Central Michigan won three straight matches at the middleweights, stealing bouts at 157 and 174 pounds on late counter takedowns, to take a 12-9 team lead with U-M's upperweight captains on deck. The Wolverines came through again, winning each of the last three bouts -- with a pair of technical falls -- to ice the dual win.
Junior Domenic Abounader, ranked ninth in the latest InterMat poll, kicked off the rally with a 15-0 shutout against Jordan Ellingwood 184 pounds -- his first technical fall of the season. He struck first on a first-period single leg, added a reversal and two sets for four-point near falls and ended the bout at the 6:12 mark on another single leg late in the third. Abounader, who is a perfect 8-0 in dual meets, has won five straight matches.
Graduate student Max Huntley, ranked sixth nationally, all but locked up the Wolverine win with a 12-6 decision against Jackson Lewis at 197 pounds. Huntley built up an early lead on a pair of first-period takedowns, but Lewis cut the gap with one of his own at the buzzer in the second. Huntley reasserted himself in the third frame, finishing on two more takedowns and riding for 2:22 to secure his decision. Huntley is 9-0 in duals this season.
Junior heavyweight Adam Coon, ranked fourth nationally, also improved to 9-0 on the season with a 21-6 technical fall against Newton Smerchek in the final bout. Coon used a variety of leg attacks, throws and counters to convert eight takedowns, including four in the third period, and added a two-point near fall on a third-period hip toss. His 3:32 riding-time advantage provided him the tech fall at match's end.
The Wolverines also started strong with decision wins at the opening two weights. Senior/junior Conor Youtsey, ranked 20th nationally, kicked off the dual with a 4-2 decision against 17th-ranked Brent Fleetwood at 125 pounds. He struck quickly, scoring on a first-period single leg, and just missed on a couple additional deep leg attacks late in the second and third frames. He accumulated 1:09 in riding-time advantage. Senior Rossi Bruno, ranked 17th, also earned a 4-2 decision against Corey Keener at 133 pounds but needed extra time for it. He scored a late escape to rally from a late deficit and force overtime, then shot in to force a long and wild scramble, coming out on top with just 11 seconds left in the sudden-victory frame.
Sophomore Alec Pantaleo, ranked eighth, also rallied from a deficit to defeat 10th-ranked Colin Heffernan, 10-4, at 149 pounds. With the score knotted 2-2, he broke open the bout with a six-point whipover to Heffernan's back before quickly adding two more back points on a suck back just seconds later. Pantaleo has won
The Wolverines sacrificed late leads to drop the other marquee bouts at 157 and 174 pounds. Junior Brian Murphy, ranked fifth nationally, fell to fellow Illinois native and 12th-ranked Luke Smith, 5-4, at the former weight after giving up a counter takedown out of a scramble midway through the third period. Murphy, who scored on takedowns in the first and second, twice nearly had a reversal in the waning seconds but did not get the call.
Sophomore/freshman Davonte Mahomes, ranked 14th, lost in similarly frustrating fashion to ninth-ranked Mike Ottinger, 8-4, after getting caught in a six-point Peterson Roll off his own single-leg attack. Mahomes had led the entire bout to that point after a first-period blast double.
Results:
125 -- #20 Conor Youtsey (U-M) dec. #17 Brent Fleetwood, 4-2 3 0
133 -- #17 Rossi Bruno (U-M) dec. Corey Keener, 4-2 SV 6 0
141 -- #16 Zach Horan (CMU) dec. George Fisher, 3-1 6 3
149 -- #8 Alec Pantaleo (U-M) dec. #10 Colin Heffernan, 10-4 9 3
157 -- #12 Luke Smith (U-M) dec. #5 Brian Murphy, 5-4 9 6
165 -- Jordan Atienza (CMU) dec. Garrett Sutton, 7-4 9 9
174 -- #9 Mike Ottinger (CMU) dec. #14 Davonte Mahomes, 8-4 9 12
184 -- #9 Domenic Abounader (U-M) tech. fall Jordan Ellingwood, 15-0 (6:48) 14 12
197 -- #6 Max Huntley(U-M) dec. Jackson Lewis, 12-6 17 12
Hwt -- #4 Adam Coon (U-M) tech. fall Newton Smerchek, 21-6 (7:00) 22 12
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