Wrestling Results 2/4/11 - 2/6/11
Results
I saw some post after the Wisconsin dual, which is awesome. Glad to see the support.
The Wisconsin dual saw Michigan keep on pace with what they needed, while mixing in an upset to turn what I had hoped for a tight win, into a dominating win. The biggest bright spot for me was Michigan showed the unfortunate loss of Wisconsin’s top wrestler, Andrew Howe at 165, wouldn’t have mattered.
Bout by Bout
#13Michigan – 26 #6Wisconsin - 9
Dual started at 174:
- 174 – Justin Zeerip(UM) wins by dec. 2-1 over #12 Ben Jordan(UW). Nice upset to kick off the dual. This put Michigan ahead of the pace right away as I predicted UW to pick this one up. UW’s Jordan had been wrestling well heading into this match, so a quality with for Zeerip. Also a big win in that this kicked off a string of Wisconsin’s toughest part of the lineup. UM-3,UW-0
- 184 – #3 Travis Rutt(UW) wins by dec. 6-3 over Hunter Collins(UM). Such thing as a good loss? I would consider this one. Collins took on the #3 Rutt and kept it close to avoid the bonus points I thought they might grab. UM-3, UW-3
- 197 - #2 Trevor Brandvold(UW) wins by dec. 4-1 over #10Anthony Biondo(UM). Prediction came through on this one. Biondo was up against a tough opponent, although limited in action lately, an anchor for the Badgers. UM-3, UW-6
- 285 – #10 Ben Apland(UM) wins by dec. 5-2 over #11 Eric Bugenhagen(UW). Big win for Michigan as this looked like it could have been a swing match with two closely ranked opponents. Apland won earlier in the year and did again here, tying up the dual. UM-6, UW-6
- 125 – Sean Boyle(UM) wins by dec. 3-1 over Tom Kelliher(UW). Michigan kept pace with the prediction here as Boyle is a fringe ranked wrestler. This sent Michigan into intermission with the lead and having fought off UW’s strongest weights. UM-9, UW-6
- 133 - #3 Tyler Graff(UW) wins by dec. 8-5 over #19Zac Stevens(UM). Wisconsin’s last ranked wrestler and I had a feeling Michigan’s Stevens could keep away from bonus points here. He did. UM-9, UW-9
- 141 – #1 Kellen Russell(UM) wins by maj. dec. 10-2 over Shane McQuade(UW). Michigan didn’t really need the bonus points, but, I thought Russell would probably pick them up here as he did, dominating McQuade throughout the match. UM-13, UW-9
- 149 – Eric Grajales(UM) wins by maj. dec. 11-3 over Shawn Perry(UW). Grajales showed how tough he is getting as the season wears on as he turned a predicted win into a major decision. UM-17, UW-9
- 157 - #20 Brandon Zeerip(UM) wins by PIN over Kalvin York(UW). Brandon surprisingly dominated and eventually got the pin. Expected win, unexpected big bonus points. UM-23, UW-9
- 165 - #19 Dan Yates(UM) wins by dec. 6-0 over Ben Cox(UW). This is the spot Wisconsin is missing their defending national champ, but, the dual was already buttoned up and Yates took advantage of situation, tacking on 3 more for blue. UM-26, UW-9
Prediction: Michigan 19 – Wisconsin 13
Result: Michigan 26 – Wisconsin 9
As encouraging as the Wisconsin dual was, the return home was disappointing. Some good signs were taken from it. There was some misfortune. The overall outcome though, shows Michigan isn’t at that top level yet.
