The news first splashed across the FiveOuncesofPain.com homepage late yesterday afternoon during a time when the MMA news world seemed to be in dire need of a pick-me-up, and in it’s wake has sent countless fans scrambling for information on the most prominent boxer to enter mixed martial arts to date.

Who is this James Toney?

It could be argued that Toney is ‘just some washed up forty-one year old boxing has-been trying to cash in on mixed martial arts and the revenue it produces’ by many that didn’t know any better, however, that would only be partially true.

Is James looking to cash in on MMA? Of course he is! He’s a grown man that has needs that being phenomenally talented with his fists have afforded him through much of his adult life. The bottom line is that James is after the money, sure, but that’s just what makes the world go round. You can’t fault the man for that.

On the other side of that coin, I firmly believe that if James Toney decides that he’s going to do something, he’s probably going to do it. I feel like James wants to fight partially to get paid, but really, a lot of it is because the dude is just an old school bad ass of the rarest variety. A real life bad ass that doesn’t know any better than to believe that he will carve through the UFC like a knife through butter.

Here’s the thing: James Toney has a truly rare gift that just can’t be taught. The type of blessing with his fists that only comes along once every five or ten years. That level of natural born fighting talent will absolutely affect how he does when he makes the transition to MMA, and I feel like UFC President Dana White probably knows what I’m talking about.

Toney has “Epic-Beard Man” raw talent.

There have been other extremely high profile boxers in the past that have toyed with the idea of fighting in the UFC (Roy Jones Jr., Floyd Mayweather), but Dana comes from boxing, and being familiar with Toney and his history in the sport will vouch for the man known as “Lights Out” as being one of the grittiest and naturally gifted boxer/fighters in recent memory.

Look guys, if Kimbo Slice could enjoy any type of success in the UFC (big win over Houston Alexander) , then you better believe that a boxer as technically proficient as Toney could very realistically come away with a win or two, and provide some always welcome fireworks and hoop-la in the process.

I felt honored to be the first person to report James Toney signing with the UFC yesterday (from the 13 year old punk with KO Magazine tear out posters of Toney and others on my wall) being that my history with the man is currently running 19 (going on 20) years. Have I ever met Toney? Well no, I haven’t, but I’ve been a huge fan of his work since he shocked the world with a devastating knockout of Michael Nunn in May of 1991 to capture the IBF middleweight title.

‘Shocked the world?’ you ask. Absolutely.

Going into that fight Nunn was an undefeated champion with a record of 36-0 while coming off of legit, legit, legit wins over trained animals like Sumbu Kalambay, Iran Barkley, Marlon Starring and Donald Curry. There were many experts at the time that firmly believed that Nunn was close to untouchable.

Then James Toney touched him.

Enter the twenty-three year old kid with all of the cards stacked against him. Sure, Toney was undefeated going into the fight, but with just eighteen professional scraps he had less than half the paid experience that the dominant champion had going into the match-up that was viewed as more of a formality than as a legitimate threat to the title.

The thing is that being the underdog, whether it be in boxing, the UFC, or just life in general, is nothing new to the ghetto kid out of Grand Rapids, Michigan whose father left his mother to raise him on her own at an early age. Or in high school when the former gun toting drug dealer did a good enough job balancing his extra-curricular hustling activities with an amateur boxing and football career at Huron High in Ann Arbor, Michigan to end up at a Michigan university football camp. The same football camp that – as fate would have it – confirmed to Toney that his future would be in the ring.

It was during this same camp that Toney got into an argument with future football superstar Deion Sanders over a particular bed in the sleeping facility and wound up cracking “Prime Time” off-side his head and it was… well, it was lights out according to Toney.

“It was two hits. Me hittin’ him and him hittin’ the floor,” chuckled Toney while recalling the incident that helped to change the course his life was taking in a conversation with Boxingscene.com.

After compiling an impressive amateur boxing record of 31-2 with an absolutely ridiculous 29 KO’s (remember, amateur = headgear) Toney went pro at twenty years of age. Three years later he was widely regarded to be the best middleweight boxer on the face of the earth.

To date Toney has gone on to capture titles in the super middleweight, light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions while establishing himself as a clear cut future Boxing Hall of Fame inductee.

We’re talking about a man that was named Ring Magazine’s Fighter of the Year on two separate occasions which were spaced out by twelve years on 1991 and 2003. The type of talent that enables a fighter to be named fighter of the year over that stretch of time just can’t be taught.

Perhaps the most reveling statistic that has come of the twenty years Toney has spent enlisted as a practitioner of “The Sweet Science” is the fact that out of all the spectacularly violent boxers he has faced in his more than 90 bouts as a professional – such as Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield, Roy Jones Jr., Iran Barkley, Mike “The Body Snatcher” McCallum, Hasim “The Rock” Rahman, or Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare” Peter – not one of them have managed to kick his ass.

James Toney has never been finished in the ring, but that’s not to say he won’t he finished in the Octagon.

