Michigan
Michigan State
Wolverines Set to Host MSU, No. 2 OSU for Rivalry Weekend
2/6/2018 2:05:00 PM | Wrestling
» No. 4 Michigan will host a pair of Big Ten rivals this weekend, welcoming Michigan State to Cliff Keen Arena at 7 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 9) and Ohio State to Crisler Center at 6 p.m. on Sunday (Feb. 11).
» Michigan's dual against the Spartans will mark the series' 110th meeting, while U-M looks to break its dual-meet attendance record at Sunday's OSU dual at Crisler; its current record is 5,200, set in 1967.
» Stevan Micic has earned bonus points in each of his last nine matches, while Adam Coon owns seven bonus wins over the same stretch.
THIS WEEK
Friday, Feb. 9 -- vs. Michigan State (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
Tickets | Live Stats | BTN Plus
Sunday, Feb. 11 -- vs. Ohio State (Crisler Center), 6 p.m.
Tickets | Live Stats | TV: ESPN2 | WatchESPN | The Clash at Crisler
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter
Game Day Information: Cliff Keen Arena Information | Ticket Information
The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team (9-2, 6-1 Big Ten) is slated to host a pair of Big Ten Conference rivalry matchups this weekend, welcoming Michigan State (5-9, 1-7 Big Ten) to Cliff Keen Arena at 7 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 9) before hosting No. 2 Ohio State (12-1, 7-1 Big Ten) in "The Clash at Crisler" at 6 p.m. Sunday (Feb. 11) at Crisler Center.
Prior to the dual meet, Michigan also will host a Michigan vs. Ohio Junior High All-Star Meet at 3:15 p.m. at the Crisler Center. Tickets for the all-star meet will be available at the door -- with the northeast entrance opening at 2 p.m. -- and will be valid for the Michigan/OSU dual.
As part of its Military Appreciation Night on Sunday, Michigan will honor Medal of Honor recipient James McCloughan. A former wrestler, wrestling coach and referee from South Haven, Michigan, McCloughan served as an Army combat medic in the Vietnam War.
PROMOTIONS
Michigan State: Foam Finger Giveaway (more promotions)
Ohio State: Maize Out, Military Appreciation Day, Youth Clinic, Blue LED Glow Stick & Rally Towel Giveaway, Post-Dual Autographs (more promotions)
Michigan's Projected Starting Lineup
| Wgt. | Name | Year/Elig. | Hometown (High School) |
| 125 | Drew Mattin | Fr./Fr. | Delta, Ohio (Delta) |
| 133 | Stevan Micic | Jr./So. | Cedar Lake, Ind. (Hanover Central) |
| 141 | Sal Profaci | Jr./So. | Monroe Twp, N.J. (Monroe Township) |
| 149 | Malik Amine | Sr./Jr. | Brighton, Mich. (Detroit Catholic Central) |
| 157 | Alec Pantaleo | Sr./Jr. | Canton, Mich. (Canton) |
| 165 | Logan Massa | Jr./So. | St. Johns, Mich. (St. Johns) |
| 174 | Myles Amine | Jr./So. | Brington, Mich. (Detroit Catholic Central) |
| 184 | Domenic Abounader | 5th/Sr. | Gates Mills, Ohio (St. Edward) |
| 197 | Kevin Beazley | Gr./Sr. | Highland, Mich. (Detroit Catholic Central) |
| Hwt | Adam Coon | Gr./Sr. | Fowlerville, Mich. (Fowlerville) |
WOLVERINE BITES
• Friday's dual will mark the 110th meeting between in-state rivals Michigan and Michigan State, dating back to the Wolverines' inaugural 1921-22 season -- when MSU was still the Michigan Agricultural College. The two programs split a pair of duals that season with the Spartans winning, 20-18, before U-M bounced back with an 18-15 decision. Michigan owns a 69-35-5 advantage in the all-time series.
