Weekly Release #1

Upcoming Schedule
Thursday, Nov. 18 -- at Lehigh (Bethlehem, Pa.), 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 20 -- at Body Bar Invitational (Ithaca, N.Y.)
Sat-Sun., Nov. 20-21 -- at Michigan State Open (East Lansing, Mich.)
Fri-Sat., Dec. 5-6 -- at Cliff Keen Invitational (Las Vegas, Nev.)

This Week: at Lehigh/Body Bar Invitational/Michigan State Open
The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team will kick off its 2004-05 campaign on Thursday (Nov. 18) against No. 2 Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pa. The match is slated for a 7 p.m. start at the Mountain Hawks' Leeman-Turner Arena. Over the weekend, U-M will split up the squad as 10 wrestlers will compete in the Body Bar Invitational on Saturday (Nov. 20) in Ithaca, N.Y. while the remaining Wolverines will head north to East Lansing, Mich. for the annual Michigan State Open on Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 20-21).

Scouting the Mountain Hawks
Michigan leads the all-time series with Lehigh 20-10, dating back to 1936. While the Wolverines have been the dominant team in recent years, Lehigh snapped a seven-meet winning streak last season after dealing U-M a 12-18 loss in the season-opening tri-meet on Nov. 23. The Mountain Hawks took an early lead with three straight wins in the opening weight classes, and despite Michigan winning four of the last seven bouts, held on to snatch up the road victory. Michigan head coach Joe McFarland owns a 5-1 record against the Mountain Hawks since taking the helm of the Wolverine squad while Lehigh head coach Greg Strobel, in his 10th season at Lehigh, is 3-8 against Michigan. Lehigh on the Internet: www.lehighsports.com.

Bertin to Wrestle at All-Star Meet
Fifth-year senior captain Ryan Bertin (Broadview Heights, Ohio/St. Edwards HS) was selected to participate in the 2004 Marine All-Star Classic, organized by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, on Monday, Nov. 22 in Edwardsville, Ill. Hosted by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, the meet will start at 7 p.m. CST and feature several of the nation's top collegiate wrestlers. Making his first All-Star Classic appearance, Bertin will face second-ranked Jake Percival from Ohio at 157 pounds. Bertin is the 27th U-M wrestler selected to compete at the annual all-star event, which is in its 39th year. Last season, junior/sophomore Mark Moos (Lorain, Ohio/St. Edwards HS) lost a close 9-8 decision to Iowa's Luke Eustice in the 125-pound match. The All-Star Classic will be televised via tape delay on CSTV on Tuesday, Nov. 23, at 10 p.m. For more information about this year's event, visit the official SIUE site.

Probable Michigan Starting Lineup

Wgt.	Wrestler	Yr./Elig.
125	Mark Moos	Jr./So.
133	Craig Gillison	Fr./Fr.
141	Josh Churella or J.R. Muldoon	So./Fr. Jr./So.
149	Eric Tannenbaum	So./Fr.
157	Ryan Bertin or Jeff Marsh	5th/Sr. So./Fr.
165	Ryan Churella	Sr./Jr.
174	Nick Roy	Jr./So.
184	Joshua Weitzel	So./So.
197	Willie Breyer	Sr./Jr.
Hwt	Greg Wagner or Tony Grygorzyk	Sr./Jr. Sr./Jr.

Marquee Matches
149 Pounds -- Eric Tannenbaum vs. #14 Matt Anderson
Sophomore/freshman Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS) will make his debut in the U-M starting lineup in the Wolverines' season opener on Thursday, squaring off against Lehigh's 14th-ranked Matt Anderson in the first meeting between the two wrestlers. Tannenbaum, who is unranked by Amateur Wrestling News while listed at No. 14 by InterMat, registered an impressive 18-2 record in open tournaments last season and has been perfect of yet this season after capturing the 149-pound title at the EMU Open (Nov. 3) with a 5-0 mark. Anderson, ranked 19th by InterMat, was 16-14 last season in his first year in the Lehigh starting lineup, including a 13-10 mark in dual meets. He owns a 3-1 mark in duals already this season, suffering his only loss in his most recent match after being pinned by Penn State's James Woodall at 3:18.

157 Pounds -- #3 Ryan Bertin vs. #8 Derek Zinck
Fifth-year senior Ryan Bertin enters his final collegiate season already considered one of the greatest wrestlers in Wolverine history. The 2003 NCAA 157-pound champion and a three-time All-American, Bertin owns a 111-20 career record at Michigan, placing him 15th on U-M's career wins list. In his last year in a Maize and Blue singlet, Bertin will look to return to the NCAA Championships to capture his second individual title; the road to that goal begins against Lehigh's eighth-ranked Derek Zinck. Bertin holds a 2-0 advantage in matches against Zinck, including a 7-4 decision in the last meeting between the two wrestlers, on Nov. 23, 2003. Bertin will make his season debut against Lehigh whole Zinck already owns a perfect 4-0 mark in dual meets this season, including a 7-2 victory over Penn State's Nate Galloway in his last appearance on the mat.

165 Pounds -- #6 Ryan Churella vs. #1 Troy Letters
After earning All-America honors last season with a third-place finish at 149 pounds, Ryan Churella will be jumping two weights fill the void at 165 pounds after the graduation of three-year starter Pat Owen. Churella faces a difficult task in just his first match at the new weight as he faces returning NCAA champion and top-ranked Troy Letters. The Mountain Hawk wrestler has been nearly perfect over the previous two seasons, registering a 70-3 record, of which 51 wins came with bonus points. Letters skipped the Mountain Hawks' first three duals this season, making his debut against Penn State (Nov. 14) and recording a fall against Steve Troup at the 5:59 mark.

