Biggest (regular season) Night of the Year for Hockey and Wrestling
Penn State is the big bad wolf of B1G Wrestling, but they have to come to Ann Arbor tonight! LFG!!
Minnesota is the biggest threat to our Star-Studded Hockey team. We could go a long way toward another B1G Championship tonight!
How are we feeling? I think we can win these both, with wrestling at home, and there should be a good atmosphere, and hockey being the more talented team.
January 21st, 2022 at 4:37 PM ^
Would be an absolute steal if we can sweep in Minny with the pending departures for China, but I'll take a split!
Go Blue!
January 21st, 2022 at 4:38 PM ^
Minnesota just lost their starting goalie (former Michigan Wolverine Jack LaFontaine) to the NHL two weekends ago because Carolina was in major trouble at that position.
Their backup Justen Close got the start in both games last weekend against Alaska Fairbanks. He's a junior and has gotten very sparing minutes up until last weekend. Have to imagine that will play pretty heavily into our favor.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:32 PM ^
Yeah losing Laffer really takes some of the luster off of that team, and with them also being hurt by the Olympics selections, I’d actually argue OSU/ND are a bigger threat to our hopes of a B1G regular season title.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:24 PM ^
gird your loins
January 21st, 2022 at 7:21 PM ^
The goddamn Lions got 'nuthin ta do with it!
January 21st, 2022 at 5:28 PM ^
Is the hockey game televised or streaming anywhere? I can't find it but info on college hockey is always sketchy.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:31 PM ^
Hockey is on ESPNU tonight at 9 eastern, tomorrow night is on BTN at 7:30 eastern.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:32 PM ^
Hockey game is on ESPNU at 9.
Wrestling is on BTN at 6. So, they won't overlap.
January 21st, 2022 at 5:38 PM ^
Pin the Nittany lions.
January 21st, 2022 at 7:01 PM ^
Can Michigan come back? No idea how this is supposed to play out on paper. Assuming Amine losing is the end.
January 21st, 2022 at 7:16 PM ^
Looks like Penn state is still a clear step ahead of Michigan on the mat
January 21st, 2022 at 8:03 PM ^
Maybe 2
January 21st, 2022 at 7:24 PM ^
Are we getting crushed? I know nothing about wrestling but it doesn't seem close
January 21st, 2022 at 7:52 PM ^
I think it safe to say we are getting crushed.
January 21st, 2022 at 7:53 PM ^
Yes, sadly it went about as I expected. Won all the matches they were supposed to and a few they weren't.
January 21st, 2022 at 11:34 PM ^
That was ugly for sure
January 21st, 2022 at 7:41 PM ^
Go Blue!!!!
Beat dem gophers ?
Beat dem nittany lions ?
January 21st, 2022 at 7:54 PM ^
PSU is the real deal on the mat
January 21st, 2022 at 7:54 PM ^
SO many easy takedowns given up tonight. Lots of fight, but kind of snowballed down the stretch in some close matches. PSU clearly is a step above as a team right now. Lots of season left, the young coach has got the team back to the upper echelon! Go Blue
January 21st, 2022 at 7:59 PM ^
I feel like we have been at this level forever. The occasional individual NC, a few other placers and a top tenish finish but not a real contender for NC. It's not a bad place to be, just not a real contender.
January 21st, 2022 at 8:12 PM ^
I honestly haven't watched the team long - of & on between McFarland & Bormet regimes. Seemed like the talent dropped off for a year recently, but we've usually been near top of B1G.
Right now Intermat rankings show us in a clear 3rd place, but that was a few days ago. Might change after tonight's match. Difference between 3rd & 4th is less than 1st & 2nd. So PSU clearly dominant this season. 
January 21st, 2022 at 10:49 PM ^
As with most college sports, a lot of that is related to the state's talent pool. Pennsylvania is easily the best state for high school wrestling and Iowa is #2. There's a big gap between 1 & 2 and another after Iowa. Michigan is around 10. Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, California, and Oklahoma are all bigger wrestling states than Michigan
January 24th, 2022 at 3:10 PM ^
I wrestled in high school in Pennsylvania. Wrestling is a big damn deal there.
Schools would completely fill up their gyms for wrestling matches. For big matches, schools would move to the local college arena to get more capacity.
Wrestling is a religion in Pennsylvania, brought there by the coal miners from Eastern Europe . . . Poland, Russia, Ukraine, etc.
If you are a PA state champion in high school (a lot of those guys wind up at Penn State), you are an absolute beast.
January 22nd, 2022 at 12:44 AM ^
NCAA wrestling has always been (and likely forever will be) so top heavy. There really are only 2 (or even 1) true NC contenders most years.
From 2008-2021: only 3 schools have won an NCAA title (PSU, Iowa, and Ohio St did get one).
From 2001-2007: only 2 schools won an NCAA title (Minn, OK St).
From 1989-2000: only 2 schools won an NCAA title (Iowa, OK St).
1988: Arizona State won a rather random NCAA title.
From 1975-1987: only 2 schools won an NCAA title (Iowa, IA State).
January 22nd, 2022 at 8:37 AM ^
Yeah, this was my experience following it tangentially as well. It's the type of sport where the talent distribution matters immensely and there's such a small pool of top-flight programs that they can sort of horde talent and dominate.
UM is pretty good at wrestling but it seems unlikely they'd ever win the whole thing unless something random happened.
January 22nd, 2022 at 2:17 PM ^
All the top talent tends to want to congregate together too.
PSU also benefits from the presence of the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club (NLWC) --- the likes of David Taylor and Kyle Snyder are resident athletes there, along with top-tier coaches. So it becomes a magnet for top wrestlers to come to State College, simply to be around truly world-class elite wrestlers like those 2 (both Olympic Gold Medalists) and others.
U-M could theoretically break through to an NCAA title but the sport's structure makes it very very difficult to do so.
January 21st, 2022 at 7:58 PM ^
Wow that was a beatdown. Hopefully this sharpens their focus for the tourney.
January 21st, 2022 at 8:00 PM ^
Wow, even Paris lost. This was disappointing, no other way to look at it.