Wrestling beats #18 Purdue

Submitted by vablue on January 21st, 2019 at 11:38 AM

The wrestling team continued to roll, beating 18th ranked Purdue 23-9.  Readout from the match is here:

https://mgoblue.com/news/2019/1/20/wrestling-michigan-remains-undefeated-with-workmanlike-win-over-no-18-purdue.aspx

125: Devin Schroder (Purdue) over Austin Assad (Michigan) (Dec 4-1)

133: #1 Stevan Micic (Michigan) over #19 Ben Thornton (Purdue) (MD 9-1)

141: #5 Kanen Storr (Michigan) over Nate Limmex (Purdue) (Dec 2-0)

149: Ben Lamantia (Michigan) over Parker Filius (Purdue) (Dec 11-4)

157: #11 Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) over #12 Griffin Parriott (Purdue) (Dec 4-3)

165: #6 Logan Massa (Michigan) over Cole Wysocki (Purdue) (MD 14-4)

174: #3 Myles Amine (Michigan) over #14 Dylan Lydy (Purdue) (Dec 5-3)

184: Max Lyon (Purdue) over JT Correll (Michigan) (Dec 10-4)

197: #12 Christian Brunner (Purdue) over Jackson Striggow (Michigan) (Dec 4-2)

285: #8 Mason Parris (Michigan) over Jacob Aven (Purdue) (Dec 10-7)

 

The big test for this team will come in the nest two matches against OSU (25 January) and PSU (1 February).  They are not favored in either match, as these are the two national powerhouses in wrestling.  But it will be a good measuring stick and provide some of the wrestlers a good opportunity to make their case for a higher seed come tournament time.

This program has a bright future and is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

 

McSomething

January 21st, 2019 at 2:20 PM ^

The Big Ten currently has:

  • 1 Penn State
  • 2 Ohio State
  • 3 Iowa
  • 5 Michigan 
  • 6 Minnesota 
  • 7 Nebraska
  • 11 Northwestern 
  • 13 Illinois 
  • 14 Rutgers 
  • 17 Wisconsin 

So the top 3 teams, 4 of the top 5, 6 of the top 10, 9 of the top 15, and 10 of the top 20. Purdue drops from the rankings after their loss to Michigan.

Michigan State, Indiana, and Maryland are all terrible.

vablue

January 21st, 2019 at 6:36 PM ^

That seems about right, but many of those are very small schools that only compete in wrestling at the D1 level.  While those schools have some good wrestlers, as a team they have trouble competing.  Some exceptions apply of course.  I don’t have the exact numbers, but I would bet half and quite possibly less than half of the “power 5” conference schools have wrestling programs.

FanNamedOzzy

January 21st, 2019 at 1:22 PM ^

Don't think anyone is close to PSU's level, this year. But I think Michigan (#5) matches really well on paper with OSU (#2). Need to win a couple swing matches. Here's a pessimistic view of that dual:

125 L Mattin / Assad (Toss-up) 0-3

133 W Micic 3-3

141 L Storr 3-6

149 L Amine / Lamantia 3-10

157 L Pantaleo (Toss up) 3-13

165 W Massa 7 - 13

174 W Amine 11 - 13

184 L ??? 11 - 17

197 L Striggow 11 - 21

285 W Parris 15 - 21

Keys to win:

Mattin hasn't wrestled for a bit, really hoping he's healthy for this one, as OSU don't have a ranked 125 lber.

Storr and Pantaleo have the best shot at beating some highly ranked wrestlers. Going 1-1 at 141 / 157 would be huge.

Bonus would be crucial for 165 & 174. Both have the capacity for MDs and should be shooting for TFs.

Simiarly, mitigating the bonus at 184 & 197 is really important. OSU has some hammers, so that'll be a tough ask. Hoping Embree is back at 184 to try to stay competitive. Striggow has wrestled tough, but Moore of OSU is damn good.

Finally, Parris NEEDS some big bonus, here. Not easy, as he lost to Singletary earlier this year. Parris is young and has flashed ability to pick up pins. Doing so while avenging an earlier loss could be the difference, here.

vablue

January 21st, 2019 at 1:51 PM ^

FLO has OSU’s 125 pounder ranked 11th right now, he just broke into the rankings this week, Martin is ranked 7th.  It would be nice to see him return to the lineup.  133 will be a big match, Micic is ranked first, but the OSU wrestler is ranked 3rd.  I think Micic wins, but that is probably more of a toss up and will be Micic first real test this season in a weight class that is absolutely loaded this year. 

At 141 Storr faces the number 1 ranked wrestler in the country.  As you said probably a loss, but a good chance for a young wrestler to steal some points and come of age.

At 149 OSU has the number 2 wrestler in the country.  This will be a fight to not give up bonus points, even if Flo does have Amine ranked 9th.

At 157 OSU has the number 5 ranked wrestler.  I actually think Pantaleo can win this match.  He has been a bit off, but I like his odds here.  He is a better wrestler than this guy.

At 165 OSU brings in the number 9 wrestler against 5th ranked Massa.  This is a swing match, Massa should beat him but it depends which Massa shows up.

Another ranked matchup at 174, but Amine should win easily.

As you said, 184 and 197 will be a struggle to not give up bones points, even if Striggow is ranked 6th.  Then HWT should go for M.  

Yes, it is a much better match up than PSU, but Michigan will still need some breaks to go their way to pull it off.  Looking forward to watching it.