Maize and Blue Intrasquad
The Wolverines held their annual intrasquad meet at Cliff Keen Arena on Nov. 14 to determine the starting lineup for the 2004-05 season.

Intrasquad Final-Round Results

Wgt.	Result
125	No Match
133	Craig Gillison dec. Jim Shutich, 5-2
141	J.R. Muldoon dec. Brian Ong, 6-5
149	Eric Tannenbaum dec. Jeremiah Tobias, 8-3
157	Ryan Bertin pinned Jeff Marsh, 3:09
165	Ryan Churella dec. Steve Luke, 5-0
174	No Match
184	No Match
197	Willie Breyer dec. Steve Heleniak, 7-0
Hwt	Greg Wagner dec. Tony Grygorzyk, 8-4

Recapping the EMU Open
Sophomore/freshman Eric Tannenbaum captured the 149-pound title to headline a contingent of seven unattached Wolverine placewinners at the Eastern Michigan Open (Nov. 6). Tannenbaum registered a perfect 5-0 mark and tallied a fall, a technical fall and three major decisions to outscore his opponents 60-11. Freshmen Craig Gillison (Arcadia, Mich./Benzie Central HS) and Steve Luke (Massillon, Ohio/Perry HS) earned runner-up performances at 133 and 165 pounds, respectively, while fifth-year senior Jeremiah Tobias (Manchester, Mich./Manchester HS), freshman Tyrel Todd (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS) and senior/junior Tony Grygorzyk (Grand Rapids, Mich./West Catholic HS) each placed third at 149 and 174 pounds and heavyweight.

The Leaders and the Best
Fifth-year senior Ryan Bertin and senior/junior Ryan Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) were named wrestling co-captains for the 2004-05 season. It is the 14th time in Michigan wrestling history that two individuals will share the distinction. Bertin retains the honor after serving as one of three -- along with Foley Dowd and Pat Owen -- U-M captains last season. Churella's father, Mark Churella, was the captain of the 1978-78 Michigan squad.

Climbing the Charts
Fifth-year senior Ryan Bertin enters the 2004-05 season with a career record of 111-20, ranking 15th on U-M's all-time wins list, just five wins shy of the 14th spot, currently held by two-time All-American A.J. Grant (116, 2000-03). Four-time All-American John Fisher holds the Wolverine career win record with a 183-21 mark during his five seasons at Michigan (1985-89).

Non-Conference Competition
During head coach Joe McFarland's tenure at Michigan, the Wolverines have posted an impressive 32-9-1 (.774) record against non-conference opponents. Last season, Michigan was 7-2 against teams outside the Big Ten.

Starting Things with a Bang
Through 83 years of U-M wrestling history, Michigan has posted a 53-25-2 record in its first dual meet of the season, and currently boasts a eight-meet winning streak in the season opener. When the Wolverines open the season on the road, they have had a 24-19 mark. Last year, the Wolverines kicked off the 2004-05 season with a 27-16 victory over Central Michigan at Cliff Keen Arena.

Strength of Schedule
Michigan faces a tough field of competitors again this season, with 10 of the Wolverines' 14 dual meet opponents ranked among the top 25 teams in the National Wrestling Coaches Association's preseason poll, including three of the top five ranked teams. No. 2 Lehigh leads the pack of ranked opponents, which also includes No. 3 Nebraska, No. 4 Illinois, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 9 Iowa, No. 13 Central Michigan, No. 17 Penn State, No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 21 Purdue and No. 25 Stanford.

A Look at the Polls
The Wolverines will begin the 2004-05 season with the seventh-place team ranking in the National Wrestling Coaches Association's preseason poll. Michigan also boasts six individuals ranked among the top 20 wrestlers in their respective weight classes in the InterMat or Amateur Wrestling News polls. Fifth-year senior Ryan Bertin leads the pack with the No. 3 preseason ranking in both polls at 157 pounds. Joining Bertin in the top 10 are senior/juniors Greg Wagner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider HS) and Ryan Churella, who are ranked fourth and sixth in both polls at heavyweight and 165 pounds, repectively.

NWCA/InterMat Division I Preseason Team Rankings (10/11/04)

RANK, TEAM POINTS 1. Oklahoma State (11) 275 2. Lehigh 255 3. Nebraska 248 4. Illinois 245 5. Iowa State 229 6. MICHIGAN 221 7. Minnesota 208 8. Oklahoma 196 9. Iowa 186 10. West Virginia 173 11. Missouri 172 12. Cornell 159 13. Hofstra 128 Central Michigan 128 15. Northern Iowa 114 16. Cal Poly-SLO 101 17. Penn State 100 18. Wisconsin 85 19. Edinboro 73 20. Pennsylvania 52 21. Purdue 42 22. Arizona State 39 23. Rider 32 24. Cal State-Bakersfield 24 25. Stanford 23

Individual Rankings by InterMat and Amateur Wrestling News

Wgt.	Wrestler	InterMat	AWN
125	Mark Moos	16th	11th
149	Eric Tannenbaum	14th	--
157	Ryan Bertin	3rd	3rd
165	Ryan Churella	6th	6th
174	Nick Roy	18th	15th
Hwt	Greg Wagner	4th	4th

On the Horizon
The Wolverines will continue early-season action in two weeks at the Cliff Keen Invitational on Friday-Sunday, Dec. 3-4 in Las Vegas, Nev. Competition is slated to begin with pigtail rounds on Friday at 9 a.m. at the Cashman Center.

Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423