Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Churella, Wagner Reach Big Ten Finals; U-M Sits Third
3/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Site: Bloomington, Ind. (Assembly Hall)
Event: Big Ten Championships
U-M Standing: 3rd Place of 11 Teams (89 Points) After Day 1
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 5 -- Day 2 at Big Ten Championships (Bloomington, Ind.)
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Fifth-year seniors Ryan Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) and Greg Wagner (Fort Wayne, Ind./Snider HS) each advanced to the final round as the No. 2-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team holds the third spot (89 points) after the first day of competition at the Big Ten Conference Championships on Saturday (March 4) at Assembly Hall. Minnesota leads the team race with 116.5 points, while Illinois ranks second with 112.
Churella will vie for his third consecutive conference crown against Minnesota's third-seeded Matt Nagel in tomorrow's 165-pound final after posting a perfect 2-0 mark on the day. The top-seeded Wolverine narrowly squeezed past Iowa's Eric Luedke in the semifinal round, scoring the match's only points with a takedown early in the first period to claim a 2-0 decision. Churella scored bonus points in his opening match of the tournament, defeating Indiana's eighth-seeded Max Dean 11-3 in the quarterfinals. Churella controlled the match from start to finish, tallying a takedown in each period while adding a pair of back points in the second period and 4:35 in riding time to seal up the major decision.
It will be the first Big Ten final for Wagner, who will square off against top-seeded Cole Konrad of Minnesota on the heavyweight card. Wagner cruised past Indiana's seventh-seeded Dave Herman 5-1 in the morning session, scoring the only points he would need midway through the first period. Wagner took every shot in the match but could only score once, fighting for a single-leg effort to take the early advantage. Wagner added an escape in the third and a pair of points off of Herman stalling calls. The U-M captain's semifinal match against Ohio State's sixth-seeded Kirk Nail came to an abrupt end midway through the first period when, fighting off a Wagner double-leg attempt, Nail came down hard against the scorer's table and injury defaulted the match.
The Wolverines also have seven grapplers still alive in the consolation bracket, six of whom have guaranteed their qualification to the NCAA Championships. Freshman Michael Watts (Riverton, Utah/Riverton HS) will wrestle Ohio State's Nathan Costello in the seventh-place match at 125 pounds, the winner of which will advance to the national meet in two weeks.
Senior/junior Mark Moos (Lorain, Ohio/St. Edward HS) and junior/sophomore Josh Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) suffered narrow losses in back-to-back semifinal matches, falling by just a combined three points at 133 and 141 pounds, respectively. Moos led early against Minnesota's top-seeded Mack Reiter, scoring first on a quick takedown on the edge of the mat and nearly taking Reiter to his back. After the score evened at three points apeice when Reiter scored his own takedown late in the opening frame, the Gopher wrestler's ability to ride out Moos in the third proved the difference, both eliminating the U-M escape point and running down the riding-time advantage as he eked out a 4-3 decision.
Josh Churella found himself in an unfamilar position, trailing early against Northwestern's fifth-seeded Ryan Lang after the Wildcat caught Churella for two-and-two midway through the first period. The top-seeded U-M wrestler mounted a comeback with a takedown in the third but could not make up the difference as he suffered a 7-5 loss, just his second defeat of the season.
After a disappointing upset in the pigtail round -- where he lost to Illinois' Troy Tirapelle 6-4 in the tiebreaker -- junior/sophomore Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS) rallied with two sound victories in the wrestlebacks. He dominated Purdue's fifth-seeded Doug Withstandley, scoring four takedowns and two back points and accumulating 3:23 in riding time en route to a 12-4 major decision, and returned a little more than an hour later to defeat Michigan State's eighth-seeded Darren McKnight 6-3. Tannenbaum registered takedowns in the first and second frames and added 1:41 in riding-time advantage to defeat the Spartan wrestler.
Three Wolverines locked up their first career trip to the NCAA Championships as sophomore/freshman Steve Luke (Massillon, Ohio/Perry HS), sophomore/freshman Tyrel Todd (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS) and fifth-year senior Willie Breyer (Oxford, Mich./Oxford HS) all advanced to the consolation semifinals with impressive wrestleback performances. After splitting a pair of matches in the morning session, Luke earned back-to-back wins at 157 pounds, defeating Purdue's Jake Murphy 5-2 before pinning Ohio State's seventh-seeded Steve Sommer at 3:35. Starting the second period on top against the Buckeye wrestler, Luke sucked him back and maneuvered into a reverse half to claim his fourth fall of the season.
Breyer also scored bonus points with a fall in the 197-pound consolation bracket against Minnesota's seventh-seeded Mitch Kuhlman. The score was locked at two points apiece late in the first frame after the wrestlers exchanged a takedown and reversal early on. After a few early cradle attempts, Breyer was finally successful in rolling the Gopher to his back, earning his first win of the season with the fall at 2:26. Breyer added a second victory an hour later against Michigan State's Jeff Clemens, scoring a first-period a takedown en route to a 3-2 decision.