• Michigan will look to break its dual-meet attendance record with Sunday's Crisler Center dual against Ohio State. The Wolverines' largest recorded crowd was 5,200, set at the Michigan/Michigan State dual on Feb. 25, 1967, at Yost Field House.
• Michigan has won four straight duals against ranked opposition since suffering its lone Big Ten loss against Penn State (Jan. 12). The Wolverines defeated No. 21 Wisconsin, No. 13 Minnesota, No. 4 Iowa and No. 15 Nebraska by a combined 103-44 margin. The win against Iowa snapped a nine-meet Hawkeye win streak in the series and was the Wolverines' first in Iowa City since 2005.
• The Wolverines own the third spot in the Big Ten standings with a 6-1 conference record, trailing Ohio State (7-1) and Penn State (8-0), who clinched at least a share of the conference dual-meet title with its win over the Buckeyes last Saturday.
• Junior/sophomore Logan Massa used an overtime counter takedown to edge Nebraska's 12th-ranked Isaiah White last Friday and snap a four-match losing streak stretching back to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 1-2). Massa, who had missed nearly six weeks due to an injury suffered in the CKLV quarterfinals, had dropped three matches to top-10 opponents since his return.
• Fifth-year senior Domenic Abounader has faced ranked opponents in four of his last five bouts with a 3-1 record in those bouts, including a 9-5 decision against Nebraska's Taylor Venz in his most recent outing. He also earned wins over Wisconsin's ninth-ranked Ricky Robertson and Iowa's 20th-ranked Mitch Bowman. His lone loss over his last nine matches was a controversial 5-2 decision to Penn State's top-ranked Bo Nickal. Abounader is 7-3 against ranked opposition this season.
• Senior/junior Alec Pantaleo scored three takedowns en route to an 8-5 decision against Nebraska's seventh-ranked Tyler Berger -- his second win over Berger this season. Pantaleo previously defeated Berger, 9-3, in the CKLV semifinals en route to the 157-pound title. Pantaleo also beat Ohio State's Micah Jordan, 10-3, in the CKLV championship bout.
• Graduate student Adam Coon improved to 20-0 on the season with the Iowa win. He is 10-0 against ranked opponents and 5-0 against wrestlers currently ranked among the nation's top 10 at heavyweight. Coon and junior/sophomore Stevan Micic remain the Wolverines' lone undefeated wrestlers in dual-meet action this season. Coon owns a perfect 11-0 dual mark, while Micic is 10-0.
• Micic has claimed bonus points in each of his last nine matches since taking fifth place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. He has a fall, two technical falls and six major decisions over that stretch. Coon and Abounader have also piled on the bonus points of late; Coon owns seven bonus wins over the last nine matches, while Abounader boasts six.
• Micic, Massa, Abounader and Coon have all earned bonus points in at least 70 percent of their season wins. Micic leads the pack with bonus in 13 of his 15 wins (86.7 percent), while Massa has earned bonus in 80 percent (8 of 10), Abounader in 70.5 percent (12 of 17) and Coon in 70 percent (14 of 20).
• Graduate student Kevin Beazley was named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week two weeks ago in recognition of his 6-5 victory against Iowa's fifth-ranked Cash Wilcke. Beazley rallied from an initial deficit with a pair of takedowns in the second period and withstood a late Iowa leg attack to hold on for the win. The win pulled Michigan within one point on the scoreboard and set up a winner-takes-all heavyweight bout.
• Coon clinched the Wolverines' 19-17 dual win at Iowa with a 3-2 decision against third-ranked -- and previously-undefeated -- Sam Stoll in the final match. It marked the fourth time in his collegiate career that Coon sealed a Michigan dual win in the final bout and the second time that U-M was losing entering his bout.
• Senior/junior Malik Amine made his rankings debut at 149 pounds a couple weeks ago after he earned a 6-4 decision over Minnesota's Steve Bleise. Amine, who lost to Bleise, 7-4, at the Midlands Championships last month, broke the match open with a four-point cradle in the third period. Amine is 12-8 on the season and ranks 18th in the latest InterMat poll.
