Michigan
NCAA Championships (Day 1)
Wolverines Advance Three to NCAA Quarterfinals
3/21/2019 11:08:00 PM | Wrestling
» Stevan Micic (133 pounds), Alec Pantaleo (157) and Myles Amine (174) advanced to the NCAA quarterfinal round.
» With four more Wolverines alive in the wrestlebacks, U-M is in seventh place (17.5 points) after the first day of NCAA competition.
» Michigan earned six bonus wins, including two major decisions from Micic and a first-period pin from Mason Parris in the heavyweight wrestlebacks.
Site: Pittsburgh, Pa. (PPG Paints Arena)
Event: NCAA Championships (Day 1 of 3)
U-M Team Standing: 7th Place of 71 Teams (17.5 points) after Day 1
Next U-M Event: Friday, March 22 -- at NCAA Championships – Day 2 (Pittsburgh, Pa.), 11 a.m.
• Photo Gallery
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The University of Michigan wrestling team advanced three into the quarterfinal round at the 2019 NCAA Championships on Thursday (March 21) in front of 17,957 fans at PPG Paints Arena. With another four wrestlers still alive in the wrestlebacks, the Wolverines are in seventh place (17.5 points) after the first day of competition.
Senior/junior Stevan Micic, fifth-year senior Alec Pantaleo, and senior/junior Myles Amine all registered perfect first-day records to advance to the quarterfinals, posting a combined 6-0 mark with four bonus wins. It is the third quarterfinal appearance for the trio; all three are two-time NCAA All-Americans.
Micic, a 2018 NCAA finalist and seeded second this year, earned major decisions in both of his day-one matches. He put up big points in the third period to pull away in his first-round match against Stanford's Mason Pengilly, scoring three takedowns -- doubling his total in the match -- and accumulating 2:53 in riding-time advantage to secure a 15-7 victory. He jumped out to an early lead in his second period, using a takedown and four-point leg turk in the first period to claim the bulk of his points in an 11-2 win over Purdue's Ben Thornton. Micic improved to 16-0 on the season with 11 bonus wins.
Pantaleo, the No. 4 seed at 157 pounds, rolled to a 16-3 major decision in his opening-round match against Buffalo's Alex Smythe behind four takedowns, a four-point tilt and 5:13 in riding-time advantage. He went for the tech fall late in the bout but could not finish on a couple leg attacks in the closing 30 seconds. Pantaleo also earned a 5-3 decision against Army's Luke Weiland in the evening session with two first-period takedowns and a third-period rideout.
Amine, seeded fourth at 174 pounds, won decisively in both of his matches, including a 12-3 major decision against Navy's Spencer Carey in the second round. Amine scored on five takedowns -- two apiece in the first and third periods -- and rode for 1:59. He also earned an 8-3 decision against Rutgers' Joe Grello in the morning session, scoring on a pair of first-period takedowns and another late in the third while accumulating 1:27 in riding-time advantage. It was the first meeting between Amine and Grello after the Wolverine captain missed the regular-season dual meet at Rutgers due to injury.
Sophomore Drew Mattin, junior/sophomore Kanen Storr and senior/junior Logan Massa were knocked into the consolation bracket after second-round losses at 125, 141 and 165 pounds, respectively.
Mattin, seeded 16th at 125 pounds, dropped a 4-0 decision to Northwestern's top-seeded Sebastian Rivera in the second round -- off a late first-period takedown and third-period rideout. Mattin earned a 5-3 decision over Purdue's Devin Schroder in his first period, scoring on takedowns in the first and second periods and building up 2:23 in riding-time advantage.
Storr and Massa both dropped heartbreakers in the second round on late third-period points. Storr, seeded eighth at 141 pounds, was pushing the pace in the third period against Oklahoma's Dom Demas, drawing a stall warning, but gave up a takedown at the buzzer to lose, 3-1. Massa, seeded sixth at 165 pounds, also pushed the pace in his second-round bout against Northern Iowa's No. 11 seed Bryce Steiert, but sacrificed a late reversal and rideout in the third to fall, 2-1.