Todd avenged an earlier-season loss to Iowa's Paul Bradley with a 2-1 decision over the Hawkeye in his final match of the day. With the score tied after each wrestler earned his escape point, Bradley received his second stalling call midway through the third period to make difference. Todd also posted an 8-2 win against Wisconsin's Matt Maciag behind three takedowns and 3:24 in riding time and a 9-3 decision over Michigan State's Joe Williams behind three takedowns and three back points. His lone loss of the tournament came against top-seeded Eric Bradley of Penn State in the quarterfinals, who used a late takedown to squeeze out a 3-2 decision.
Senior/junior Nick Roy (Wall, N.J./Wall HS) was forced to default out of the tournament after suffering an injury to his knee midway through his consolation bout against Purdue's Nick Corpe. Roy was leading at the time after scoring on an explosive double leg in the first frame, but after attempting to restart upon completion of a full injury timeout, Roy was unable to continue, ending his season.
The Wolverines will return to the mat tomorrow (Sunday, March 5) for the second and final day of competition at the Big Ten Championships in Bloomington, Ind. Wrestleback action is slated to begin at noon with championship bouts beginning at approximately 2 p.m.
Team Standings (After Day 1)
1. Minnesota 116.5
2. Illinois 112
3. MICHIGAN 89
4. Iowa 72.5
5. Northwestern 68
Penn State 68
7. Wisconsin 58
Michigan State 58
9. Purdue 55.5
10. Ohio State 39
11. Indiana 30.5
Michigan Results (Day 1)
Numbers listed are tournament seedings
125 pounds -- #6 Michael Watts
First Round - Bye
Quarterfinals - dec. by #3 John Velez (Northwestern), 8-3
Consolation - dec. by Colin Cudd (Wisconsin), 13-7
Seventh Place - vs. Nathan Costello (Ohio State)
133 pounds -- #4 Mark Moos
First Round - Bye
Quarterfinal - dec. #5 Jake Strayer (Penn State), 7-5 SV
Semifinal - dec. by #1 Mack Reiter (Minnesota), 4-3
Consolation - vs. Gabe Flores (Illinois)
141 pounds -- #1 Josh Churella
First Round - major dec. Nick Spatola (Indiana), 11-0
Quarterfinal - dec. #8 Ed Gutnik (Wisconsin), 3-0
Semifinal - dec. by #5 Ryan Lang (Northwestern), 7-5
Consolation - vs. #7 Manuel Rivera (Minnesota)
149 pounds -- #3 Eric Tannenbaum
First Round - dec. by Troy Tirapelle (Illinois), 6-4 TB
Consolation - major dec. #5 Doug Withstandley (Purdue), 12-4
Consolation - dec. #8 Darren McKnight (Michigan State), 6-3
Consolation - vs. #2 Ty Eustice (Iowa)
157 pounds -- #6 Steve Luke
First Round - dec. Tony Greathouse (Michigan State), 5-1
Quarterfinal - dec. by #3 C.P. Schlatter (Minnesota), 2-0
Consolation - dec. Jake Murphy (Purdue), 5-2
Consolation - pinned #7 Steve Sommer (Ohio State), 3:35
Consolation - vs. #4 Joe Johnston (Iowa)
165 pounds -- #1 Ryan Churella
First Round - Bye
Quarterfinal - major dec. #8 Max Dean (Indiana), 11-3
Semifinal - dec. #5 Eric Luedke (Iowa), 2-0
Final - vs. #3 Matt Nagel (Minnesota)
174 pounds -- #7 Nick Roy
First Round - Bye
Quarterfinal - dec. by #2 Mark Perry (Iowa), 6-2
Consolation - injury def. Nick Corpe (Purdue)
Withdrew with a 0-2 record
184 pounds -- #8 Tyrel Todd
First Round - dec. Joe Williams (Michigan State), 9-3
Quarterfinal - dec. by #1 Eric Bradley (Penn State ), 3-2
Consolation - dec. Matt Maciag (Wisconsin), 8-2
Consolation - #5 Paul Bradley (Iowa), 2-1
Consolation - vs. #2 Ben Wissel (Purdue)
197 pounds -- Willie Breyer
First Round - pinned by #8 Dallas Herbst (Wisconsin), 1:57
Consolation - pinned Mitch Kuhlman (Minnesota), 2:26
Consolation - dec. Jeff Clemens (Michigan State), 3-2
Consolation - vs. #5 Nathan Moore (Purdue)
Heavyweight -- #2 Greg Wagner
First Round - Bye
Quarterfinal - dec. #7 Dave Herman (Indiana), 5-1
Semifinal - injury def. #6 Kirk Nail (Ohio State)
Final - vs. #1 Cole Konrad (Minnesota)
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
