Michigan
NCAA Championships
Wolverines Close Out NCAAs with Bonus Wins to Place Ninth
3/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Adam Coon
» Adam Coon earned back-to-back pins to claim third place at heavyweight, including an overtime stick against Virginia Tech's Ty Walz (7:57) in the medal match.
» Conor Youtsey (125 pounds) and Alec Pantaleo (149) took fifth and sixth place, respectively, to earn All-America honors.
» U-M finished tied -- with Illinois -- for ninth place (50.5 points) in the final team standings.
Site: New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden)
Event: NCAA Wrestling Championships (Day 3 of 3)
U-M Team Standing: Tie-9th Place (50.5 points)
Next U-M Event: Season Complete
• Photo Gallery
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The University of Michigan wrestling team closed out the 2016 NCAA Championships with some big bonus victories, highlighted by a pair of pins from junior heavyweight Adam Coon, to surge back into the top-10 team standings and move into a share of ninth place (50.5 points) on the third and final day Saturday (March 19) at Madison Square Garden.
Coon, seeded fifth at heavyweight, pinned early and late in his final two bouts, tossing Oregon State's seventh-seeded Amarveer Dhesi just 47 seconds into his consolation semifinal before using a counter attack to stick Virginia Tech's third-seeded Ty Walz at the 7:57 mark in his third-place bout. It is Coon's second straight top-three NCAA finish.
His win against Walz was his first in four matches against the Hokie wrestler over the last two seasons. Both wrestlers struck deep but could not finish in regulation -- Walz on a first-period high crotch and Coon on a deep single leg and scramble in the second. Neither could score in a flurry early in the sudden-victory period, but Coon took advantage of another late, spinning around a Walz single-leg shot for the deciding takedown. Walz relaxed upon giving up the takedown, and Coon drove him straight to his back to secure his third pin of the tournament -- ninth of the season.
Senior/junior Conor Youtsey also picked up a couple bonus points with a forfeit victory in the fifth-place match at 125 pounds. He split his medal-round matches en route to fifth place -- his second straight top-six finish as an unseeded wrestler at the national event. He dropped a 10-1 major decision to Ohio State's top-seeded Nathan Tomasello, last year's NCAA champion at the weight, in the consolation semifinals after a big first period put him in a six-point hole. He earned easy points in the fifth-place contest when Northern Iowa's ninth-seeded Dylan Peters did not take the mat -- points that pushed the Wolverines back into the top 10.
Sophomore Alec Pantaleo, seeded fifth at 149 pounds, suffered a pair of tough losses in the medal round to claim sixth place and close out his first NCAA All-America performance. Pantaleo started strong against Missouri's third-seeded Lavion Mayes, hitting a quick single and two-point suck but was reversed and appeared in some discomfort upon the ensuing restart. He was pinned late in the period (2:49) and again in his fifth-place matches against Kent State's 10th-seeded Mike DePalma. Pantaleo is the eighth different Wolverine wrestler to reach the podium over the last three seasons.
Tweet of the Day 
Out with a BANG! Adam Coon with the FALL in sudden victory for 3rd! #WrestleNYC pic.twitter.com/SLOl7dkY6w
-- NCAA Wrestling (@ncaawrestling) March 19, 2016
The Wolverine trio earned the 182nd, 183rd and 184th All-America citations in program history and upped head coach Joe McFarland's tally to 52 over his 17-year tenure. Michigan has boasted at least one All-American in 23 of the last 25 seasons.
Top 15 Teams (Final)
1. Penn State 123
2. Oklahoma State 97.5
3. Ohio State 86
4. Virginia Tech 82
5. Iowa 81
6. Missouri 74.5
7. Cornell 67
8. Nebraska 58
9. MICHIGAN 50.5
Illinois 50.5
11. NC State 49
12. Iowa State 35
13. Oklahoma 33.5
14. Lehigh 31
15. Rutgers 30
Michigan Results (Day 3)
Numbers listed are tournament seedings
125 Pounds -- Conor Youtsey
Consolations - major dec. by #1 Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State), 10-1
Fifth Place - won by forfeit over #9 Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa)
Finished in fifth place with a 5-2 record
149 Pounds -- #5 Alec Pantaleo
Consolations - pinned by #3 Lavion Mayes (Missouri), 2:49
Fifth Place - pinned by #10 Mike DePalma (Kent State), 3:29
Finished in sixth place with a 3-3 record
Heavyweight -- #5 Adam Coon
Consolations - pinned #7 Amarveer Dhesi (Oregon State), 0:47
Third Place - pinned #3 Ty Walz (Virginia Tech), 7:57
Finished in third place with a 5-1 record
