Russell knocked off a pair of top-10 opponents in his final two matches to improve to a perfect 10-0 on the season. The Wolverine captain edged Cal Poly's ninth-ranked Boris Novachov -- who had defeated Oklahoma's top-ranked Zack Bailey in the semifinals -- 3-2 in the championship match, using a lightning-quick duck under midway through the opening period and battling through a couple late flurries to stay in control throughout.
Russell made quick work of Illinois' second-ranked Jimmy Kennedy in the morning semifinal round, ending the bout at the 1:16 mark with his first pin of the season. Russell converted on a duck under on the edge early in the opening period before catching Kennedy in a half shortly off the ensuing restart and quickly turning the Illini wrestler to his back.
After three consecutive wins over ranked opponents, junior/sophomore Ben Apland (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South HS) could not quite manage a fourth in the heavyweight final, where he fell to Oklahoma's 11th-ranked Nathan Fernandez, 4-0. The Sooner wrestler used a body lock late in the first period to drive Apland to his back -- but out of bounds -- and rode out the third period to accumulate 1:17 in time advantage.
Apland picked up his biggest win of the season in the semifinal round, using a pair of third-period takedowns and riding time to edge Central Michigan's fifth-ranked Jarod Trice. After a scoreless first period, Apland rode a majority of the second to accumulate nearly two minutes of riding time. He earned a quick escape in the third and flurried out of a CMU single in the final 20 seconds to take Trice to the mat. The Chippewa wrestler escaped and locked up Apland in the waning seconds, but Apland converted the throw attempt to add a second takedown at the buzzer.
Fifth-year senior captain Anthony Biondo (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley HS) could not maintain his early advantage over Indiana's 18th-ranked Matt Powless in the third-place contest as the Hoosier wrestler converted on a late first-period takedown and third-period reversal to win, 8-3. Biondo split his morning matches, narrowly falling, 7-6, to Purdue's 10th-ranked Logan Brown before edging 19th-ranked Riley Orozco, 4-0, in the consolation semifinals. Biondo used an immediate first-period single leg and 2:44 in riding time to win the latter bout.
Sophomore/freshman Dan Yates (Hesperia, Mich./Hesperia HS) split a pair of day-two matches, cruising past North Dakota State's Tyler Johnson, 8-2, to ensure placing in the tournament before falling to Cal Poly's sixth-seeded Ryan Desroches, 7-3, in his subsequent bout. He used three takedowns to roll in the former bout but was outscrambled by Poly's Desroches before suffering an injury in the third period and ultimately defaulting out of the seventh-place contest to finish the weekend with a 3-2 record.
The Wolverines were doomed by big moves in a couple of their early wrestleback matches as sophomore Sean Boyle (Lowell, Mass./Blair Academy) and junior Zac Stevens (Monroe, Mich./Monroe HS) were unable to overcome early deficits in back-to-back losses at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively. Sophomore/freshman Eric Grajales (Brandon, Fla./Brandon HS) sacrificed an early lead to Virginia Tech's 11th-ranked Brian Stephens, giving up a pair of second-period takedowns to fall, 6-4. Michigan's remaining day-two competitor, senior/junior Justin Zeerip (Fremont, Mich./Hesperia HS), lost 5-1 to Ohio State's Nick Heflin on late takedowns in the second and third periods. All four Wolverines missed placing by just one match.
The Wolverines will hit the road next Sunday (Dec. 11), heading to Madison, Wis., to square off at Wisconsin in their Big Ten Conference opener. The dual is slated for a 1 p.m. CST start at the Wisconsin Field House.
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