With six teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation, the Big Ten conference has some of the toughest competition in collegiate wrestling.
The Wolverines found out just how tough this competition can be in a close loss to No. 4 Penn State yesterday.
The seventh-ranked Wolverines (3-1) were hoping to start their conference play with a victory as the Nittany Lions (4-1) came to Cliff Keen Arena. The meet looked bleak early for the Wolverines as they dropped their first three matches and were staring at a 10-0 deficit.
Penn State's Jeremy Hunter broke Michigan's spirit with a 5-4 win over Chris Viola in the 118-pound weight class. Viola grabbed a 4-1 lead after the first period, but Hunter stormed back with four unanswered points, clinching the match in its final seconds. Michigan coach Dale Bahr felt this match was key in Penn State's victory.
"(The) 118 (weight class) was one of the matches we needed to win," Bahr said. "We were up 4-1 and we needed to put it away. That (loss) kind of got us off on the wrong foot."
After freshman Matt Warner fell in the next bout, the Wolverines lost another close match in the 134-pound weight class. Corey Grant lost 2-1 in sudden-death overtime to Penn State's Biff Walizer. After wrestling to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation, both grapplers failed to score in the first overtime period. Walizer managed an escape to break the tie in the second overtime period.
Michigan finally got on the board in the 142-pound weight class as Teya Hill earned a major decision in his second match of the year. Hill was up 4-2 before getting a headlock on his opponent and nearly pinning him.
"I was setting him up for it," Hill said. "Every time I shot, he would shoot higher, so I knew it was coming."
Bahr was impressed with Hill's performance.
"Teya was injured last year, and I keep telling everybody that if we ever get this kid to the mat - he's a killer," Bahr said. "Teya just destroyed (his opponent)."
The Wolverines tied the score at 10 as Bill Lacure won his match by default before Otto Olson gave Michigan its first lead with a 3-2 decision over Brian Romesburg.
The following match pitted two of the top wrestlers in the nation against each other as second-ranked Jeff Catrabone took fifth-ranked Glenn Pritzlaff of Penn State. Pritzlaff handed Catrabone his only career dual-meet loss two years ago in a 3-2 decision. The undefeated grapplers were at a stalemate until Catrabone escaped in the second period. Catrabone held the lead into the third period but gave up a reversal and the victory to Pritzlaff late in the match.
"Catrabone's strength is in the top position and it's unusual for him to get beat by a reversal." Bahr said. "He was riding pretty solid up to that point, but he got a little high."
With the score tied at 13, freshman Joe DeGain was handled by Frank Morcini for a major decision and a four-point Penn State lead. The Wolverines needed 190-pound Frank Lodeserto to win his match if they were to have a chance at beating the Lions.
Lodeserto took a 4-3 lead after the first period, scoring on a takedown and an escape. He was awarded an additional point after an unnecessary roughness call by the referee. Yet Lodeserto was unable to hold on as Penn State's Rob Neidlinger scored three quick points on his way to an 8-6 victory.
Although this clinched the match for the Lions, the feature match was still to come. Heavyweight Airron Richardson, ranked fifth in the country, took on the top-ranked wrestler in the nation, Kerry McCoy.
Richardson wrestled the match of his life as he jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with a takedown. McCoy scored two escapes to tie the match before the end of regulation to send it into sudden death.
As the overtime period went scoreless, the match went on to a 30-second tie breaker. Richardson won the toss and chose the down position. He was unable to escape, giving the match to McCoy.
"Part of me is happy because I gained some confidence that I can wrestle with the best wrestlers in the country," Richardson said. "But part of me is disappointed, because I had the chance to put away the match several times."
The loss brought the final score of the meet to 23-13 in favor of Penn State.
A day earlier the Wolverines improved their record to 3-0 with a 22-15 defeat of Central Michigan. The Wolverines fell behind early in that match but rallied behind Lacure and Richardson to get the victory.