The point being is that I truly doubt anyone is going to manage to knock out “Lights Out” in an upright position in the UFC anytime soon. James has the kind of Matrix-like timing and reflexes that only a lifetime of having punches thrown at your face and body can develop.

He may not be used to taking head kicks, but his incredible ability to see what’s coming at him like it’s in slow motion will help him there.

As far as the leg kicks are concerned: I’ve always felt like the best defense to a leg kick is a good punch to the face. Trading punches to the face for leg kicks with a boxer the caliber of Toney would inevitably be a high risk gameplan.

With that being said, it’s hard for me to visualize Toney being able to suffer anything but a brutal defeat in one form or another when – because it will happen eventually – someone manages to drag the forty-one year old power puncher to the canvas. But you’re going to have to get him there first, and that could very likely prove to be a problem for many of the UFC heavyweights that will have no way to prepare for a striker of Toney’s caliber, while James will undoubtedly be training with wrestlers.

Never forget that every UFC fight starts standing.

Fighting is second nature for Toney. The Michigan hoodlum gone-right grew up in a no holds barred environment, but the truth of the matter is that mixed martial arts has evolved light years ahead of the streets when it comes to sanctioned MMA rules. James is definitely going to have some making up to do. The question is, how dedicated will he be to making the improvements to his game that will need to be done? Time will tell…

Is James Toney entering the UFC good for the sport? In this writer’s opinion: Absolutely. Allow me tell you why…

James Toney is arguably the greatest trash talker boxing – or any form of athletic competition for that matter – has seen since Muhammad Ali, however you won’t get much argument from me.

Toney takes the “gift of gab” to a new level when promoting his fights that many of today’s mixed martial artists could do themselves a favor by taking note of (you’re good Tito). This is one factor that without question played a part on his marketability to the UFC. Toney is going to talk, and talk, and talk leading up to his fights for the promotion, and you can bet your bottom dollar that major media outlets that normally don’t take the time to listen, will be listening at full attention.

There’s no doubt that mixed martial arts has the male population between the ages of 18-34 in a chokehold, but the fact of the matter is that there are literally millions of fight fans over that specific age threshold that have not been tapped into for one reason or another. But I’ll tell you this much: Anyone that knows boxing knows James “Lights Out” Toney, and they WILL be watching when he steps foot inside of a cage for the first time.

Will Toney become a UFC champion in the next year or two? I highly doubt it. But the point of this signing isn’t to find the next heavyweight champion but to propel the sport as a whole to the next level, because believe it or not, for as massive as the sport seems to have grown, we’re far from finished climbing.

USA Wrestling Press Release: U.S. Nationals champions in men’s freestyle have advanced to the best-of-3 final-round series on Saturday night. They will meet the Challenge Tournament winner in the final-round series.
 
60 kg/132 pounds
U.S. Nationals champion – Mike Zadick, Solon, Iowa (Gator WC)
Challenge Tournament seeds
1. Shawn Bunch, Columbus, Ohio (Gator WC)
2. Matt Valenti, New York, N.Y. (Lehigh Valley Athletic Club)
3. Andy Simmons, Lansing, Mich. (Sunkist Kids)
4. Nick Gallick, Tucson, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids)
5. Drew Headlee, Morgantown, W.Va. (Sunkist Kids)
6. Coleman Scott, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC)
7. Reece Humphrey, Indianapolis, Ind. (Ohio State)
8. Daniel Dennis, Ingleside, Ill. (Hawkeye WC)
 
74 kg/163 pounds
U.S. Nationals champion – Travis Paulson, Lincoln, Neb. (Sunkist Kids)
Challenge Tournament seeds
1. Dustin Schlatter, Massillon, Ohio (Minnesota Storm)
2. Ryan Churella, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC)
3. Jon Reader, Davison, Mich. (Cyclone WC)
4. Andrew Howe, Cedar Lake, Ind. (New York AC)
5. Lloyd Rogers, Chattanooga, Tenn. (unattached)
6. Mack Lewnes, Annapolis, Md. (New York AC)
7. Moza Fay, Anamosa, Iowa (Panther WC)
 
96 kg/211.5 pounds
U.S. Nationals champion – Jake Varner, Bakersfield, Calif. (Sunkist Kids)
Challenge Tournament seeds
1. Kyle Cerminara, Lewiston, Pa. (New York AC)
2. Wynn Michalak, Mount Pleasant, Mich. (Gator WC)
3. Andy Hrovat, Ann Arbor, Mich. (New York AC)
4. Brandon Halsey, Vista, Calif. (No Mercy)
5. J.D. Bergman, Columbus, Ohio (New York AC)
6. Sean Stender, Cedar Falls, Iowa (Sunkist Kids)
7. Mike Tamillow, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
8. Clayton Foster, Kamiah, Idaho (Gator WC)
9. Brent Jones, Burke, Va. (Cavalier WC)
10. Eddie Phillips, Woodland, Mich. (Cliff Keen WC)
 
WORLD TEAM TRIALS GRECO-ROMAN SEEDS
 
U.S. Nationals champions in Greco-Roman who have also placed in the top five at the World Championships have advanced to the best-of-3 final-round series on Saturday night. They will meet the Challenge Tournament winner in the final-round series. In the other weight classes, all qualifiers must compete in the Challenge Tournament.
 
