By Tracy Sandler
Daily Sports Writer
It's probably safe to say that the No. 11 Michigan wrestling team loves the state of Indiana. It destroyed the Hoosiers on Friday night, 28-10, and Purdue, 21-12, on Saturday night.
Against Indiana, Luiey Haddad wrestled at 142 pounds in place of Teya Hill, who along with Bill Lacure, Otto Olson and Jeff Catrabone, was bumped up one weight class.
Despite the changes, the Wolverines dominated the meet, starting with 118-pound Chris Viola's third consecutive win by major decision to beat Indiana's Derek Moscovic, while Catrabone, wrestling at 177 pounds, pinned the Hoosiers' Aaron Del Mar.
Michigan continued its hot streak by boiling Purdue the next night. Again, Viola started the Wolverines off with an 8-3 win over Tim Dernlan.
Hill did not wrestle, due to a sprained knee he suffered against the Hoosiers. Haddad, wrestling in his place, beat two-time All-American Frank Laccone, 6-4, in an overtime match.
"We had Indiana and Purdue so tired," Catrabone said. "Every kid was so tired. Win or lose, we walked off the mat with our heads high. They walked off the mat with their heads dragging."
Going into the weekend's meets, the Wolverines were determined not to let anything mentally disrupt their strategy.
"We wanted to dominate the two matches," Viola said. "We were going to give up nothing. We wanted to wrestle our match, not theirs."
The Wolverines' current hot streak can be attributed to a strong mix of health, strength and leadership.
"Within the last three, we've had good training and good conditioning in," Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "We've also stayed fairly healthy, avoiding the flu. We also don't have the injuries from the early season, so our lineup has settled down. Also, someone always steps up."
In the past couple of weeks, Viola has been coming through for the Wolverines, which is important considering that the Wolverines are 9-0 when he starts a meet off with a win.
"I got over the mid-January slump," Viola said. "It's getting to be the time when you need to pick it up. I've realized that in the last couple of weeks."
Aside from Viola, 190-pound Frank Lodeserto has also picked up his technique for the team, defeating Indiana's Jason DeVries, 6-4.
"With three All-Americans (Catrabone, Lacure and Richardson) and a solid Chris Viola, we have four big winners," Bahr said. "All we need is one more person to go even with any team and two more to beat them. That's helped us get over the hump the last four weeks."
JEANNIE SERVAAS/Daily
The Michigan wrestling team continued to roll with wins over Indiana and Purdue.