Bouyed by the confidence of a productive Christmas training period, the Michigan wrestling team took a trip to the Virginia Duals looking to carry its momentum into the new year.
Over winter break, the Wolverines won the 17-team Sunshine Open in Florida.
They almost rode that momentum all the way to the championship round. Only a final-round loss to first-seeded Illinois prevented the Wolverines from taking home the championship.
The Virginia Duals, in its 19th year, is a single elimination tournament featuring 16 teams including North Carolina, Virginia and Cornell.
It also featured two lesser known schools, George Mason and Lock Haven, the Wolverines first- and second-round opponents, respectively.
Apparently, there is a reason few people have ever heard of these schools, as Michigan thumped George Mason 46-(-1) before rolling over Lock Haven 40-3.
The 47-point victory over George Mason was Michigan's largst margin of victory since a 50-point win over Morgan State in 1988.
125-pound Chris Viola was dominant in both matches. He recorded a technical fall against George Mason's Steve Daggett before pinning Lock Haven's Mike Kusick at 1:30.
The only match the Wolverines lost in either contest was Art Romence's 7-4 loss in the heavyweight division against Lock Haven's Craig Tefft.
No. 14 Oregon State stood in the way of Michigan and a date in the finals, but like the two opponents before them, the Beavers found themselves on the losing end of the match.
Performing well in the match against the Beavers was 174-pound Otto Olson, Damien Logan at 141, and junior Frank Lodeserto at 197.
"This is the best we've wrestled all year," Michigan coach Dale Bahr said. "The kids were really dominating."
The win over Oregon State set up a championship match with first-seed and Big Ten rival Illinois.
Familiarity did not work in Michigan's favor as they dropped a 22-17 decision to the Fighting Illini on Saturday night.
Michigan was hurt in the final match by the absence of heavyweight Matt Brink. This forced the inexperienced Art Romence to wrestle in his place.
"Missing Brink didn't hurt us in the first three rounds, but it really hurt us against Illinois," Bahr said.
Michigan's Joe Warren was named the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.
"He really impressed me," Bahr said. "He dominated three opponents and beat an all-American."
01-11-99
| Previous Article | Next Article |
should be sent to: daily.letters@umich.edu | should be sent to: online.daily@umich.edu |