55 kg/121 pounds
Challenge Tournament Seeds
1. Jermaine Hodge, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
2. Sam Hazewinkel, Centerville, Ohio (Sunkist Kids)
3. Spenser Mango, St. Louis, Mo. (New York AC)
4. Lindsey Durlacher, Colorado Springs, Colo (New York AC)
5. Nate Engel, St. Helena, Calif. (Sunkist Kids)
6. Max Nowry, Wheeling, Ill. (USOEC)
7. Ryan Mango, St. Louis, Mo. (New York AC)
8. Anthony Hayes, Colorado Springs, Colo. (USOTC)
9. Jonathan Pattison, Windsor, Colo. (U.S. Marine Corps)
 
74 kg/163 pounds
U.S. Nationals Champion - Harry Lester, Marquette, Mich. (New York AC)
Challenge Tournament seeds
1. Jake Fisher, Platte City, Mo. (New York AC)
2. Cheney Haight, Orem, Utah (New York AC)
3. Jess Hargrave, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
4. Andrew Bisek, Chaska, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
5. Jacob Deitchler, Ramsey, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
6. Ben Provisor, Stevens Point, Wis. (Sunkist Kids)
7. Steve Forrest, Hubert, N.C. (U.S. Marine Corps)
8. Aaron Briggs, Tucson, Ariz. (USOEC)
9. Anton Gottfredson, Laguna Hills, Calif. (USOTC)
10. Tim Bleau, Ishpeming, Mich. (USOEC)
 
84 kg/185 pounds
U.S. Nationals champion - T.C. Dantzler, Colorado Springs, Colo. (unattached)
Challenge Tournament seeds
1. Aaron Sieracki, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
2. Chas Betts, St. Michael, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
3. Walter Hoffman, Bossier City, La. (U.S. Air Force)
4. Gabe Dretsch, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm)
5. Jacob Ison, Athens, Ohio, (Bobcat WC)
6. Peter Hicks, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
7. Chad Hemerson, Monterey, Calif. (USOEC)
8. Talan Knox, Salt Lake City, Utah (USOEC)
9. Joshua McAllister, Camp Lejeune, N.C. (U.S. Marine Corps)
10. Jim Gibson, Clarion, Pa. (Clarion WC)
 
120 kg/264.5 pounds
U.S. Nationals champion - Dremiel Byers, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
Challenge Tournament seeds
1. Brandon Rupp, Pocatello, ID (New York AC)
2. Erik Nye, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids)
3. David Arendt Jr, Port Washington, Wis. (U.S. Marine Corps)
4. Mark Simmonds, Minneapolis, Minn. (U.S. Air Force)
5. Timothy Taylor, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)
6. Pete Kowalczuk, Colorado Springs, Colo. (USOEC)
7. Akil Patterson, Frederick, Md. (New York AC)
 
WORLD TEAM TRIALS WOMEN’S FREESTYLE SEEDS
 
U.S. Nationals champions in men’s freestyle have advanced to the best-of-3 final-round series on Saturday night. They will meet the Challenge Tournament winner in the final-round series.
 
51 kg/112.25 pounds
U.S. Nationals champion - Patricia Miranda, Colo. Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids)
Challenge Tournament seeds
1. Katherine Fulp-Allen, Half Moon Bay, Calif. (New York AC)
2. Jessica Medina, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
3. Stephanie Murata, Minden, Nev. (Sunkist Kids)
4. Gabrielle Henry, Columbus, Ohio (Univ. of the Cumberlands)
5. Emily Harper, DeForest, Wis. (Victory School of Wrestling)
 
59 kg/130 pounds
U.S. Nationals champion - Kelsey Campbell, Milwaukie, Ore. (Sunkist Kids)
Challenge Tournament seeds
1. Deanna Rix, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)
2. Schuyler Brown, Montpelier, Va. (USOEC)
3. Natasha Umemoto, Oklahoma City, Okla. (Sunkist Kids)
4. Nena Garcia, Clyde, Ohio (Univ. of the Cumberlands)
5. Shannon Reeves, Cuyuhoga Falls, Ohio (Univ. of the Cumberlands)
 
67 kg/147.5 pounds
U.S. Nationals champion - Adeline Gray, Denver, Colo. (New York AC)
Challenge Tournament seeds
1. Sheila McCabe, San Diego, Calif. (OCU Stars)
2. Amber Miracle, Berlin, Wis. (USOEC)
3. Lauren Knight, Vallejo, Calif. (Univ. of the Cumberlands)
4. Christen Paysse, Fullerton, Calif. (Univ. of the Cumberlands)
5. Stefenie Shaw, Waterford, Conn. (OCU Stars)
 
