Michigan
NCAA Championships (Day 1)
Wolverines to Send Eight to NCAA Championships
3/13/2018 10:43:00 AM | Wrestling
» Michigan will send eight wrestlers to the 2018 NCAA Championships -- its largest qualifying contingent since sending all 10 in 2015.
» Six Wolverines earned top-eight NCAA seeds, most notably No. 2 Stevan Micic (133 pounds) and No. 2 Adam Coon (Hwt).
» Michigan has boasted 22 NCAA champions and 187 All-Americans in program history and has had at least one All-American in 21 of the last 23 seasons, including three or more in each of the last three seasons.
THIS WEEK
Thu-Sat., March 15-17 -- at NCAA Championships (Cleveland, Ohio), noon (Thursday), 11 a.m. (Friday and Saturday)
Live Results | Twitter | Tournament Site | Brackets (PDF) | WatchESPN: Thursday | Friday | Saturday
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The University of Michigan wrestling team will send eight individual wrestlers to Cleveland, Ohio, to compete in the 2018 NCAA Championships, scheduled for Thursday through Saturday (March 15-17) at the Quicken Loans Arena.
The NCAA Championships will take place in six sessions over three days, beginning at noon on Thursday (March 15) with pigtail matches and the first round. The second session will resume later that day at 7 p.m. and feature continued preliminary matches as well as the first round of wrestlebacks.
On Friday (March 16), wrestling will begin at 11 a.m. with the quarterfinal round and continued wrestlebacks. The fourth session is slated for 8 p.m. and will feature semifinals and wrestlebacks. On Saturday (March 17), the fifth session is scheduled for 11 a.m. and will wrap up the consolation bracket, featuring seventh-, fifth- and third-place matches at all weights. The finals are slated for 8 p.m. Saturday evening.
The Wolverines have finished runner-up at the NCAA Championships on five occasions (1928, '29, '67, '74, 2005) and have posted 44 top-10 finishes in their 73 appearances at the tournament, including 10 (2001-08, '16) under head coach Joe McFarland.
Individually, U-M has produced 22 NCAA champions and 187 All-Americans, and the Wolverines have boasted at least one All-American in 21 of the last 23 seasons -- including three or more in each of the last three seasons.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday, March 15
Session I: Noon (TV: ESPNU/ESPN3)
Session II: 7 p.m. (TV: ESPN/ESPN3)
Friday, March 16
Quarterfinals: 11 a.m. (TV: ESPNU/ESPN3)
Semifinals: 8 p.m. (TV: ESPN/ESPN3)
Saturday, March 17
Championship Medal Round: 11 a.m. (TV: ESPNU/ESPN3)
Finals: 8 p.m. (TV: ESPN2/ESPN3.com)
MICHIGAN'S NCAA QUALIFIERS
| 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) |
| 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. | Brighton, Mich. (Detroit Catholic Central) |
| 184 | Domenic Abounader | 5th/Sr. | Gates Mills, Ohio (St. Edward) |
| Hwt | Adam Coon | Gr./Sr. | Fowlerville, Mich. (Fowlerville) |
WOLVERINE BITES
• After losing graduate student Kevin Beazley to season-ending injury, Michigan will send eight wrestlers to the NCAA Championships -- its largest contingent since sending 10 in 2015 -- including five NCAA All-Americans in junior/sophomore Stevan Micic, senior/junior Alec Pantaleo, junior/sophomore Logan Massa, junior/sophomore Myles Amine and graduate student Adam Coon. Coon and fifth-year senior Domenic Abounader are both four-time NCAA qualifiers.
• Freshman Drew Mattin is the first Michigan true freshman to qualify for the NCAA Championships since Alec Pantaleo and Garrett Sutton did so at 149 and 165 pounds, respectively, in 2015. Current Wolverines Coon and Aboundader also qualified as true freshmen in 2014. Like Mattin, senior/junior Malik Amine will make his NCAA tournament debut.
