Michigan
NCAA Championships (Day 2)
Micic, Coon Advance to NCAA Championship Round; U-M Secures Five All-Americans
3/16/2018 11:45:00 PM | Wrestling
» Michigan sits in fourth place (73.5 points) in the team standings after the second day at the NCAA Championships.
» Stevan Micic (133 pounds) and Adam Coon (heavyweight) used late third-period takedowns to win in the semifinals and advanced to the NCAA championship round.
» Michigan went 5-for-5 in the quarterfinal round as Micic, Coon, Alec Pantaleo (157), Myles Amine (174) and Domenic Abounader (184) all secured NCAA All-America honors; U-M's five NCAA semifinalists tied a program record.
Site: Cleveland, Ohio (Quicken Loans Arena)
Event: NCAA Wrestling Championships (Day 2 of 3)
U-M Team Standing: Fourth Place of 58 Teams (73.5 points) after Day 2
Next U-M Event: Saturday, March 17 -- NCAA Championships, Day 3 (Cleveland, Ohio), 11 a.m.
• Photo Gallery
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Junior/sophomore Stevan Micic and graduate student Adam Coon earned spots in the championship finals to headline the University of Michigan wrestling's performance on Friday (March 16) on the second day of competition at the 2018 NCAA Championships in front of a capacity crowd of 18,680 at Quicken Loans Arena. With five Wolverines securing All-America status, the Wolverines sit in fourth place with 73.5 points.
The Wolverines went a perfect 5-for-5 in the morning quarterfinal round to put five in the NCAA semifinals for just the second time in program history, and first time since 1929 when no weight class included more than 10 wrestlers. Michigan boasted five All-Americans for the second time in four seasons; it ties the second greatest single-season total in program history.
Micic, the second seed at 133 pounds, took advantage of the new danger rule to secure the winning takedown in the waning seconds of the third period and defeated Ohio State's third-seeded Luke Pletcher, 6-4, in the semifinals. Micic held an early lead on a first-period high crotch, but Pletcher took a temporary lead on a flash takedown in the third before Micic escaped quickly to tie and used another high crotch to initiate the deciding scramble. It was his third win over the Buckeye in five weeks' time -- after Micic dropped their first meeting back in December.
The Wolverine sophomore, now a two-time NCAA All-American, avenged his other season loss in the quarterfinals, cruising to a 13-1 major decision against Drexel's seventh-seeded Austin Desanto. Micic scoring immediately on a go-behind takedown and four-point leg turk to break open the bout in the first period. He added another takedown in the second, then two penalty points in the closing seconds of the third and a point for 1:58 riding time.
Micic will look to avenge another season loss -- albeit an exhibition one -- when he faces South Dakota State's top-seeded Seth Gross in the championship bout. Gross won the previous matchup at the NWCA All-Star Classic in November.
Coon, seeded second at heavyweight, also used a late third-period takedown to secure his semifinal win, 4-2, over Oregon State's sixth-seeded Amar Dhesi. The Wolverine captain, now a three-time NCAA All-American, gave up the first takedown off a counter attack early in the second, but the score was knotted at 2, after Dhesi opted to start neutral in the third. Coon struck on a single leg late in the frame, pulling to the center of the mat to finish and rode out the period to advance to the championship round for the second time in his career.
Coon won more comfortably in the quarterfinals, defeating Stanford's seventh-seeded Nathan Butler, 7-0, on two takedowns, a stall point in the third and 2:25 riding-time advantage.
Coon will take on Ohio State's top-seeded Kyle Snyder -- the two-time defending NCAA heavyweight champion -- in a NCAA Championship finals rubber-match. The two wrestlers have dealt each other their lone losses on the season. It is slated to be the final match of the championship round tomorrow night (March 17).
Senior/junior Alec Pantaleo, junior/sophomore Myles Amine and fifth-year senior Domenic Abounader all secured NCAA All-America honors with quarterfinals victories, but lost their semifinal bouts to No. 1 -seeded opponents to drop down into tomorrow morning's consolation semifinal round.
Pantaleo, seeded fifth at 157 pounds, struck first against NC State's top-seeded Hayden Hidlay in the semifinals, scoring on a first-period double leg, but gave up a big six-point move in the second and could not recover in a 10-2 loss. Pantaleo locked up his second All-America citation with an 8-5 decision over South Dakota State's 13th-ranked Luke Zilverberg in the quarterfinals behind three takedowns -- one in each period -- and 1:40 in riding-time advantage.