72 kg/158.5 pounds
U.S. Nationals champion - Jenna Pavlik, Colorado Springs, Colo. (USOTC)
Challenge Tournament seeds
1. Ali Bernard, New Ulm, Minn. (Gator WC)
2. Kendra Lewis, Houston, Texas (Univ. of the Cumberlands)
3. Lacey Novinska, Fennimore, Wis. (OCU Stars)
4. Erin Clodgo, Richmond, Vermont (USOEC)
5. Melissa Simmons, Ridgefield, Wash. (OCU Stars)
 

Eric Grajales, at the
ripe old age of 19, is having a mid-life crisis.In just a few months the nation’s best wrestler will no
longer wrestle for Brandon High School. At 7 pm on February 21, 2009, Grajales will don the white Brandon Wrestling
singlet for the last time.He
won’t cry, but for a moment he will be at his introspective best.His entire life, all he has ever wanted
to do was wrestle for Russ Cozart and the Brandon Eagles.
“What am I going to do when I don’t wrestle for Brandon
anymore,” he thinks.“While some
of my classmates wanted to be veterinarians, or whatever, all I ever wanted to
do was wrestle for Brandon.”
The nations’ best high school wrestler is also a member of
the nation’s most historic team.A
documentary was filmed a year ago about the team’s season.It has a Hall of Fame Coach, in Russ
Cozart.The Brandon High School
Wrestling Eagles own the world’s longest winning streak in any sport at any
level, after winning 459 straight dual matches.This team, it’s all he’s ever known, all he’s ever
wanted.
Imagine having everything you ever dreamed and wished for,
and having to leave it behind.Now
you know how Eric Grajales feels.
Eric Grajales’ story as a Brandon Wrestler doesn’t start in
a sweaty, musk gym.It doesn’t begin
by watching the WWE on television and a chance meeting with a neon-colored
flyer.   His initiation began
exactly 28 years ago when Cesar Grajales, a wrestler at Pinellas Park fell head
over heels in love with Leslie Baker.Ironically, their first meeting was at a football game.
“It was very uneventful,” Leslie recalls.“We just knew from the start that we
belonged together.”
The longest the two have been away from each other was
during the summer months following Leslie’s sophomore year of high school.Young Cesar had to travel north to work
in his uncle’s auto shop to save money so that, during the wrestling season, he
didn’t have to.After that, the
two traveled north together whenever Cesar had to go.
“We’ve been living together, basically, since I was 17,”
Leslie says.“All we had was each
other.We knew we wanted to give
our kids everything and give them the opportunities we didn’t have.” The two love birds moved north permanently after Leslie’s graduation.However, Leslie became home-sick, as
living in New Jersey, she knew no one except Cesar.She returned home to Florida in late November.Predictably, the relationship hit a
rough patch, as the two had to decide whether to continue the relationship or
possibly, break up.The decision
was made for them on a chilly night on Christmas Eve.
Leslie’s mother, tragically, passed away after being
involved in a car accident.There
was never another discussion about breaking up.Cesar stayed in Florida to console Leslie, and never left her
side.
The two eventually had children, three in all, in Anthony,
the oldest, Melissa and finally Eric.
Cesar and Leslie eventually started their own business,
Rubber City, Inc., an auto shop in St. Petersburg.A highlight of their dedication is the hour drive to work
that the Grajales’ brave every day.The burgeoning business afforded them the ability to dote on their three
highly successful children.
Anthony, known in wrestling circles as Cesar, was a
top-ranked recruit himself and is enrolled at Penn.Melissa is a future law student, attending the University of
Florida. Eric is the youngest and you can see that his personality is an amalgamation of
his siblings and parents.Eric has
the compassion of his mother, the work ethic and leadership of his brother, the
mental toughness of his highly independent sister, and the sense of humor and
vision of his father.Eric is the
kid that lights up the room, is always ready with an intelligent quip and the
one who leads by example.
Big Cesar, is the architect behind the success of both of
his boys.After transferring to
Brandon his senior year, he always knew he wanted his boy or boys to wrestle
for Cozart.He knew Cozart would
push his kids the same way he pushed every one of his other wrestlers.Through wrestling, his boys would have
the opportunities he never did – namely, go to college.
After Anthony turned 5, the Grajales traveled twice a week,
an hour away to practices in Brandon for the elementary-aged kids. “Our lives changed forever,”
Leslie says. What followed was Cesar doing everything possible one father could do to ensure
the success of his children.His
boys and other future Brandon wrestlers traveled the country, looking for the
best matches and the best competition - all in an effort to become the best
wrestlers possible. “The goal was never to be good in Florida,” Cesar says.“It was to be good on a national
level.” Tulsa Nationals was one of the largest national tournaments the boys went to.Anthony and Eric both came within a match
or two of placing their first time competing.After that, Big Cesar decided that the boys would focus only
on wrestling.No more peewee
football or baseball. “They [Eric and Anthony] were not happy about it,” Cesar says. Showcasing his strength and determination, Eric made a deal with his dad.He told him he would wrestle at Tulsa
Nationals and win, and that the next year he was playing football. “I said deal,” Cesar says.“The
next year, just like he said, he won it.”
