Michigan
Northern Illinois
U-M Advances to Fifth-Place Match at National Duals
1/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Site: Cedar Falls, Iowa (UNI-Dome)
Event: Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals
Score: #5 Michigan 34, #23 Northern Illinois 4; #14 Nebraska 24, #5 Michigan 16;
#5 Michigan 31, #12 Cornell 10; #5 Michigan 24, #18 Arizona State 12
Records: U-M (8-2)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Jan. 15 -- vs. Iowa at Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals (Cedar Falls, Iowa), 1 p.m. CST
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The No. 5-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team posted a 3-1 mark on the first day of competition at the Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals on Saturday (Jan. 14) to advance to the fifth-place contest. U-M will face No. 6 Iowa for fifth place at 1 p.m. CST Sunday at Northern Iowa's UNI-Dome. The Wolverines rebounded from a disappointing 24-16 quarterfinal loss against No. 14 Nebraska with solid, back-to-back wins in the consolation bracket against No. 12 Cornell (31-10) and No. 18 Arizona State (24-12). Michigan opened the day with a 34-4 victory against No. 23 Northern Illinois in the first round.
Five Wolverine wrestlers -- senior/junior Mark Moos (Lorain, Ohio/St. Edward HS), junior/sophomore Josh Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS), Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS), fifth-year senior Ryan Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) and fifth-year senior Greg Wagner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider HS) -- posted perfect 4-0 records on the first day of action, while the latter two extended their season winning streaks to 15 straight matches.
The Wolverines kicked off the competition with a dominant and decisive victory against No. 23 Northern Illinois in the first round. After dropping a major decision in the opening bout, U-M won nine straight, including three with bonus points. Sophomore/freshman Steve Luke (Massillon, Ohio/Perry HS) tallied his second fall of the season at 157 pounds to break the contest wide open, pinning the Huskies' Kalen Knull midway through the first period. The U-M freshman dominated from the opening whistle, scoring a takedown and six back points before sticking Knull at the 1:38 mark.
The Wolverine captains also stepped up to earn extra points against Northern Illinois, each securing a technical fall to add five team points to Michigan's overall score. After giving up the initial takedown at 165 pounds, Churella did not give up another point against Johnny Galloway, taking control with three takedowns of his own and 11 back points en route to a 20-2 victory at match's end. Likewise, Wagner turned his opponent, Husky heavyweight Joe Sapp, four times and added a first-period takedown and second-period reversal to win 17-0 and end the bout midway through the middle frame.
Nebraska dealt the Wolverines their second loss of the season, using three falls to repeat the outcome of the dual between the two programs one month ago in Ann Arbor. Each squad earned five wins, just as they did in the first season meeting, but the Huskers earned pins at 125, 157 and 184 pounds to secure the lopsided victory. The Wolverines led the contest after the opening four weights as Moos, Josh Churella and Tannenbaum posted three straight decisions to give U-M a narrow three-point advantage. Moos' match against Patrick Aleksanyan at 133 pounds remained deadlocked at 5-5 heading into the final period, but with the Husker wrestler starting down, Moos used a leg turk late in the frame to earn the necessary two near-fall points at the buzzer for the victory. Adding 1:39 in riding time, Moos won 8-5 to put U-M on the board.
At 141 pounds, Churella provided all the offense against Dominick Moyer, scoring takedowns in the first and third periods while allowing Moyer just a pair of escapes en route to a 6-2 win. Tannenbaum gave the Wolverines a short-lived advantage with a 10-4 win over Ryan Davis at 149 pounds. The U-M wrestler scored four takedowns, including three in the opening period.
The Huskers scored an unexpected fall at 157 pounds as Chris Oliver pinned eighth-ranked Luke at 3:12 to put Nebraska back into the lead. Luke dominated the opening frame, spending much of the period using the arm bar to work towards back points after a quick takedown, but with the Wolverine starting down in the second, Oliver stepped over to secure the fall just 12 seconds into the frame.
Ryan Churella trailed early at 165 pounds after a pair of first-period takedowns by Nebraska's Marc Harwood but fought through a scramble in the second to score a takedown of his own and hang on for a 5-4 win. The victory again knotted the score at 12 points apiece, but Michigan subsequently won only one of the final four bouts as the Huskers posted 12 team points with three consecutive wins to cruise to the win. Wagner ended the competition with a 9-0 major decision against Jon May at heavyweight.
