BOZEMAN, Mont.—The No. 15-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team used a balanced attack and big wins en route to its 23-13 victory over Oregon State in the “Battle in the Big Sky” Friday evening (Jan. 2) at Montana State’s Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. The Wolverines won three matches before and three after the halftime intermission and earned four bonus victories—their most in dual competition this season.

Fifth-year senior captain Tyrel Todd (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS), the evening’s headliner in front of a partial hometown crowd of 3,000, sealed the Wolverine victory with a 15-2 major decision against Chad Hanke at 197 pounds. In his first match since injury defaulting out of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational nearly ago, Todd was dominant through three periods, scoring five takedowns—two each in the first and second periods—and adding a two-point near fall in the second and 2:25 in riding-time advantage. The Wolverine captain, ranked No. 2 in the latest NWCA/InterMat poll, improved his record to 5-0 with three bonus victories.

Todd’s victory capped a stretch of three straight wins at the upperweights that put the dual win away for the Wolverines. After an Oregon State win at 165 pounds cut his team’s lead to just two points, fifth-year senior captain Steve Luke (Massillon, Ohio/Perry HS) reestablished Michigan’s momentum with a 12-3 major decision over Ben Harris in the subsequent contest. Luke, the nation’s No. 1-ranked 174-pounder, scored instantly on a fireman’s carry off the opening whistle and added four more takedowns to distance himself. His final score, late in the third period, came on a counter off an Oregon State shot as the Wolverine captain went behind to dump Harris to the mat and wrap up his seventh bonus win of the season. Luke boasts a perfect 10-0 record on the season.

Junior/sophomore Anthony Biondo (Clinton Twp., Mich./Chippewa Valley HS) took advantage of a sizable early advantage in his 8-4 win over the Beavers’ Brice Arand at 184 pounds, building up a seven-point edge before allowing several points late in the match. Biondo, ranked 11th nationally, came out on top of an early scramble to gain a quick edge and, on the ensuing restart, locked up a cradle to put Arand to his back for three points. The Wolverine wrestler won another scramble early in the third but was quickly reversed on the edge of the mat. Biondo earned his escape after an extended injury timeout and gave up a takedown in the closing seconds of the match but held on for the victory.

Like Biondo, senior Michael Watts (Riverton, Utah/Riverton HS) used a big first period to earn the necessary points en route to a 10-6 decision against the Beavers’ Jake Gonzalez in the opening bout at 125 pounds. Watts, also ranked 11th nationally, converted on a lateral drop in the early moments of the match, throwing Gonzalez to his back for a quick five points. The OSU wrestler controlled the pace in the final two periods and scored on three takedowns, but Watts held on and, with 1:52 in riding-time advantage, added a point at match’s end to improve his season record to 7-1.

Sophomore Kellen Russell (High Bridge, N.J./Blair Academy) put extra points on the board for the Wolverines with a 17-1 technical fall over the Beavers’ Ryan Harold at 141 pounds. Russell, ranked fourth in the latest NWCA /InterMat poll, converted four takedowns, including two in the opening frame, and turned Harold three times for eight points. Within a single point of the technical fall at the start of the third period, Russell countered an early Beaver single-leg attempt, going behind to complete the winning takedown and end the contest at the 5:30 mark.

Oregon State responded with bonus points of its own in the subsequent bout as the Beavers’ 17th-ranked Heinrich Barnes earned a 16-5 major decision against freshman Mark Weber (Goodrich, Mich./Goodrich HS) at 149 pounds, but junior/sophomore Aaron Hynes (Mt. Morris, Mich./Flint Kearsley HS) followed suit, padding the Wolverines’ lead to five points entering the intermission with a 13-4 victory against Antony Peressini at 157. Hynes scored five takedowns, including two each in the first and third periods, and added a quick second-period reversal and nearly five minutes in riding-time advantage to claim his second straight dual victory.

#15 Michigan 23, Oregon State 13
Individual rankings from NWCA/InterMat

125—#11 Michael Watts (U-M) dec. Jake Gonzalez, 10-6 U-M, 3-0
133—Kelly Kubec (OSU) dec. Zac Stevens, 9-5 Tie, 3-3
141—#4 Kellen Russell (U-M) tech. fall Ryan Harold, 17-1 (5:30) U-M, 8-3
149—#17 Heinrich Barnes (OSU) major dec. Mark Weber, 16-5 U-M, 8-7
157—Aaron Hynes (U-M) major dec. Anthony Peressini, 13-4 U-M, 12-7
165—Keegan Davis (OSU) dec. Justin Zeerip, 9-4 U-M, 12-10
174—#1 Steve Luke (U-M) major dec. Ben Harris, 12-3 U-M, 16-10
184—#11 Anthony Biondo (U-M) dec. Brice Arand, 8-4 U-M, 19-10
197—#2 Tyrel Todd (U-M) major dec. Chad Hanke, 15-3 U-M, 23-10
Hwt—Clayton Jack (OSU) dec. Eddie Phillips, 10-4