Early on Cesar decided that he would lead by example.When they would work out, Big Cesar
would lift alongside his boys.Father and sons would go on 5k runs.He would take them to wrestling camps and take notes.He made sure they saw that he was
willing to do the same things he expected them to. “The desire to win is important,” Cesar says.“But the desire to want to train hard is much more important.”
And so, Eric’s life has always been co-driven.As father and coach, Big Cesar played
the role with delicate aplomb. “Every now and then it gets kind of annoying,” Eric says.“Especially when you’re cutting
weight.But we try to be honest
with each other 100% of the time.We each understand the other one’s position.”
Eric started wrestling sometime after he turned 3.From the beginning, working out with
the Brandon Wrestling Club and Coach Cozart, he has been a phenom. “I thought he was a little ball of fire,” Cozart remembers.“He was all muscle, really aggressive
and a really good wrestler, even then.” His talent apparent, Eric admits that Cozart was the right coach for him.
Because Eric Grajales is no saint.
“I wasn’t a bad kid,” Eric says.“But I like to push people to their limits.He [Cozart] always put me in my place.”
On a day that Eric states was probably a bad one for Coach
Cozart, he added fuel to the fire.While warming up, jogging around the mats, Eric and workout partner
Austin Figari decided that pushing the other wrestlers would be a better warm
up.Coach Cozart didn’t
agree.He sent the two deviants to
do push-ups in the corner.
“At first, we were making jokes, laughing,” Eric
remembers.“After about 20, 30
minutes it got old, and after 45 minutes we’d do about 3 or 4 pushups every 5
minutes or so.”
The two did pushups the entire practice… all ninety minutes
of it, and Eric got the point.Not
that he didn’t continue to push the boundaries, but he knew when to back
off.He realized Coach Cozart
would help him become the wrestler he so desperately wanted to be, but he
realized it would be by Cozart’s rules. Russ Cozart fostered and developed Eric’s ability the only way he knew how. It was the only way he coached and it
was the same way he coached his own two sons – hard work.The Brandon Wrestling Club opens the
door for wrestling every day. Russ Cozart is wrestling, 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week.Much in the same way he
busts his own tail on a daily basis, he expects nothing less from his
wrestlers. Eric picked up on that.His
earliest memories are of a bearded Cozart, wrestling in open tournaments right
along side his own sons, Rocky and Joey. Saturday’s were a family day, with the Grajales’ and whomever
else from the Brandon Wrestling Club decided to travel.Through trips to cities such as Las Vegas,
Atlanta, Chicago and Oklahoma City, Eric has seen much of the country’s sports
arenas.He loved every minute of
it, and it didn’t hurt to have teammates of similar mind.
Every wrestler who joins the Brandon Wrestling Club dreams
of one day having their name placed on The Wall.It is the place where all of Brandon’s 70 State Champions
have their name marked under their weight class and year.While it is common for athletes to
dream big, it is unholy common to have athletes, plural, work big.Every week
of Eric’s life at least 2 times a week, he trained with the Brandon Wrestling Club.And every week, at least 4 times a
week, the club was filled to the brim with other kids with the same dream and
the same work ethic.
Coach Cozart’s greatest accomplishment isn’t the 459 dual-match
winning streak, it isn’t the 19 Team State Titles he’s won, and isn’t the 139
All-Americans he’s coached.It’s
the culture he has created, where coming to practice year-round and doing so with
your fullest effort isn’t enough.
At Brandon, you’re expected to come to every practice.You’re expected to work hard in
practice, every day.You’re
expected to wrestle tournaments every Saturday.You’re expected to win a State Title.You’re expected to be an
All-American.And while at most
programs you have 2 or 3 guys who are willing to pay the price, the Brandon
Eagles average 20 – 30 wrestlers at every practice.If Coach Cozart says there is 5 am run
on Christmas morning, you can bet that everyone will show up. This atmosphere, this camaraderie is what Eric craves.He eats it up, he lives it, and he
basks in it.It’s a lot easier to
go through practice with 20 other guys suffering with you.
Monday through Friday it was intense training with constant repetitions.On Saturdays it was time to compete,
and win.Coach Cozart is a
realist. While he understands and coaches his kids to enjoy the work and
practice necessary, deep down, it’s about winning.It’s about winning wrestling matches week in and week out
because your opposition is not training as intense, or as often, as you are.
It is no coincidence, then, that Eric Grajales will continue
the next chapter of his illustrious career at the Division I school of his
choice.
That next chapter will start in Ann Arbor, Michigan.On October 14, he committed to Coach
Joe McFarland and the Wolverines. That the Number 1 ranked recruit in the nation got away from the likes of Iowa,
Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Minnesota isn’t that much of a surprise.It happens a lot more in collegiate
wrestling, than say, NCAA Division I football, where powerhouses like USC and
Florida build a veritable storehouse of talent.Thanks to a scholarship limit of 9.9, there is a lot more
competition for the best recruits.Still, for a wrestler not even to consider the supposed “top” schools is
an anomaly.