• Six Wolverines earned seeds for the NCAA Championships:
Wt. -- Wrestler, Seed
125 -- Drew Mattin, None
133 -- Stevan Micic, No. 2
149 -- Malik Amine, None
157 -- Alec Pantaleo, No. 5
165 -- Logan Massa, No. 7
174 -- Myles Amine, No. 5
184 -- Domenic Abounader, No. 5
Hwt -- Adam Coon, No. 2
• With 187 NCAA All-America certificates in program history, the Wolverines rank sixth among the leading programs in the nation, trailing only Oklahoma State, Iowa, Iowa State, Oklahoma and Penn State. Michigan has produced at least one All-American in 21 of the last 23 seasons. The Wolverines also rank ninth among the national elite with 22 NCAA individual titles in program history.
• All four members of the Michigan coaching staff garnered multiple NCAA All-America honors during their respective collegiate careers at Michigan. Head coach Joe McFarland was a four-time All-American and two-time NCAA finalist at 126 pounds, and associate head coach Sean Bormet was a two-time NCAA All-American at 158 pounds and reached the final as a senior (1994). Assistant coach Josh Churella was a three-time All-American at 141 and 149 pounds, who reached the final as a junior (2007), and volunteer coach Kellen Russell captured two NCAA 141-pound titles and was a three-time All-American.
• Graduate student Kevin Beazley was forced to withdraw from the NCAA Championship after suffering an injury in the second period of his third-place match at the Big Ten Championships. Beazley, a 2017 NCAA All-American while at Old Dominion, ends his collegiate career with a 119-61 record, which includes a 16-9 mark this season.
• Three -- and maybe four -- Wolverines are slated for first-round rematches at NCAAs. Micic will open up against North Carolina's Zach Sherman, who he defeated, 11-7, in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational quarterfinals. Malik Amine and Pantaleo both have first-round opponents that they lost to during the dual season -- Amine previously dropped an 8-2 decision to Ohio State's sixth-seeded Ke-Shawn Hayes, while Pantaleo fell to Lehigh's Ian Brown, 7-5. Abounader will await the 184-pound pigtail bout for his first-round opponent; if it is Minnesota's Brandon Krone, Abounader defeated the Golden Gopher, 8-0, at the Big Ten Championships.
• Micic and Coon earned the No. 2 seeds at 133 pounds and heavyweight, respectively. Micic owns a 12-2 record against the NCAA field at his weight, including a 5-2 mark against other seeded wrestlers. Coon is 14-1 against the heavyweight field and 9-1 against other seeded wrestlers. Logan Massa held the No. 2 seed at 165 pounds last season; he is the No. 7 seed this year. Massa's No. 2 ranking was the highest Wolverine seed at NCAAs since Kellen Russell earned the No. 1 spot at 141 pounds in 2012 en route to his second straight NCAA crown.
• The Wolverines took third place at the Big Ten Championships -- its highest finish at the conference tournament since similarly placing third in 2009. It was also the first time since 2009 that U-M produced multiple Big Ten individual champions. Michigan finished third -- behind Penn State and Ohio State -- in the final Big Ten standings with a 7-2 conference record. It was Michigan's second-most conference wins -- outside of its 8-1 season two years ago -- in 12 seasons.
• Junior/sophomore Stevan Micic captured the Big Ten title at 133 pounds with a 7-4 decision against Ohio State's Luke Pletcher in the championship match. It was his second win over the Buckeye wrestler in a span of three weeks -- and after Pletcher handed Micic his first loss of the season at the CKLV tournament, Micic became Michigan's first-ever conference champion at 133 pounds. Micic claimed third place at last season's Big Ten Championships; he owns an 8-1 record in two career Big Ten appearances.
• Senior/junior Alec Pantaleo captured the Big Ten 157-pound title with a 3-1 decision against Ohio State's Micah Jordan -- his third win against the Buckeye this season -- in the championship final. Adding to Micic's earlier finals win, Pantaleo's title marked the 127th conference crowd in Michigan program history and the sixth at 157 pounds. Pantaleo has placed top four in three career appearances at the conference tournament.
