2005-06 WRM at Illinois -- Notes & Quotes
2/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
N O T E S
The Wolverines improved to 41-23 in the all-time series against Illinois.
With the victory over the Fighting Illini, head coach Joe McFarland earned his 100th career win since taking over the held of the U-M program in 1999. With a career mark of 100-23-3, McFarland ranks as the third-winningest coach in U-M program history, trailing only Cliff Keen (274-91-10, 1925-42, '45-70) and Dale Bahr (221-119-6, 1978-99).
Q U O T E S
U-M Fifth-year Senior Captain Greg Wagner
On his fall ... "He got on my leg, so I stepped over and reversed him. He tried to come back to his feet, and I dropped down to a single leg and returned him. He swept his leg out, and he kind of went to his back. I just tried to climb up on top of him and get a half."
On needing a pin to win the dual meet ... "I was just trying to wrestle my match. When you do that, opportunities will present themselves. I wasn't looking to go out there right off the bat and throw him, because a lot of times, that just doesn't work. I was just going out and wrestling hard and trying to score points. The opportunity came up, and I just tried to capitalize on it."
U-M Fifth-year Senior Captain Ryan Churella
On his match against Mike Poeta ... "I had the first two takedowns, and after I escaped in the second period, I was up 5-1. I got away from my gameplan a little bit and started wrestling his style which was really quick. I'm not quick, so I think that played a role in him coming back. I opened up a little too much and started giving my tieups. He was able to take me down at the end of the second, and, in the third, he got a takedown off of my own shot. It was kind of a scramble situation; it was actually a close call. They gave him the two, and I couldn't escape with 14 seconds left. In overtime, he was in on a double pretty deep. As we went down on the mat, I was able to sprawl back, and he grabbed my kneepad and was holding onto it. The ref was on the other side of us, so he couldn't see it. My kneepad was probably about six inches off of my leg; that's how he was holding onto both my legs. I was trying to sprawl back. I had him around the waist and was trying to roll through. Joe (McFarland) kind of ran out onto the mat and was pointing to it, and he held it the whole time, probably for about 10 seconds. Finally, the ref just stopped it and awarded me my point. If it's unintentional, that's one thing, but that's how he was holding onto that position."
Players Mentioned