“I wanted a balance between academics and athletics,” he
says.“Not to say they aren’t good
schools, but Iowa, Iowa State, it doesn’t add up.”
Consider, Eric Grajales is one of those kids.Beyond
Michigan, he considered and visited Cornell, Penn and Columbia.That’s Ivy, Ivy, Ivy and then one of
the nation’s best public schools.When it comes to academia, Grajales is Einstein with a suplex.
“I have a 4.78 GPA,” he says. “I guess I have good genes,
because I never study.”He says
this with a shadow of arrogance and a lot of gratitude.
Remember that kid?The one who rarely does homework, rarely studies, rarely stays awake in
class and still manages to pull a 97 on every test?That’s Eric Grajales.He remembers everything, the first time.Absolutely nauseating to the rest of common society, he
admits, that, if anything, his grades should be better.But he doesn’t try, and he doesn’t have
to.Because even when he doesn’t
try, he’s still better than average.
Brandon High offers AP Calculus to those few daring and
intelligent individuals looking for a challenge in the discourse of math.At 7:25 in the morning, Eric Grajales
saunters into the classroom, sits in his desk, and goes to sleep.
A certain recipe for failure for the other 95% of the
population, Grajales sleeps his way to two C’s.His mother received a phone call at least twice a week from
his Calculus teacher, expressing concern that Eric was sleeping in class, and
that he was not reaching his full potential.
“His teacher would literally have him stand next to his
desk,” Leslie recalls.
“It didn’t seem to have a point,” Eric says with disgust.
Couple that with the daily three-hour grind sessions that
Coach Cozart’s practices are known for and the extra 3 or 4 mile run at 8
o’clock every night and you have one really disinterested Calculus
student.That he pulled a C is a
testament to his intelligence.Even without caring, without being even marginally interested or
involved Eric Grajales passed a class a majority of Americans have never even
seen the book cover for.
His achievements in Honors and AP classes in addition to his
first-try score of 1240 on the SAT afforded him opportunities most secondary
students only dream of.But he
always knew he’d go to a good school.He expected it.His parents
expected it, and it was never in doubt.Now he simply had to make the first real big decision of his life.He made a check list.
Great Academics
Great Wrestling Teammates who share same goals Coach I can Trust to push me
The weather was the only thing that did not play a part in
his decision.Living in the
Sunshine State, Eric knew wherever he went, it would be cold.
“Whether its -10 degrees or 0, it’s still cold,” he says.
New York (Columbia) and Philadelphia (Penn) were just too
big, and Ithaca (Cornell) was too small. “I couldn’t see myself in a big city like New York or Philadelphia,” he says.
“I know it would be too much of a distraction.At the same time, I didn’t want to be in the sticks.”
And there was something that itched him the wrong way when
he took his visit to the Ivy Schools.
“A lot of the guys had different intentions.They wanted to get amazing degrees and
wrestle along the way,” he says.“I want to win an NCAA title and have great academics.”
Predictably, Grajales had a great time when he took his
official visit to Michigan.
“They’re supposed to show you a good time,” he says without a hint of
naiveté.“But even when we weren’t
out doing something, I could, just, you know, hang.All of the wrestlers, were just, wrestlers.”
The wrestlers talked about bringing home the school’s first NCAA
Team Championship.They talked
about working hard and pushing each other in practice every day.The more they talked, the more Grajales
respected these guys.He felt the
same camaraderie that he felt when he talked with his Brandon teammates back
home.
Grajales respects wrestlers like you respect a NAVY
SEAL.“People don’t understand
what wrestlers go through,” he says with a bit of anger seeping out.“If you’ve never done it, you don’t
know anything in my book.”
Grajales isn’t talking about wrestling for four years as a
high school wrestler.
He’s talking about logging over 10,000 miles in extra
running, just to make weight.He’s
talking about giving up every single Spring Break to train at the Olympic
Training Center, sometimes three times a day.He’s talking about wrestling year round and traveling
annually to Vegas and Fargo, ND.He’s talking about training 4 -5 days a week in the so-called
off-season.He’s talking about
sacrificing meals, plural.He’s
talking about not going to the movies with friends.He’s talking about not hanging out with a girlfriend who
worships at your feet.He’s
talking about not being at home for months on end to train in a sport where you
are thrown on your head in practice.
He’s talking about sacrifice.Grajales, like every other elite athlete, is married to his
craft.For better or worse, in
success and defeat, sacrifice is the unforgiving bitch of a wife who needs your
attention like an unborn child needs an umbilical chord.The training that is necessary to
compete for wrestling is far more taxing than anything a boxer or an MMA
fighter experiences.Imagine
training for the biggest fight of your life, every week for 11 months.While boxers and MMA athletes train
with similar intensity, they do not train at a similar length.An elite boxer and/or MMA athlete train
for, max, 2 or 3 fights a year.
But Eric can’t help himself.As much as he’d like to spend more time with friends or eat
that second helping of his Mom’s Cajun Chicken Alfredo, he can’t.He loves to win.He loves to have his hand raised, while
