a team. I want to blow them out and sweep them.”
I was once told you should never start a story with a quote, but I’m pretty sure I can’t convey the Michigan wrestling team’s feelings for Ohio State better than those words from Mason Parris.
Including Micic’s match, the fifth-ranked Wolverines (7-0 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) cruised en route to six consecutive match wins, icing the dual in the process. After sophomore J.T. Correll at the 184-pound weight class was pinned, Michigan responded by squeezing out wins at 197 and heavyweight, finishing the dual with a 30-10 victory over Michigan State (4-5, 1-3).
Capped by Parris’ standout pin with one minute left in the third period, the No. 6 Michigan wrestling (6-0 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) defeated the No. 19 Illinois (2-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten), 28-10, in a meet of gritty, low-scoring losses and one-sided, high-scoring matches for both teams.