Michigan heavyweight Adam Coon wins an epic match to advance to NCAA Championship finals
March 20th, 2015 at 11:11 PM ^
Outstanding - GO BLUE!
March 20th, 2015 at 11:12 PM ^
March 21st, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
and his kids go to high school with mine. The youngest "Steiner" son finished 2nd in the state and his older brother finished 3rd a few years back.
#coolstorybro
March 20th, 2015 at 11:23 PM ^
5 of Michigan's 10 wrestlers will take all-american honors (in wrestling, finishing in the top 8 of your weight class designates you "all-american").
125-Conor Youtsey, who was not seeded in the top 16, will finish between 3rd and 6th.
133-Rossi Bruno, seeded 14th, will wrestle for 7th.
157-Brian Murphy, seeded 11th, will wrestle for 7th.
197-Max Huntley, seeded 8th, will wrestle for 7th.
285-Adam Coon, seeded 6th, will wrestle for the championship tomorrow night.
Four of the 5 all-americans (everybody except Huntley) will return next year. Michigan appears to be headed for a top-10 finish in the team standings:
1. Ohio State (86.5)
2. Iowa (73)
3. Cornell (66.5)
4. Edinboro (64.5)
5. Missouri (60)
6. Penn State (58)
7. Oklahoma State (55.5)
8. Michigan (51)
9. Minnesota (49)
(tie). Nebraska (49)
11. Illinois (42.5)
7 of the top 11 are B1G teams.
March 20th, 2015 at 11:53 PM ^
Youtsey beat the 17th ranked wrestler, 3rd ranked wrestler, and 9th ranked wrestler to secure a top 6 finish. Just coming up clutch in March. Amazing to see him perform so well coming into the tournament unseeded.
It's also great to see Bruno, Murphy, and Huntley become all americans, Bruno and Murphy really outwrestling their seeds and Huntley living up to his.
The only disappointments come with Alec Pantaleo, the 6th seed true freshman at 149 and Domenic Abounader, the 8th seed sophomore not making top 8. They are young and adjusting still, so it's great to have these guys already that skilled making it to the tournament and already wrestling at such a high level in the stacked Big 10.
Adam Coon is absolutely amazing. After a disappointing performance at the NCAAs last season as the 1-seed at 285 (he didn't place), he came out and looked as sharp as I've ever seen him. He lost to McMullan, the #2 seed and #2 ranked heavyweight from NW, 2 weeks ago in the B1G Tournament Championship 7-6 in a tight match. He gutted out a 3-1 SV OT match tonight in the semis in absolutely amazing fashion.
Coon has aspirations to be an astronaut as well as an NFL lineman, and I hope you guys can see the video displaying his athleticism as a 6'5 270ish pound sophomore. The scramble he had at the end of the semi-finals match was simply jaw-dropping. I'll post it when it's out there.
Here's to the wolverines for a potential top 10 finish and the 5 all americans, way to represent.
Pretty cool to see the Big Ten is a wrestling conference too.
March 21st, 2015 at 12:58 PM ^
The SEC (football) of wrestling.
Are you saying the B1G oversigns in wrestling and pays the wrestlers?
March 21st, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
My Dad and I toured the wrestling facilities for a football game and bbq last fall. The resources for the team are 1st rate. It was great to see the program in such good shape.
Edit...Holy shit that was awesome!!! In OT sudden win those guys had to be just exhausted. McMullen just won the Big Ten so that was little payback too.
March 21st, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
hell with Edinboro? Just doesn't have the same ring....
March 20th, 2015 at 11:24 PM ^
That last 20 second OT Scramble was insane, especially considering it was two heaveyweights. Unbelievable how athletic both guys were... Going to be a tough match tomorrow for Coon but he is more than capable of winning.
5 Michigan Wrestlers will be crowned as All Americans tomorrow. Hell of a way to end the season...
March 20th, 2015 at 11:25 PM ^
You know who the last great Michigan athlete to come from Fowlerville High School was? Anyone? Anyone?
The immortal Charlie Gehringer.
March 21st, 2015 at 12:07 AM ^
Charlie Gehringer was my Grandpa's all-time favorite Tiger. My Grandpa (miss him dearly!) and I sat together many times over the years listening to Ernie and the Tigers on the radio on his front porch. He often talked about the Tiger players he had watched over the years---Grandpa and Grandma would take a few days off from their fruit farm every few summers to take in a Detroit weekend---and Gehringer was often spoken of when he reminisced.
BTW, I still proudly own that old radio and it still works (though I think I need to have the tubes tested and maybe replace a few), I plan on listening to it this spring and summer while raising a beer in memory of the man from whom I inherited my love of baseball .
My parents actually took me to the ceremony in 1983 when both Gehringer and Greenberg had their numbers retired by the organization (I want to say we were playing the Indians too, a club that Greenberg had worked for in his later years in baseball), but what still stands out is that - at one point when we were shuffling off to use the facilities - somehow we walked right past Gehringer and his family (at the time, my only clue as to who this 80-year old guy was had been in fact my dad's "That's him!") and my dad managed to get his program signed, and to this day, it is framed and hanging in his family room.
March 20th, 2015 at 11:26 PM ^
Tough regular season but they have done pretty good when it matters most.
4th in the B1Gs and perhaps a top-10 in the NCAAs.
March 20th, 2015 at 11:29 PM ^
March 20th, 2015 at 11:30 PM ^
Any shot there will be video of it in the internet?
March 20th, 2015 at 11:35 PM ^
March 20th, 2015 at 11:38 PM ^
Does he get the NCState guy in the finals? That's going to be a tough one.
March 21st, 2015 at 12:29 AM ^
So here's the video of Coon's semifinal match as well as the semi-final match of his opponent in the championship, #1 seed Gwiazdowki from NC State.
Skip to about 2:54:50 if you want to see the whole match. For the main action and best scramble of the tournament thus far, skip to 3:04:25.
Coon's match starts at about 3:54:50 and the main action being discussed starts at about 4:04:25. You were an hour off---i just watched it on my phone, on the WatchESPN App.
That's weird. It was at 2:54 and 3:04 for me when I watched it on my macbook.
I just rechecked it on my phone app for WatchESPN, and yes, those time frames I posted still look correct.
Either way, it's the very last match of the day shown on the program, being that it's the Heavyweight division. Big Guys play last, I suppose.
March 21st, 2015 at 12:58 AM ^
Just happened to be flipping through channels and saw Coon was wrestling and stayed with it. Crzy finish. And hopefully he pulls the upset tomorrow. One of my best friends is a huge wrestling fan and he's taken me to a few matches and it is definitely an awesome spectator sport.
Wow, I thought the other guy almost had Coon, but he kept spinning out, then finally rolled the other guy over. Hail and good luck in the final.
Why are we blasting a heavyweight into space? All kidding aside, that's great.
March 21st, 2015 at 10:01 AM ^
March 21st, 2015 at 10:02 AM ^
Just watched Coon's match. Easily one of the best scrambles I've seen by heavyweights at any level. Also, just like many of the football players, Coon is one of those athletes it is easy to root for on and off the mat.
Also, Cornell sophomore Gabe Dean, a Lowell High School graduate, is in the finals at 184.