his opponent’s head nods in defeat.Much in the same way a symphony was meant to be appreciated by an
audience, Eric Grajales loves to put on a show for any and everyone watching
him.The bigger the crowd, the
better.
“I want to get my hand raised in front of hundreds,
thousands of people,” he says.“I
love that pressure.” Due to his incessant
quest for training, it has only been on rare occasions that Eric has not had
his hand raised.He has never lost
a Greco-Roman match at the nation’s most prestigious junior/high school
tournament – code name Fargo. The Asics Cadet and Junior National Championships,
held annually in Fargo, ND, is, ‘where
State Champs go to die.’
It is the world’s largest tournament and it is also the
single most important tournament in a sport where scholarships at the Division
I level are scarce.Place top
eight in this tournament, where it is not uncommon to have more than 70
competitors in a single weight class, and you can pretty much punch your ticket
to a Division I school.
Or, you can just beat Eric Grajales.
Like adding seasoning salt and pepper to any dish, wrestling
is Eric Grajales spiced up.As if
wrestling wasn’t easy enough, he wants to do it, thrives on it.Nothing
inspires him like stepping on the mat.He feels at his best, most complete and happiest inside that circle.He wants to destroy every opponent he
faces.  
Eric Grajales wants your mother to scream in terror and for
your girlfriend to be embarrassed of you.He wants to feel the moment that your mind tells your body that it’s not
worth it to fight back - give up. If
at all possible, he would not feel in the least bit guilty if some poor soul
quit the sport after a thrashing.It would be a compliment.Step on the mat with a bear, and prepare to be mauled.
There is nothing cautious about Eric’s wrestling.There are those wrestlers who approach
a match like playing chess with your great aunt and her arthritic wrists.Slow and methodical is not the
preferred pace.
Ike Anderson’s official title is Greco-Roman Developmental
Coach.He’s the guy responsible
for finding and honing the abilities of the next crop of American Greco-Roman
wrestlers.A style where attacks
below the waist are forbidden, Americans, have been, historically, deficient at
the World and Olympic Level.
Greco, does not in any way resemble, Folkstyle, the style employed
by American High Schools and College.Folkstyle wrestling much more closely resembles Freestyle, a style
associated with names like Dan Gable, John Smith and Cael Sanderson.It’s no wonder then that, as the
nation’s #1 high school wrestler, Eric will stake his claim as a force to be
reckoned with as a Freestyle competitor during the next Olympic Cycle.
Nope.
“Eric hates freestyle,” Anderson says with delight.“I’ve never met a kid like him.He’ll do Folkstyle, then in March,
Greco.He’ll wrestle Freestyle for
Team Florida at national tournaments, but that’s it.”
Even at a young age, Eric has always been great at
Greco.
His American age-group opponents were mastering the gut
wrench.This move starts as your
opponent is lying prostrate on the mat and your hands are locked on or above
the waist, heads facing in the same direction.Driving your feet like a sprinter off the blocks, and
keeping your hands locked, in one continuous motion, you roll and arch your
back, ultimately finishing in the same position you started.
Meanwhile, Eric had mastered the crowd-pleasing,
mother-hating Reverse Lift.The
move that made 3-time Olympic Champion Alexander Karelin the most feared
wrestler ever, is, and has always been Eric’s favorite move.Opponent prostrate on the mat, Eric
positions himself atop and to the side of his opponent, forming a T.While facing his opponent’s feet he reaches
over his opponent’s waist with one hand, the other scooping underneath. Eric
locks his hands, stands straight up and arches his back, lifting his, now
defenseless, opponent chest high, arms and legs flailing.As Eric’s back arches in a backwards
crescent motion, his arms drive his opponent into the mat at a 90-degree angle.
The top of the cranium is often the first body part to feel the mat. It is the most vicious move possible, in the world’s most vicious sport.
Cozart remembers that during Eric’s first year of wrestling,
the Brandon Wrestling Club made the reverse lift a part of its daily practice
regimen. “I remember watching some little kids at a tournament doing it,” Cozart
says.“I thought, hey, if they can
do it, why can’t we?” Cozart warns that the move is not as simple as it looks, nor as spontaneous as
it may seem.It takes hours upon
hours of practice and years of experience to be able to hit it consistently on
good wrestlers.You love Thanksgiving,
Eric loves reverse lifting.He’s
added his own personal touches, and over the years has learned to make adjustments,
on the fly, depending on how his opponent reacts. Try to “dead-weight” yourself and he’ll load you up on his
knee.Try to circle behind his
legs, and he’ll pivot his heel and spin accordingly. Try to run him over and he’ll straighten his back, his hips
exploding with such force that his back and knees force his body into a perfect
‘I.’ If Eric Grajales gets his hands locked in the reverse lift position –
enjoy the ride.
Anderson first saw Eric wrestle at the FILA Cadet Nationals
in Chicago.  He watched him
repeatedly reverse lift every opponent he wrestled.He was just 14.
“You’re talking about a move that, at that age is not
common,” Anderson says.“It is
common for the Europeans, who don’t even know what Folkstyle or Freestyle
is.At an early age he was hitting
