After tragedy, wrestlers grapple with task of getting back to mat

Amidst the chaos and disparity of the death of one of their teammates, and after missing nearly a month of practice, one would understand if the Michigan wrestling team had decided not to travel out West to wrestle as planned. But rather than take the vacation time to rest and mourn their loss at home, the team traveled as scheduled to Oregon and Las Vegas to compete and honor their fallen teammate.

But the Wolverines didn't just compete - they dominated. And they will look to do the same as they travel to Penn State and Lehigh tomorrow and Saturday for dual meets with those two teams as well as with Hofstra on Saturday.

The Michigan team hasn't won a dual meet in Happy Valley since the 1964-65 season, but look for their success over the vacation to continue.

FILE PHOTO Michigan senior Bill Lacure and his teammates resumed competition after a three-week hiatus following the death of Jeff Reese. The team will continue this season with Reese's initials on their singlets.

Ranked fifth in the nation before heading out West, the Wolverines traveled first to Corvallis, Ore., to compete in the Oregon Classic. With Jeff Reese's initials on their singlets, Michigan won the tournament, reaching the finals in nine of the 13 weight classes.

"We went out there pretty rusty," coach Dale Bahr said. "Considering the circumstances, we went out there not knowing what to expect. But this tournament didn't field competition that was too stiff except for the Oregon State team, so fortunately without wrestling at our best we were still able to get back into the swing of things."

The day after the tournament, the Wolverines faced their first dual meet of the season, meeting the tournament host and 25th-ranked Oregon State Beavers.

The Beavers, who finished second in their tournament, couldn't match Michigan and lost in a 23-18 thriller. The Wolverines fell behind, 9-5, after the first three matches, but rallied behind Teya Hill's pin of Luke Duffy at 150 pounds to capture four of the final five matches to win the meet. The only loss came in a forfeit at 190.

"Teya went out there and battled with that guy," Bahr said. "Just right at the end, with probably 15 seconds left he pinned him. And that turned the whole match around."

Hill had faced Duffy the day before in the consolation finals of the tournament and lost, 14-12. But Hill wasn't about to lose to the same guy twice in a row. The pin came at 2:45 of the third period.

"It was all about revenge," Hill said. "It was close in the first match, and this time it was close again. But I got him in a head lock and just held it as hard as I could. There was no way I was going to let go of that guy until the ref called the fall."

Riding high, Michigan traveled to Reno, Nev., three days later to compete in the all-day Reno Tournament of Champions. There the Wolverines placed second, behind the nation's No. 1 team, Oklahoma State.

After a bye in the first round, Michigan slipped past Arizona State, 19-18, in the second round. The Wolverines lost the lead by dropping matches at 177 and 191, and looked to heavyweight Airron Richardson to win the meet. Richardson, who Bahr has before labeled, "money in the bank," came through again whipping Joe Micela, 20-6, to seal the win.

"We needed a major (decision) from Airron to win the meet, and I went over to talk with him during the 191 match," Bahr said. "He looked at me and said 'Yeah, I know coach.' In all of my years here I've never had a closer like Airron. Not even Kirk Trost, who was a national champion. It's great to feel such security when you are in a situation like that."

The victory over the Sun Devils earned Michigan a spot in the finals opposite the top-ranked Cowboys. The Wolverines were overmatched by the powerhouse, falling 30-3. But the Wolverines weren't discouraged by the lopsided loss because the match was much closer than the score indicated. Although only Richardson won his match, five of the other nine matches were decided by two points or fewer - three in overtime.

"Oklahoma State has a very good team, but we stuck with them," Richardson said. "As good as we were all vacation, we were still rusty and that showed against OSU. Had we faced them later in the season, some of those points could have gone the other way, and with a win here or there, you never know what would happen."

Now back in Ann Arbor, the team is back to the regular practice schedule, and can begin to focus on the rest of the season despite a continued media frenzy.

"We always think about Jeff, and we are wrestling for him," All-American captain, Jeff Catrabone said. "He loved this team and would want us to continue the season and win. So that's what we will do."

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