Week #13: Wolverines to Begin Postseason at Big Tens
3/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
» Abounader is the returning Big Ten champion at 184 pounds; he has been the Wolverines' top Big Ten finisher in each of the last two seasons.
» Michigan finished third in the Big Ten final regular-season standings after posting an 8-1 conference record -- its best in 10 seasons.
THIS WEEK
BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS (Tournament Central)
Sat-Sun., March 5-6 -- at Big Ten Championships (Iowa City, Iowa)
Live Scoring | BTN Plus
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The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team (13-3, 8-1 Big Ten) will kick off the postseason this weekend, traveling to Iowa City, Iowa, to participate in the 2016 Big Ten Championships, to be hosted by the University of Iowa on Saturday and Sunday (March 5-6) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Big Ten Championships will take place in three sessions over the course of two days. Wrestling will begin on Saturday (March 5) with the first session slated to start at 10 a.m. CST with the first and quarterfinal rounds of all weights. Consolation action and semifinal matches will take place Saturday evening at 6 p.m. The Sunday (March 6) session will feature consolation finals at noon CST and championship finals slated for approximately 3 p.m. The finals will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network, while rounds I-III will be streamed live on BTN Plus.
U-M has won 11 Big Ten team championships (1929, '38, '44, '53, '55, '56, '60, '63, '64, '65, '73) and has produced the second-most individual champions (125) in the conference (Iowa is first with 195). Michigan has finished in the top five in 10 of the past 16 seasons but has not finished higher than fourth place since the 2008-09 season.
Michigan's Projected Starting Lineup
| Wgt. | Name | Year/Elig. | Hometown (High School) |
| 125 | Conor Youtsey | Sr./Jr. | Parma, Mich. (Mason) |
| 133 | Rossi Bruno | Sr./Sr. | Brandon, Fla. (Brandon) |
| 141 | George Fisher | Jr./So. | St. Charles, Ill. (Marmion Academy) |
| 149 | Alec Pantaleo | So./So. | Canton, Mich. (Canton) |
| 157 | Brian Murphy | Jr./Jr. | Carol Stream, Ill. (Glenbard North) |
| 165 | Jordan Amine | Jr./So. | Brighton, Mich. (Brighton) |
| 174 | Aaron Calderon | Jr./So. | Brighton, Mich. (Brighton) |
| 184 | Domenic Abounader | Jr./Jr. | Gates Mills, Ohio (St. Edward) |
| 197 | Max Huntley | Gr./Sr. | Emerald Isle, N.C. (Blair Academy) |
| Hwt | Adam Coon | Jr./Jr. | Fowlerville, Mich. (Fowlerville) |
WOLVERINE BITES
• Michigan is in search of its 12th Big Ten Championships title in school history, and first since 1973, when the Wolverines sent two individuals to the winner's podium and earned 76 points to beat runner-up Iowa by seven points. U-M owns the fourth-most conference team titles in Big Ten history with 11.
• With 125 conference individual titles in program history (coming from 83 different wrestlers), the Wolverines boast the second most of any Big Ten school behind Iowa with 195. U-M has claimed at least one champion in eight of the last 11 seasons.
• The Wolverines earned seven top-eight seeds for the Big Ten Championships, including a pair of No. 1 seeds in juniors Domenic Abounader (184 pounds) and Adam Coon (heavyweight).
• The Wolverines finished third in the Big Ten standings with an 8-1 record, trailing only undefeated Penn State and Iowa, who ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation, respectively. It was Michigan's best conference record in 10 years -- since claiming three straight Big Ten dual-meet titles from 2004-06.
• Junior Domenic Abounader captured the 2015 Big Ten title at 184 pounds with a 7-6 decision over Minnesota's Brett Pfarr in the championship match. It marked the 125th individual conference title in Michigan program history and the first at 184 pounds. Abounader was the Wolverines' top Big Ten finisher for the second straight season. He took third place as a freshman, defeating Minnesota's Kevin Steinhaus, 6-4, in the placing match. He owns a 7-1 career mark at the Big Ten tournament.
• Abounader has surged to No. 2 in the most recent InterMat rankings at 184 pounds. Abounader is 20-1 on the season, including a 4-1 record against nationally-ranked opposition. He most recently defeated Virginia Tech's seventh-ranked Zack Zavatsky, 5-3, on a tiebreak rideout. His only loss came to Cornell's top-ranked Gabe Dean in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas championship match. He is also ranked No. 2 by Amateur Wrestling News and in the latest coaches poll.
• Junior heavyweight Adam Coon suffered his first official loss of the 2015-16 in his most recent bout, falling to Virginia Tech's third-ranked Ty Walz, 3-2, on a first-period takedown. Coon also fell to Walz in exhibition action at the NWCA All-Star Classic. Coon is 15-1 on the season and ranked fourth nationally. He has claimed bonus points in each of his last seven wins with three pins, an injury default, two technical falls and a major decision over the stretch.
• Graduate student Max Huntley boasts 11 bonus wins this season -- more than half of his 18-win total -- and leads the Wolverines with six falls, including three in his last seven matches. Huntley also owns three technical falls and two major decisions.
• Michigan lost two starting wrestlers to season-ending injuries over the final several weeks of the regular season. Sophomore/freshman Davonte Mahomes suffered a torn ACL early in his 174-pound match against Penn State's top-ranked Bo Nickal on Jan. 31. Mahomes posted a 10-8 record this season and, after a slow start, had surged to top 15 in the national rankings after knocking off two ranked wrestlers in January. It is Mahomes' second season-ending ACL tear in two seasons. Sophomore Garrett Sutton suffered a broken jaw in practice just prior to the Virginia Tech dual. He was 9-10 on the season at 165 pounds.
• Eight Wolverines have made their varsity debuts this season -- junior/sophomore Aaron Calderon, senior/junior Cody VanderHagen, junior/sophomores Jordan Amine, Payne Hayden and Cameron Kennedy and sophomore/freshmen Malik Amine, Zac Hall and Zehlin Storr. Jordan Amine and Hayden both earned their first varsity wins at the CKLV, while Malik Amine and Hall notched their first varsity wins at the Southern Scuffle.
U-M Individual Rankings
| Wt. | Wrestler | InterMat | Flo | W.I.N. | AWN |
| 125 | Conor Youtsey | 20 | NR | NR | 20 |
| 133 | Rossi Bruno | 18 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
| 149 | Alec Pantaleo | 6 | 7 | 6 | 8 |
| 157 | Brian Murphy | 13 | 12 | 10 | 10 |
| 184 | Domenic Abounader | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| 197 | Max Huntley | 7 | 7 | 8 | 10 |
| Hwt | Adam Coon | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
LAST TIME OUT
The Wolverines closed out the dual-meet portion of their 2015-16 schedule with a 24-11 loss to No. 5 Virginia Tech in the NWCA National Duals Series last Sunday (Feb. 21). Michigan earned wins from senior Rossi Bruno (133 pounds), sophomore Alec Pantaleo (149) and junior Domenic Abounader (184), who used a tiebreak rideout to defeat No. 7 Zack Zavatsky. While the Wolverines claimed just three individual bouts, three of their losses were decided by just a point and another in double overtime. [ Full Recap ]
UP NEXT
Thu-Sat., March 17-19 -- at NCAA Championships (New York, New York)
