Russell defeated a pair of top-10 opponents en route to the 141-pound crown, including a 6-2 decision -- his most lopsided win of the day -- against Minnesota's No. 2-ranked Mike Thorn in the championship bout. Russell struck quickly, converting on a duck under about a minute into the first period before riding out the frame. He escaped in the second to pad his lead to 3-0 and scored on a double leg in the third to ice the match.
Russell won a nailbiter in the semifinal round, using a late takedown to overcome an early deficit against No. 9-ranked Andrew Alton of Penn State. The Nittany Lion earned a second-period takedown and, after a quick escape in the third, held onto a one-point advantage until the final 25 seconds when the Wolverine captain hit a winning duck under and rode out the match to claim a 4-3 decision. Russell is a perfect 16-0 on the season.
Junior/sophomore Ben Apland (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South HS) lost a heartbreaker in the heavyweight championship, falling to Penn State's sixth-ranked -- and top-seeded -- Cameron Wade, 4-2, on a late turn. Apland entered the final period in the driver's seat after countering a Wade shot in the first and scrambling for the initial takedown. Down by one, Wade chose top to start the third and rode out the period, earning a two count in the final 15 seconds for a pair of back points and the win.
In the morning session, Apland pinned VMI's Josh Wine at 3:41 in his semifinal match to earn his second fall of the tournament, taking Wine over with a cradle before settling back into a Grapevine with two legs in and a half. He won a closer affair against Indiana's 20th-ranked Ricky Alcala in the quarterfinals, using a second-period rideout and a third-period escape to eke out a 2-0 decision. It was Apland's second win over Alcala of the season.
Sophomore/freshman Brandon Zeerip (Fremont, Mich./Hesperia HS) made an impact in his varsity debut, posting a 5-2 record en route to fourth place at 157 pounds. He dropped his placing bout to Penn State's James Vollrath, 6-5, on a takedown in the final 20 seconds but picked up a pair of big wins with a 7-3 decision over Cornell's Craig Eifert in the quarterfinals and a 12-7 decision over North Carolina's Colton Palmer in the consolation semifinals. Zeerip scored on whip-overs in the first and third to control the former bout and combined a high crotch and a cradle to blow up the latter with a five-point move in the second.
High school teammates sophomore/freshman Dan Yates (Hesperia, Mich./Hesperia HS) and senior/junior Justin Zeerip (Fremont, Mich./Hesperia HS) claimed fifth place at 165 and 174 pounds, respectively. Yates split his day-two matches to earn his third placing effort of the season, securing a pair of wins against Appalachian State's fifth-seeded Kyle Blevins, including a 9-2 decision in the fifth-place contest. The Wolverine rookie lost a heartbreaker in the semifinal round, falling to Cornell's fourth-ranked and top-seeded Justin Kerber, 6-5, on a late takedown. Yates was up late after a first-period single, escape and an illegal call stall on Kerber, but the Cornell wrestler stole away the match on a takedown in the final 15 seconds.
Zeerip racked up big points coming back through the consolation bracket, earning a fall -- his second of the season -- and a pair of forfeit victories to add an extra six points to U-M's team total. He stacked up Kent State's Brandon Johnson -- after an early takedown -- to pin the Golden Flash wrestler at 2:45 to follow an earlier 6-3 decision against Virginia's Stephen Doty on a pair of takedowns and riding time.
At the lowerweights, sophomore Sean Boyle (Lowell, Mass./Blair Academy) and junior Zac Stevens (Monroe, Mich./Monroe HS) both claimed seventh place at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively. Boyle earned bonus points with an injury default win and a forfeit but kicked off the day with his most impressive effort -- a 12-6 decision against Penn State's Brad Pataky. Boyle converted on two takedowns and a pair of near falls in the first period to claim the dominant early advantage against the Nittany Lion wrestler.
Stevens split four matches on the day, losing on a late takedown to Old Dominion's 11th-ranked Kyle Hutter, 4-1, in the quarterfinals before rebounding with a pair of wins in the wrestlebacks to place. Stevens edged out Virginia's Erik Spjut, 4-1, off a takedown and riding time before using four takedowns -- two apiece in the first and third periods -- to cruise past Army's eighth-seeded Jordan Thome, 8-4, in the seventh-place contest.
Fifth-year senior captain Anthony Biondo (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley HS) rounded out Michigan's placers with an eighth-place finish at 197 pounds. Biondo went 1-2 on the day, earning an 8-2 decision against UNC Greensboro's ninth-seeded Caylor Williams, before withdrawing from his last match.
Michigan will return to dual-meet competition next weekend (Jan. 7-8) at the 31st annual Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va. First-round pairings will be announced on next week.
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