In Sunday's 20-13 loss to No. 4 Penn State, Michigan's Airron Richardson, the fifth-ranked wrestler in the country, took the country's No.1-ranked wrestler, the Nittany Lions' Kerry McCoy, to a double-overtime match. Michigan coach Dale Bahr was happy with Richardson's performance, despite the loss.
"I thought Airron did a great job at heavyweight," Bahr said. "Airron gave him everything he wanted. All he needed to do was score on one of those takedowns."
As far as the match itself, Bahr was impressed with the caliber of wrestling from both Richardson and McCoy.
"That was a great match," Bahr said. "That was probably as good a heavyweight match (as) you're going to see in the country this year. You had two great athletes going at it."
As much as he wanted to win, Richardson felt like the match gave him some added assurance in his ability against the country's elite wrestlers.
"It's sort of a double-edge sword, because on one hand, he is the No. 1-ranked wrestler, and I hung with him, put him in overtime," Richardson said. "But anytime you lose, you're going to look back and analyze every point in the match. It could have gone either way."
Battle of the unbeaten: Michigan's Jeff Catrabone, the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the country, was looking to beat the only person to ever defeat him in a dual meet, Glenn Pritzlaff, the nation's fifth-ranked wrestler.
wrestlers were undefeated coming into the match, but Catrabone lost a hard-fought battle, 2-1.
"(The match at 167 had) two great athletes," Bahr said. "You've got two undefeated wrestlers wrestling. What's unusual in that match is Catrabone's usually good in the top position; that's his strength, top to bottom. If anything Cat will give one (point) up, not two (points). In essence, Catrabone got beat at his best position, which is unusual."
Operation redshirt: The Wolverines have decided to operate on freshman Damian Logan's shoulder on Jan. 22, which will cause him to miss the remainder of the season.
"We're doing it, because number one, his shoulder's popping, and it's in his best interest, and, two, he can still get redshirt year, because it's early enough in the year that he got injured," Bahr said. "So, we're going to redshirt him and have four full seasons."
Two wrestlers and coach honored: Michigan's Catrabone and Bill Lacure, the country's No. 3-ranked wrestler, will participate in the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic on Feb. 3 at Clarion University. Bahr will also be at the Classic as an honorary coach.
The best wrestlers at each of the weight classes will compete with a dual-meet format.