Michigan faced another familiar opponent in its first consolation bout, squaring off against Cornell for the second time in less than two weeks. This meeting, too, brought a similar result as the Wolverines scored bonus points in five matches to dominate the dual meet. After a loss at 125 pounds, U-M strung together six straight wins to put the competition well under its control. Josh Chuella and Tannenbaum earned back-to-back major decisions at 141 and 149 pounds, respectively. Churella gained a sizable first-period lead after countering a shot from Cornell's Nick Bridge to take the Big Red wrestler straight to his back for an additional three points. Churella added two more takedowns and accumulated 4:28 in riding time to claim a 12-0 win. Tannenbaum demonstrated his specialty against Mike Reish, scoring four takedowns, including two in the final period, to control from start to finish and collect a 10-2 major decision.
Luke and Ryan Churella each ended his match early as Luke used a half to score a second-period fall (3:56) against Curtis Roddy and Churella turned the Big Red's Dave Post for the fourth time in the bout to seal up a 17-2 technical fall with three seconds left in the middle frame. Churella also posted a pair of takedowns as he rallied from an early deficit. Senior/junior Nick Roy (Wall, N.J./Wall HS) became the second Wolverine to score a win over the Big Red's Dan Miracola this month -- sophomore/freshman Tyrel Todd (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS) earned a 9-3 decision in the NYAC dual -- using three takedowns to earn a 8-2 win at 174 pounds. Roy struck twice in the final frame, countering a Miracola shot early and adding a single-leg effort in the last 30 seconds.
U-M closed the busy day in strong fashion, rallying from an early six-point hole with seven individual wins against Sun Devils, including a pair of big bonus victories. Trailing early himself at 133 pounds, Moos fought out of Adam Hickey's near pinning situation to record a reversal and use an arm bar to add three back points. He added three takedowns and three more back points in the final two periods to claim a 17-4 victory, just shy of the technical fall. Churella, at 141 pounds, did accumulate the 15-point advantage needed for the tech, scoring three takedowns and nine back points against Jason Robbins. His final leg turk at the buzzer earned him the necessary points for the 16-1 win.
In perhaps the most exciting match of the entire day, Todd wore down the Sun Devils' eighth-ranked C.B. Dollaway to record an 11-4 decision at 184 pounds. Todd, ranked 20th, successfully fought off back-to-back single-leg attempts early in the first period to keep the match scoreless after three minutes. Dollaway proved tough on top in the middle frame, turning the Wolverine for three back points to gain the first lead, but Todd fired back, securing an escape and immediately shooting back into a single leg. He finished with a leg sweep, taking the ASU wrestler directly to his back to convert the five-point maneuver and swing the momentum into his favor. Todd continued to attack in the third, scoring a pair of takedowns and accumulating 1:21 in riding time to just narrowly miss the major decision.