Amine, seeded fifth at 157 pounds, dropped a controversial bout to Arizona State's top-seeded Zahid Valencia, 7-5, with two stalling points making the difference in the semifinal score. Amine scored on two counter takedowns in the first period, but gave up the tying score at the end of the second. With the Wolverine pushing the action in the third, he was hit with another stall point that all but sealed the outcome. Amine avenged a dual-meet loss in the quarterfinals, when he used a first-period single leg to defeat Lehigh's fourth-seeded Jordan Kutler, 3-2. It was the second time in two seasons that he avenged a Lehigh loss to secure All-American status.
Abounader, seeded fifth at 184 pounds, locked in his first career All-America citation with a wild 11-9 decision in the second tiebreaker over NC State's Pete Renda in the quarterfinals. Abounader reversed Renda to his back to score two and two early in the second and added a takedown to build a five-point advantage, but Renda responded with two takedowns to steal away the lead. Abounader scored a reversal late in the third but was hit with a locked-hands penalty with just six seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime. Abounader earned stall points when Renda twice dropped down on the leg in the tiebreakers, and after the Wolverine rode out in the second set, it proved the deciding factor. The Wolverine captain fell to Penn State's top-seeded Bo Nickal, 6-3, in the evening semifinals on two first-period takedowns.
Freshman Drew Mattin, senior/junior Malik Amine and junior/sophomore Logan Massa all dropped morning wrestleback matches and were eliminated from the tournament. Mattin split two, with a victory against Stanford's Gabe Townsell, 4-1, on a first-period takedown in his first match of the day before Mattin lost the season rubber-match against Minnesota's eighth-seeded Ethan Lizak.
Massa, a 2017 NCAA All-American, lost an overtime heartbreaker against Oklahoma State's eighth-seeded Chandler Rogers, worked his way back into the match with a pair of third-period takedowns before giving up a go-behind takedown quickly in the sudden-victory frame.
The NCAA Championships will resume tomorrow (Saturday, March 17) with the fifth session starting at 11 a.m. at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The morning session will feature third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches. The finals will kick off at 8 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPN2.
Top 10 Teams (After Day 2)
1. Penn State         120.5 2. Ohio State         109.5 3. Iowa               86.5 4. MICHIGAN           73.5 5. NC State           69.5 6. Missouri           51.5 7. Virginia Tech      44.5 8. Cornell            43.0 9. Rutgers            42.5 10. Arizona State     37.0
Michigan Results (Day 2)
Numbers listed are tournament seedings
125 Pounds -- Drew Mattin
Consolations - dec. Gabe Townsell (Stanford), 4-1
Consolations - major dec. by #8 Ethan Lizak (Minnesota), 17-6
Eliminated with a 2-2 record
133 Pounds -- #2 Stevan Micic
Quarterfinals - major dec. #7 Austin DeSanto (Drexel), 13-1
Semfinals - dec. #3 Luke Pletcher (Ohio State), 6-4
First Place - vs. #1 Seth Gross (South Dakota State)
149 Pounds -- Malik Amine
Consolations - dec. by #6 Justin Oliver (Central Michigan), 7-1
Eliminated with a 1-2 record
157 Pounds -- #5 Alec Pantaleo
Quarterfinals - dec. #13 Luke Zilverberg (South Dakota State), 8-5
Semifinals - major dec. by #1 Hayden Hidlay (NC State), 10-2
Consolation Semis - vs. #6 Michael Kemerer (Iowa)
165 Pounds -- #7 Logan Massa
Consolations - dec. by #8 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State), 7-5 SV
Eliminated with a 1-2 record
174 Pounds -- #5 Myles Amine
Quarterfinals - dec. #4 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh), 3-2
Semifinals - dec. by #1 Zahid Valencia (Arizona State), 7-5
Consolations Semis - vs. #6 Bo Jordan (Ohio State)
184 Pounds -- #5 Domenic Abounader
Quarterfinals - dec. #4 Pete Renda (NC State), 11-9 TB2
Semifinals - dec. by #1 Bo Nickal (Penn State), 6-3
Consolations Semis - vs. #10 Emory Parker (Illinois)
Heavyweight -- #2 Adam Coon
Quarterfinals - dec. #7 Nathan Butler (Stanford), 7-0
Semifinals - dec. #6 Amar Dhesi (Oregon State), 4-2
First Place - vs. #1 Kyle Snyder (Ohio State)
• Day 1 Results
Players Mentioned