Massa earned bonus points in his first-round bout, scoring three takedowns, a reversal and six back points to secure a 15-3 major decision over Buffalos' Troy Keller. Storr claimed a wild 10-7 decision over Duke's Josh Finesilver in the first round, scoring the match's first two takedowns before Finesilver eventually evened the score with a counter takedown midway through the third. Storr escaped then added a late counter takedown of his own to ice it.
Freshman Mason Parris, seeded fifth at heavyweight, bounced back from a frustrating first-round loss to earn a quick first-period fall in the evening wrestleback round. Parris hit his dump quickly against North Carolina's Cory Gilliland-Dani, worked the Tar Heel to his back and secured the pin at 1:05 -- his 12th of the season and U-M's first of the day. Parris fell to Iowa All-American Sam Stoll, 8-5, in the morning session after giving up five stall points despite scoring on an early single-leg attack and posting the bulk of the offensive action.
Fifth-year senior Malik Amine was eliminated from the competition after posting a 1-2 record and suffering his second loss of the tournament in the evening wrestleback round. Amine, seeded 33rd at 149 pounds, used two takedowns and a four-point cradle to defeat Tennessee Chattanooga's Tanner Smith, 9-2, in the pigtail round before falling to Rutgers' top-seeded Anthony Ashnault, 10-2, and West Virginia's 17th-seeded Christian Monserrat, 7-3. Amine was in deep on a potential-tying single leg late in the latter bout but gave up a counter takedown as Monserrat iced the decision.
Michigan will resume competition at the NCAA Championships on Friday (March 22) at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The morning session will begin at 11 a.m. and will feature quarterfinal matches and continued wrestleback competition.
Top 10 Teams (After Day 1)
1. Penn State          32.5
2. Ohio State         25.5
3. Iowa                24
4. Minnesota           20
Oklahoma State      20
6. Missouri            18
7. MICHIGANÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 17.5
8. Nebraska            16
Virginia Tech       16
10. Northern Iowa       15.5
Michigan Results (Day 1)
Numbers listed are tournament seeds
125 Pounds -- #16 Drew Mattin
First Round - dec. #17 Devin Schroder (Purdue), 5-2
Second Round - dec. by #1 Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern), 4-0
Consolations - vs. #31 Korbin Meink (Campbell)
133 Pounds -- #2 Stevan Micic
First Round - major dec. #31 Mason Pengilly (Stanford), 18-7
Second Round - major dec. #15 Ben Thornton (Purdue), 11-2
Quarterfinals - vs. #7 Austin DeSanto (Iowa)
141 Pounds -- #8 Kanen Storr
First Round - dec. #25 Josh Finesilver (Duke), 10-7
Second Round - dec. by #9 Dom Demas (Oklahoma), 3-1
Consolations - vs. #10 Nicholas Gil (Navy)
149 Pounds -- #33 Malik Amine
Pigtail -- dec. #32 Tanner Smith (Tennessee Chattanooga), 9-2
First Round - major dec. by #1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers), 10-2
Consolations - dec. by #17 Christian Monserrat (West Virginia), 7-3
Eliminated with a 1-2 record
157 Pounds -- #4 Alec Pantaleo
First Round - major dec. #29 Alex Smythe (Buffalo), 16-3
Second Round - dec. #20 Luke Weiland (Army), 5-3
Quarterfinals - vs. #5 Hayden Hidlay (NC State)
165 Pounds -- #6 Logan Massa
First Round - major dec. #27 Troy Keller (Buffalo), 15-3
Second Round - dec. by #11 Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa), 2-1
Consolations - vs. #28 Carson Brolsma (Minnesota)
174 Pounds -- #4 Myles Amine
First Round - dec. #29 Joe Grello (Rutgers), 8-3
Second Round - major dec. #20 Spencer Carey (Navy), 12-3
Quarterfinals - vs. #5 Jordan Kutler (Lehigh)
Heavyweight -- #5 Mason Parris
First Round - dec. by #28 Sam Stoll (Iowa), 8-5
Consolations - pinned #21 Cory Gilliland-Dani (North Carolina), 1:05
Consolations - #11 Thomas Haines (Lock Haven)
Players Mentioned