• Freshman Drew Mattin already owns four wins over All-Americans in his young collegiate career. He earned his biggest win a few weeks ago in Minneapolis, Minnesota, rallying to earn a 4-2 tiebreaker win against Minnesota's fourth-ranked Ethan Lizak -- last season's NCAA runner-up. Mattin evened the score with a takedown at the third-period buzzer and added another after choosing neutral in the tiebreaker. Mattin flipped a 9-0 loss to Lizak at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 1-2). He also owns wins over Edinboro's Sean Russell, Arizona State's Ryan Millhof and Stanford's Connor Schram.
• Coon used a 21-6 technical fall over Indiana's Fletcher Miller to secure his 100th career win in his first bout of the calendar year (Jan. 7). Coon, who has improved to 107-13 over his four competitive seasons, is the 36th Wolverine wrestler to achieve the feat in program history. Abounader now is the closest Wolverine to the 100-win plateau with a career 86-26 record over his five seasons at Michigan.
• Michigan bookended the holiday break with dominant shutout wins against Oregon State (48-0) and Indiana (43-0) -- the latter being U-M's first shutout of a Big Ten opponent since a similar 39-0 win over Indiana in 1974. The last time Michigan boasted multiple shutouts in a season was 2000-01 when it blanked four opponents, including three in a row.
U-M Individual Rankings
| Wt. | Wrestler | InterMat | TW | Flo | TOM | WIN |
| 125 | Drew Mattin | 9 | 12 | 10/td> | 12 | 13 |
| 133 | Stevan Micic | 5 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
| 141 | Sal Profaci | NR | 25 | NR | NR | NR |
| 149 | Malik Amine | 18 | 19 | 18 | NR | 17 |
| 157 | Alec Pantaleo | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
| 165 | Logan Massa | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 |
| 174 | Myles Amine | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| 184 | Domenic Abounader | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 197 | Kevin Beazley | 12 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 14 |
| Hwt | Adam Coon | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Michigan State: The Spartans are 5-9 on the season and 1-7 in Big Ten duals after they dropped a pair of conference meets to Purdue (28-6, Feb. 2) and Nebraska (35-6, Feb. 4) last weekend. MSU's RayVon Foley (125 pounds) Javier Gasca (141) has been ranked at times throughout the season and list as high as No. 25 and No. 23, respectively, by Trackwrestling. Michigan owns a 69-35-5 advantage in the all-time series against Michigan State and has won each of the last seven meetings, including a 24-15 decision last season in East Lansing.
Ohio State: The Buckeyes are 12-1 on the season and 7-1 in Big Ten duals after suffering their first loss of the season in a 19-18 dual meet against No. 1 Penn State last Saturday night (Feb. 3). Ohio State is ranked at all 10 weights and are headlined by No. 4 Nathan Tomasello (125 pounds), No. 3 Luke Pletcher (133), No. 4 Micah Jordan (157), No. 3 Bo Jordan (174), No. 2 Myles Martin (184), No. 1 Kollin Moore (197), No. 1 Kyle Snyder (Hwt). Michigan leads the all-time series against Ohio State, 70-20-4, and has claimed two of the last three meetings, including a 21-11 victory two seasons ago in Columbus, Ohio -- the most recent meeting between the rivals.
LAST TIME OUT
The Wolverines took seven bouts against No. 15 Nebraska, including all three marquee matches, to earn a 24-10 win last Friday (Feb. 2) in their only dual of the weekend. Michigan claimed four of the opening five matches, including Domenic Abounader's 9-5 decision over seventh-ranked Taylor Venz at the opening weight, and claimed each of the last three. Alec Pantaleo earned a 9-3 decision over eighth-ranked Tyler Berger, and Logan Massa used an overtime takedown to edge 12th-ranked Isaiah White, 3-1. [ Full Recap ]
UP NEXT
Sunday, Feb. 18 -- vs. Central Michigan (Cliff Keen Arena), 2 p.m.
Players Mentioned
