Wrestlers drop three matches on the road

The Michigan wrestling team traveled to the East Coast this past weekend hoping to uphold its No. 4 national rank, but instead returned home still looking for answers.

The Wolverines struggled in all three of their meets, losing to lower-ranked opponents. The team dropped hard-fought matches to unranked Hofstra and 12th-ranked Lehigh on Saturday after falling to No. 6 Penn State on Friday.

Still regrouping from the death of teammate Jefferey Reese, the Wolverines needed a spark to rekindle what looked to be one of the most promising seasons in many years. Victories in these three matches could have given the team exactly that. The losses give the Wolverines an 0-1 record in the Big Ten and drops them to 2-4 overall - not nearly what they expected two months ago.

"Being ranked fourth in the country and then losing to teams we shouldn't be losing to - it's frustrating," Jeff Catrabone said. "But I keep telling the guys that we've been through a lot so far and it's going to take some time before we get bact in

FILE PHOTO The Michigan wrestling team struggled on an East Coast road trip this weekend, dropping three consecutive matches. The fourth-ranked Wolverines were beaten by lower-ranked opponents each time.

to it.

"We just have to stay positive and we'll get back to where we want to be."

Against Hofstra and Lehigh, the Wolverines found themselves down 12-0 before the meet even started, as 118-pounder Chris Viola failed to make weight and 158-pounder Bill Lacure did not wrestle due to injury.

Lacure was plagued by a bruised rib and sat out both of his matches instead of risking further injury. Viola was the only Wolverine not to make weight, but according to heavyweight Airron Richardson, many wrestlers had problems cutting weight.

"A lot of the guys were really sluggish," he said. "They haven't become adjusted to the weight-cutting yet."

The University recently instituted guidelines mandating that wrestlers weigh-in three hours before the match. Previously, weigh-ins ocurred the day before a match. Because the Wolverines have not held many practices since Dec. 9, when Reese passed away, the wrestlers are not in top condition and have not quite adjusted to this new policy.

"Some of the guys are frustrated," Richardson said. "But we have to learn from our losses. The most important thing is to keep our morale up. It's the end of the season that really matters."

Down 12-0 to Lehigh, Joe Warren and Damion Logan both won their matches to make the score 12-9. The team's next victory did not come until the 167-pound weight class, as Catrabone defeated Mark Dufresne, 4-3. That put the score at 18-12 in favor of the Engineers with three matches remaining. The Wolverines won two of those three, but it was not enough, as they fell overall, 21-19.

Earlier in the day, Michigan faced Hofstra, losing by only five points. After dropping 12 points due to forfiets, the Wolverines found themselves unable to climb out of the hole. Warren and Logan again both produced wins, as did Teya Hill at 150 pounds. After Catrabone's major decision of Rob Ansphach, the Wolverines found themselves down by only one point, 18-17.

They couldn't take the lead, however, as Joe DeGain and Ryan Balcolm both lost, making the Wolverines deficit 11 points. Richardson's pin at heavyweight changed the score to 28-23, but the outcome remained the same.

"I think if we had Viola and Lacure wrestling for us we would have beaten Hofstra and Lehigh," Catrabone said.

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