#5 Michigan 34, #23 Northern Illinois 4
(Individual rankings from NWCA/InterMat)
| 125 -- #12 Pat Castillo (NIU) major dec. Michael Watts, 14-5 | NIU, 4-0 |
| 133 -- #12 Mark Moos (U-M) dec. Andy Hiatt, 4-2 | NIU, 4-3 |
| 141 -- #5 Josh Churella (U-M) dec. #11 Josh Wooten, 5-3 | U-M, 6-4 |
| 149 -- #6 Eric Tannenbaum (U-M) dec. #13 Mike Grimes, 8-4 | U-M, 9-4 |
| 157 -- #9 Steve Luke (U-M) pinned Kalen Knull, 1:38 | U-M, 15-4 |
| 165 -- #1 Ryan Churella (U-M) tech. fall Johnny Galloway, 20-2 | U-M, 20-4 |
| 174 -- #6 Nick Roy (U-M) dec. Dan Burk, 4-3 | U-M, 23-4 |
| 184 -- #20 Tyrel Todd (U-M) dec. Nick McClone, 6-1 | U-M, 26-4 |
| 197 -- Casey White (U-M) dec. Derek Hunsinger, 5-3 | U-M, 29-4 |
| 285 -- #3 Greg Wagner (U-M) tech. fall Joe Sapp, 17-0 | U-M, 34-4 |
#8 Nebraska 24, #5 Michigan 16
| 125 -- #13 Paul Donahoe (Neb) pinned Michael Watts, 0:57 | Neb., 6-0 |
| 133 -- #13 Mark Moos (U-M) dec. Patrick Aleksanyan, 8-5 | Neb., 6-3 |
| 141 -- #5 Josh Churella (U-M) dec. Dominick Moyer, 6-5 | Tie, 6-6 |
| 149 -- #6 Eric Tannenbaum (U-M) dec. Ryan Davis, 10-4 | U-M, 9-6 |
| 157 -- Chris Oliver (Neb.) pinned #9 Steve Luke, 3:12 | Neb., 12-9 |
| 165 -- #1 Ryan Churella (U-M) dec. #17 Marc Harwood, 5-4 | Tie, 12-12 |
| 174 -- #5 Jacob Klein (Neb.) dec. #6 Nick Roy, 4-0 | Neb., 15-12 |
| 184 -- Vince Jones (Neb.) pinned #20 Tyrel Todd, 0:41 | Neb., 21-15 |
| 197 -- #4 B.J. Padden (Neb.) dec. Casey White, 10-5 | Neb., 24-12 |
| 285 -- #3 Greg Wagner (U-M) major dec. Jon May, 9-0 | Neb., 24-16 |
#5 Michigan 31, #12 Cornell 10
| 125 -- #5 Troy Nickerson (CU) major dec. Michael Watts, 14-4 | CU, 4-0 |
| 133 -- #13 Mark Moos (U-M) dec. #11 Mike Mormile, 10-4 | CU, 4-3 |
| 141 -- #5 Josh Churella (U-M) major dec. Nick Bridge, 12-0 | U-M, 7-4 |
| 149 -- #6 Eric Tannenbaum (U-M) major dec. Mike Reish, 10-2 | U-M, 11-4 |
| 157 -- #9 Steve Luke (U-M) pinned Curtis Roddy, 3:56 | U-M, 17-4 |
| 165 -- #1 Ryan Churella (U-M) tech. fall Dave Post, 17-2 (4:57) | U-M, 22-4 |
| 174 -- #6 Nick Roy (U-M) dec. Dan Miracola, 8-2 | U-M, 25-4 |
| 184 -- #7 Joe Mazzucro (CU) dec. #20 Tyrel Todd, 5-3 | U-M, 25-7 |
| 197 -- #9 Jerry Rinaldi (CU) dec. Willie Breyer, 4-2 | U-M, 25-10 |
| 285 -- #3 Greg Wagner (U-M) won by forfeit | U-M, 31-10 |
#5 Michigan 24, #18 Arizona State 12
| 125 -- #6 Jeremy Mendoza (ASU) pinned Michael Watts, 2:!2 | ASU, 6-0 |
| 133 -- #13 Mark Moos (U-M) major dec. Adam Hickey, 17-4 | ASU, 6-4 |
| 141 -- #5 Josh Churella (U-M) tech. fall Jason Robbins, 16-1 (7:00) | U-M, 9-6 |
| 149 -- #6 Eric Tannenbaum (U-M) dec. Pat Payne, 4-1 | U-M, 12-6 |
| 157 -- #7 Brian Stith (ASU) dec. #9 Steve Luke, 6-2 | U-M, 12-9 |
| 165 -- #1 Ryan Churella (U-M) dec. Pat Pitsch, 10-3 | U-M, 15-9 |
| 174 -- #6 Nick Roy (U-M) dec. Jaime Robbins, 6-3 | U-M, 18-9 |
| 184 -- #20 Tyrel Todd (U-M) dec. #8 C.B. Dollaway, 11-4 | U-M, 21-9 |
| 197 -- #14 Ryan Bader (ASU) dec. Willie Breyer, 4-3 | U-M, 21-12 |
| 285 -- #3 Greg Wagner (U-M) dec. #4 Cain Velasquez, 6-0 | U-M, 24-12 |
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