Bout by Bout
Dual started at 133:
#3Penn State – 28 #13Michigan - 13
- 133 – #9 Andrew Long(PSU wins by maj. dec. 16-6 over #19 Zac Stevens(UM). Stevens hung in there tough, but, gave up to those bonus points at the end. Something I thought he could avoid. Long just proved too tough. UM-0, PSU-4
- 141 - #1 Kellen Russell(UM) wins by dec. 3-1(OT) over #7 Andrew Alton(PSU). Typical close match with Russell finding a way to pull it out. Alton can be tough and keeping him from scoring for PSU is always a big plus. UM-3, PSU-4
- 149 – #5 Frank Molinaro(PSU) wins by dec. 8-3 over Eric Grajales(UM). I thought Grajales could keep this close, but, after watching Molinaro Friday night at MSU, I had my doubts. Grajales wrestled tough though and showed to be a real solid piece for UM moving forward. I think you will see him ranked when the next ranking come out. UM-3, PSU-7
- 157 - #3 David Taylor (PSU) wins by PIN over #20 Brandon Zeerip(UM). Very disappointing loss for Michigan. Zeerip was coming off a big win Friday night and was dominated right off the whistle. PSU’s Taylor is a very impressive wrestler, but, Michigan can not give up pins. UM-3, PSU-13
- 165 - #19 Dan Yates(UM) wins by dec. 5-2 over Nick Fischer(PSU). Yates capped off a solid weekend for him. I predicted a win over another wrestler at this weight, but, they were pretty interchangeable here. Michigan kept pace with expectations here, but, with falling behind earlier in the dual, they handicapped their chances at winning as intermission came. UM-6, PSU-13
- 174 – #2 Ed Ruth(PSU) wins by dec. 13-6 over Justin Zeerip(UM). A loss for UM, but, the first chip in their favor for my prediction. PSU’s Ruth is extremely tough and for Zeerip to hold off bonus points is a big plus. A good sign moving forward this season with Zeerip overachieving in both duals this weekend. UM-6, PSU-16
- 184 – #14 Quentin Wright(PSU) wins by PIN over Hunter Collins(UM). Off the heels of some sign of light, UM’s Collins gets caught and stuck in 24 seconds. It happens, it shouldn’t, it did. A dual win got put to rest here. UM-6, PSU-22
- 197 - #10 Anthony Biondo(UM) wins by maj. dec. 12-3 over Nick Ruggear(PSU). Biondo beat another lion earlier by a comfortable margin and upped it to a major decision this time. A good win for Blue. UM-9, PSU-22
- 285 - #5 Cameron Wade(PSU) wins by PIN over #10 Ben Apland(UM). Tough one to swallow here. Apland lost a close one earlier in the year and was taking a 4 point lead into the final period to pick up a big win. All this before getting rolled and pinned. Apland showed some of that hair pulling wrestling you get from him. A plus win turned into a negative loss and made the dual look a lot worse then it should have. UM-9, PSU-28
- 125– Sean Boyle(UM) wins by dec. 6-2 over Nate Morgan(PSU). PSU’s #11 Pataky didn’t wrestle this weekend and instead Morgan got the call. Boyle took advantage.UM-12, PSU-28
Final Team Score Prediction: Michigan 9 – Penn State 23
Result: Michigan 12 – Penn State 28
The good to take from this dual was the tough wrestling from Eric Grajales and Justin Zeerip along with Kellen Russell staying unbeaten. Yates and Biondo Wrestled to expectations.
The bad. Brandon Zeerip, Hunter Collins and Ben Apland can not get pinned. All had tough matches, but, no excuse for getting stuck.
Looking forward: The weekend went somewhat as expected in the win loss column. Michigan will host Minnesota and travel to Iowa next weekend for two VERY good duals. I think Michigan has already had their toughest test in Penn State and has a shot as they take on both of these top 10 teams. I’ll put a preview up. I also saw someone suggest getting a thread going for the next televised dual. That would be very cool. Hopefully its not a student U broadcast that has me banging my head against a wall.
February 7th, 2011 at 5:26 PM ^
February 7th, 2011 at 5:38 PM ^
The Iowa dual is going to have a lot of tough matchups. I can see an impressive win......a big loss and a close one.
February 7th, 2011 at 6:01 PM ^
I remember Grajales coming in with a lot of fanfare. Has he struggled or has he generally met expectations in this his RS Fr year?
February 7th, 2011 at 6:08 PM ^
I'd say he has met expectations. When he came in, the first thought was he would be at 133. But, he grew out of that and is probably a more natural 141 right now. But, with #1 Russell already there, he's bumped to 149. So, for a freshmen, bumped up a weight to be on the fringe of being ranked, I'd say he's doing pretty well. getting better to.
February 7th, 2011 at 8:47 PM ^
These guys are so good in college that it's hard to wrestle up a weight and be successful. Usually theses guys cut 5-10 pounds to get down a weight class to be bigger for that weight. Eric is not a 149 lber. You can tell in his matches he gets a little gassed. Probably because he wants to keep his weight on and to get in really good shape, he'd loose it. I still say he's under performing a little. He's close to beating the top 10s. But he was ranked the #2 recruit and isn't having the success that #1 David Taylor is, who looks like he'll never get beat and follow in his coaches steps. Taylor is one tough SOB! Still I think Grajales has a chance to be a multiple All-American.
