Notes & Quotes: Cliff Keen Invitational (Day Two)
12/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 3, 2011
N O T E S
• The Wolverines' runner-up finish was their best finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational since winning the event in 2007. With seven individual top-eight finishers, Michigan also boasted its most placewinners since 2007.
• Junior/sophomore Eric Grajales went 3-2 at last season's Vegas tournament.
• In four career appearances at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, fifth-year senior Kellen Russell won twice at 141 pounds and twice took third place. He boasted an impressive 22-2 career record at the annual Vegas event.
• Michigan earned bonus points in 18 matches -- six pins, three technical falls, seven major decisions, one injury default and one medical forfeit.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Joe McFarland
On the Wolverines' runner-up finish ... "I have mixed feelings. I thought we were in a position to take control of this tournament, and we let it slip away a little bit. We lost matches that we were in control of. The biggest thing our guys can take from this tournament is: if you wrestle a complete match -- nothing less -- that's when you're going to get your hand raised. You can't wrestle for six minutes and 30 seconds; you've got to wrestle complete matches. That hurt us in some big matches that we were in control of then started getting defensive and trying to protect our lead."
On Eric Grajales' 149-pound title and weekend performance ... "This is the best I've seen Eric wrestle this year, and I think his finals match is probably the best match he's wrestled this year so far. It was a complete match. He wrestled solid for seven minutes and never relinquished pressure on that kid. We're really proud of him, but he needs to keep building on this. It needs to become the way he competes every time he steps on the mat."
On Kellen Russell rebounding to take third place ... "Kellen bounced back; that's what champions do. They come back with a fury, and you don't want to be that next guy. I think Kellen did a great job of refocusing, and I think we saw a different wrestler out there than we saw last night. He was disappointed that he got beat, but the silver lining is he was able to come back like a champ and really put together some good matches after that."
On using this tournament as a gauge of Michigan's team potential ... "As coaches, you see how much better we could have been. There are probably a lot of coaches here that feel the same way, because it's such a competitive tournament. You look at all these weight classes, and there are a lot of top-ranked individuals, so it is competitive and it's a dog-eat-dog world here. But at the same time, we can't afford to let matches slip away from us. I'm proud of the guys for the way they competed, but we've got to make sure we're continuing to develop and learn. This was a gauge to where we're at right now. We're going to bring home a lot of things that we can draw from this tournament. We need to make sure these guys understand that so we can move forward as a team."