• Graduate student Adam Coon enters the NCAA Championships with a 25-1 record, after suffering his first loss of the season to Ohio State's Kyle Snyder, 4-2, in double overtime at the Big Ten heavyweight final. Coon defeated the Buckeye wrester, 3-1, on a first-period takedown in the dual meet in Ann Arbor on Feb. 11. That match had marked Snyder's first collegiate loss since the 2015 NCAA finals; in between, he had won two NCAA titles, an Olympic title and a world title. As the top two NCAA heavyweight seeds, Coon and Snyder could meet for a rubber match in the championship final.
• 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 112-14 over his four competitive seasons, is the 36th Wolverine wrestler to achieve the feat in program history. Abounader is the next-closest Wolverine to the 100-win plateau with a career 92-28 record over his Michigan career.
• Junior/sophomore Logan Massa defeated Iowa's then-No. 2-ranked Alex Marinelli twice at the Big Ten Championships to avenge one of his dual-meet losses on the season. Massa scrambled to an overtime takedown and an 8-6 decision into the 165-pound quarterfinals before earning a 6-3 decision in the fifth-place bout. Massa, who had missed nearly six weeks due to an injury suffered in the CKLV quarterfinals, had dropped three matches to top-10 opponents -- Marinelli included -- since his return but has since claimed seven of his last nine, including a 4-2 mark against ranked opponents over the stretch.
• Junior/sophomore Stevan Micic has claimed bonus points in 14 of his last 16 matches -- since taking fifth place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational -- with two falls, five technical falls and seven major decisions over the stretch.
• In his only two non-bonus win of late, Micic avenged one of his two losses on the season with 11-5 and 7-4 decisions against Ohio State's Luke Pletcher. In the dual-meet matchup, which was Pletcher's first loss of the season, Micic gave up the first takedown, but followed with four takedowns of his own and nearly four minutes of riding-time advantage. Pletcher had defeated Micic, 7-5, at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational semifinals.
• Junior/sophomore Myles Amine has also earned back-to-back wins against a Buckeye opponent to avenge an earlier season loss. Amine fell to three-time All-American and 2017 finalist Bo Jordan, 6-4, in the CKLV semifinals but used a last-second takedown to earn a 6-5 decision in the dual meet and pinned him at the 5:30 mark in the Big Ten semifinals.
• Amine has wrestled three of the top-four NCAA seeds at 174 pounds this season, losing a combined four matches by just five points. He dropped a 4-2 decision to Arizona State's Zahid Valencia in U-M's dual opener, sacrificed an early lead to fall to Lehigh's fourth-seeded Jordan Kutler, 5-4, and suffered a pair of one-point losses to Penn State's second-seeded Mark Hall -- one on riding time and another on a third-period takedown.
• Freshman Drew Mattin owns wins against seven wrestlers in the 125-pound NCAA field, including three seeded wrestlers. Mattin defeated four NCAA All-Americans over the first three months of his young collegiate career. He earned his biggest win in Minneapolis, rallying to earn a 4-2 tiebreaker win against Minnesota's fourth-ranked Ethan Lizak -- last season's NCAA runner-up -- on Jan. 21. 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 CKLV. He also owns wins over Edinboro's Sean Russell, Arizona State's Ryan Millhof and Stanford's Connor Schram.
U-M Individual Rankings
| Wt. | Wrestler | InterMat | TW | Flo | TOM | WIN |
| 125 | Drew Mattin | NR | 18 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
| 133 | Stevan Micic | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 149 | Malik Amine | NR | NR | 19 | NR | NR |
| 157 | Alec Pantaleo | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| 165 | Logan Massa | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 6 |
| 174 | Myles Amine | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| 184 | Domenic Abounader | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 197 | Kevin Beazley | 15 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 14 |
| Hwt | Adam Coon | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
The Wolverines took third place at the Big Ten Championships (March 3-4) behind champions Stevan Micic (133 pounds) and Alec Pantaleo (157) and seven total place-winners. Michigan went 7-for-7 in the quarterfinal round and 4-for-7 in the semifinals, with three Wolverines earning wins against higher-seeded opponents on the opening day. Micic and Pantaleo both defeated Buckeye opponents in the finals, replicating their results from the dual meet, while four different Wolverines won their medal-round matches. [ Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 ]
Players Mentioned