I'm actually most disappointed in Biondo this year. He just doesn't have it. Looks like he'll not be a AA. Can't seem to beat anybody in the top 10. Last year he did.
Can't wait for Kellen Russell vs Montel Marion. Kellen better get more agressive and score some takedowns in his matches or eventually he'll get knocked off. And it could happen at the wrong time like last years NCAA. Kellen should have been in the finals but got beat by Mike Thorn from Minnesota, who he had beaten 2x earlier that year. Thorn has only 1 loss this year to Russell. Kellen goes against #2 and #5 this weekend. Good luck!
February 8th, 2011 at 4:23 PM ^
With you on Biondo. 5th year senior, he is what he is now. I think we all expected him to take another step, just never happened.
With Russell, I just think he's going to live with that style. This weekend will be a lot of fun to watch. With someone like Marion, your going to see Russell want to keeps things slow and conservative while Marion will want to amp things up. Dennis from Iowa last year did this and beat some guys I think he had no business beating. Caught up to him, but, also got him as far as it did.
On Grajales, I see your point. But, I'll throw a few things in. First, he was a fringe 133 coming in that has since gone up 2 weight classes. I put a little more on it then bumping up. He's just coming into finding his weight. Second, I think when you compare someone to the likes of Taylor and Drake, your going to be dissappointed. Compare him to the rest of the top class that year and he looks a lot better. I know freshmen play a big part in college wrestling, but, the ones who take off so quickly are oddly special at this level. Eric will find his way, just needs to hit that college switch to really turn a corner. Being from florida and still finding a weight to fit in slowed this up.
Finally, he is a contrast to russell in style. The result is inconsistancy. He has shown he can beat top 10 guys and lose to less. This is his biggest obsticle and the one you see college wrestlers make the most improvement in over their years.
February 7th, 2011 at 10:36 PM ^
February 9th, 2011 at 2:35 PM ^
I wonder what we'd find out if we compare wrestlers in Div. I that came out of Brandon. I'm sure most of you saw the ESPN show on Brandon. The true powerhouses used to say they were overrated because they wouldn't travel out of state or wrestle the Blairs, St. Edwards, and Apple Valleys of the world. They also said that Florida wrestling was below par with the rest of the nation.
Other than Gomez being a National Champ, I don't know anyone else whose had that type of success from Brandon. But it should be noted that there guys do go to Fargo and win National Championships so they can't be overrated.
I love Grajales. I think if he was a little more technical and aggressive, he'd be very hard to beat. On the bottom it's like he's trying to get himself into a bad position so he can do one of his funky moves and get a reversal and or pin. On takedowns he trys throws a lot off tie-ups. They don't work so good at this level.
He'll make it to the NCAA. But he'll probably end up 2-2 or something. He has 3 years to bulk up and be an AA. I think he can do it. The skill is there. Just put it together, be aggressive, and the wins will come. Until he dominates his opponents, he'll be 2 steps behind Taylor or Dake. I was hoping for another Kellen, who out of the box brought it. He's not there yet but hopefully the lightswitch turns on and we get a stud. Without a doubt, he's wrestling better than ever right now. Now to take those extra 2 steps and he beats those top 10 guys.
February 9th, 2011 at 4:49 PM ^
I think we'll get a much better Grajales next year. I think he's improved a good deal throughout this year. Ive heard of the knock on florida wrestling before and have my own point of view on it.
I worked the Junior duals a few years back and florida put up a very good showing. I was impressed with them as well as Minnesota. However, the florida teams identity was looking for advantages wherever they could. We would have disscussions as officials dedicated to florida practices in different situations. It was a contrast of mindset to that of the Minnesota team they faced in the finals that year. Florida, at the national team level, can be a bit too cute with their wrestling.
I don't want to put that general label on Grajales, but, if thats what he's use to, it will take a little longer then other top recruits to adjust to the college game. Something that kids from the likes of Blair certainly don't have a problem with. I don't think its anything on the kids, just the style.
February 7th, 2011 at 8:22 PM ^