The 15th-ranked Nebraska wrestling squad failed to put together another comeback as its five-dual win streak was snapped against No. 4 Michigan in Ann Arbor Friday night.
The Wolverines (9-2, 6-1) won seven of the 10 matches against the Huskers (7-4, 5-2), including the final three to close out a 24-10 victory.
Half of the matches in Friday’s Big Ten dual featured a pair of nationally ranked opponents. Michigan separated itself from Nebraska by getting its hand raised in four of those bouts, including the opening match at 184 pounds.
Fifth-year senior No. 5 Domenic Abounader of Michigan used two reversals in the third period to preserve his lead against redshirt freshman No. 7 Taylor Venz of Nebraska. Abounader won by decision 9-5 to remain undefeated on the season.
At 197 pounds, one of the four redshirt freshmen in the Huskers lineup picked up his first victory against a ranked opponent this season. Eric Schultz, who was previously 0-4 against top-20 foes, scored a takedown in the final 15 seconds of the match to defeat No. 11 Kevin Beazley of Michigan by decision 8-6.
All four of Schultz’ previous ranked opponents were inside the top 10, including No. 1 Kollin Moore of Ohio State, who narrowly defeated Schultz by decision 3-2.
Following the upset, the Wolverines bounced back as a team, picking up bonus points in two of the next three matches.
At heavyweight, Michigan’s highest ranked wrestler No. 2 Adam Coon defeated Nebraska sophomore Patrick Grayson by technical fall 17-2 in 5:22.
After No. 9 Drew Mattin of Michigan held off a third-period rally from Mitch Maginnis of Nebraska at 125 pounds, another ranked Wolverine, No. 5 Stevan Micic, picked up a key bonus-point win in a highly anticipated match.
Micic, who finished fourth at the 2017 NCAA Championships, handed true freshman Jason Renteria, ranked No. 19 at 133 pounds for the Huskers, his first collegiate loss with a 14-3 major decision.
Prior to his loss against Micic Friday night, Renteria was 3-0 on the season with his last two victories coming against ranked opponents.
At the halftime intermission, Michigan led 15-3.
Looking to spark its fourth consecutive comeback win, Nebraska won back-to-back matches after the break.
Redshirt freshman Chad Red Jr., ranked No. 14 at 141 pounds for the Huskers, earned an 8-5 decision win against Sal Profaci of Michigan.
At 149 pounds, senior captain No. 11 Colton McCrystal of Nebraska used four takedowns to pick up his second consecutive major decision, defeating No. 18 Malik Amine 10-2.
With three matches remaining, Michigan’s lead was cut to 15-10.
In a rematch at 157 pounds, No. 7 Alec Pantaleo of Michigan came out victorious against No. 8 Tyler Berger of Nebraska for the second time this season. Pantaleo scored seven points in the third period to defeat Berger, again, 9-3.
Earlier this season at the Cliff Keen Invitational, Pantaleo won the first match between the two by the same score.
With the dual still within reach for the Huskers, the Wolverines put it away with a pair of wins.
In the fifth and final top-20 battle of the dual, No. 9 Logan Massa, who placed third at the 2017 NCAA Championships for Michigan, scored the match-winning takedown in sudden victory-1 against No. 12 Isaiah White of Nebraska.
White is now 17-4 on the season, but all four of his losses are against ranked foes. His most recent loss on Jan. 21 against No. 12 Richie Lewis of Rutgers was also in overtime.
In the final match of the dual, 2017 NCAA Championships fourth-place finisher Myles Amine of Michigan, ranked No. 6 at 174 pounds, used two early takedowns to aid him to a 5-2 decision victory against redshirt freshman Beau Breske of Nebraska.
The Huskers have one more dual in their Great Lake State trip against Michigan State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Match Results
184: #5 Domenic Abounader (MICH) dec. #7 Taylor Venz (NEB), 9-5 (MICH 3, NEB 0)
197: Eric Schultz (NEB) dec. #11 Kevin Beazley (MICH), 8-6 (NEB 3, MICH 3)
HWT: #2 Adam Coon (MICH) tech. fall Patrick Grayson (NEB), 17-2 (MICH 8, NEB 3)
125: #9 Drew Mattin (MICH) dec. Mitchell Maginnis (NEB), 10-8 (MICH 11, NEB 3)
133: #5 Stevan Micic (MICH) major dec. #19 Jason Renteria (NEB), 14-3 (MICH 15, NEB 3)
141: #14 Chad Red Jr. (NEB) dec. Sal Profaci (MICH), 8-5 (MICH 15, NEB 6)
149: #11 Colton McCrystal (NEB) major dec. #18 Malik Amine (MICH), 10-2 (MICH 15, NEB 10)
157: #7 Alec Pantaleo (MICH) dec. #8 Tyler Berger (NEB), 9-3 (MICH 18, NEB 10)
165: #9 Logan Massa (MICH) sv-1 #12 Isaiah White (NEB), 3-1 (MICH 21, NEB 10)
174: #6 Myles Amine (MICH) dec. Beau Breske (NEB), 5-3 (MICH 24, NEB 10)