moves that guys on the University and Senior level do.He was like a European.”
That Anderson compares Eric to a European may be the highest
compliment possible.Our friends
across the ocean focus on one style their entire lives, and at a young age, are
taught with the same system that creates World and Olympic Champions.In Russia, you must have at least a
master’s degree in physical education to become a coach.Imagine having a John Smith or Dan
Gable at every high school in the nation, and the effect it would have on the
development of our athletes.Eric
was wrestling like them.
There were no holes in
his Greco, nothing he was not athletic enough to do, no move he didn’t pick up
the first time.He’s so good he
can see a move once, and five minutes later, try it in a match, and hit it
perfectly.He would try to score
at every opportunity, with no regard for the score, no regard for
position.Anderson watched this
phenom and knew that if he didn’t get Eric to understand that defense wins
championships he wouldn’t reach his full potential. “I told Eric, if you score 12 points on a guy and he scores 13, you’ll lose,”
Anderson recalls.“He didn’t think
it was important and that was the thing I worked on the most with him.”
Ike Anderson is responsible for the Eric Grajales that now
inhabits the Greco Circuit.Whenever Eric would venture to the Olympic Training Center the two would
work on Eric controlling himself, staying in positions that would keep his
opponent from scoring on him.At
the top of the to-do list was Eric’s gut-wrench defense, of which, Eric had
none.The endless drilling,
learning how to fight the gut wrench properly using your hips as a weapon,
completed him. Ironically, it also gave him a gut wrench that he can hit on almost
anybody.Slowly, Eric decided that defense was important.
“I’m always worried about my attacks,” he says.“Ike didn’t necessarily want to slow me
down, but he wanted me to be more meticulous.He wanted me to keep my elbows in and not take all the
chances.”
He finally put it all together last March at a tournament in
Bulgaria.
“I finally saw that he was getting it,” Anderson says with
satisfaction.“He finally grasped
the concept.”
In addition to his vast array of offensive weapons, Eric had
made himself near-impossible to score on.After placing third, Anderson knew his star pupil was ready to wrestle
at the Senior Level.
Eric called Anderson for advice some weeks after that
tournament.He was thinking about
wrestling at the US Senior Open.He wanted Anderson’s honest opinion on whether or not he should even try
it.Anderson assured Eric he was
ready. Anderson was so certain that he fought for Eric to get seeded.Eric wasn’t a trailblazer, as wrestlers
in high school had wrestled in and done well prior on the Senior Level.That he was considered to be seeded in
the top 8 was, however, noticeable.He had never competed at the Senior Level, although he had practiced
with some of the guys who did.The
first question at the coaches meeting that would determine the seedings, was, why?Why did Eric deserve it over guys who had, at the least,
wrestled in the Senior Division?
Anderson, armed with the knowledge that he personally knew Eric was ready not only to compete,
but win, rattled off his list of accomplishments.Former Greco Athlete of the Year, 2-time Junior World Team
member (losing only to the champion and third-placers) and 3-time Fargo Greco
Winner.A few of the other coaches
in the room, including Steve Fraser, The National Greco-Roman Head Coach, had
seen Eric wrestle and they all agreed he deserved a seed.
Seeded seventh, Eric, in short, wrestled the tournament of
his life.
“It was crazy, he hadn’t even trained that much [Greco]
prior to it,” his father says.“It
was great timing with the fact that he had peaked for the State
Tournament.So he was in great
shape and shortly after State there were a ton of guys in the room training
with him. He wrestled the best I have ever seen.”
When the tournament was over, Eric was not the National
Champion, but he had wrestled above his seed.He finished fifth, again losing only to the eventual
champion and third-placer.Along
the way, he scored the most points in the tournament, scoring a technical fall
in every one of his wins.To score
a technical fall Eric had to outpoint his opponents by at least 6 points in two
separate periods or score a 5-point throw (think, reverse lift). His talent, his drive, his work ethic, his ability, his potential, was on display
at the best time possible.He had
qualified for the Olympic Trials as just a high school junior.Although he wouldn’t make the Olympic Team,
or place, Eric had cemented himself as the possible future of Greco Wrestling. At about 8:25 on February 21, 2009 Eric Grajales will complete his career as
Florida’s second 4-time undefeated State Champ.He will etch his name into the conversation as possibly
Florida’s greatest wrestler ever.
He will be at his introspective best.
Damn, what do I do
now?

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Despite a strong performance at the middle weights and bonus win at 165 and 184 pounds, the No. 23-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team fell one match short in a 21-16 loss against No. 11 Penn State in the home finale on Friday evening (Feb. 16) in front of 706 fans at Cliff Keen Arena.

Senior/junior captain Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS) claimed his 100th career win in strong fashion with a 12-3 major decision over Dave Rella at 165 pounds. Tannenbaum, ranked second nationally, converted on five takedowns and added 1:58 in riding time advantage to pick up his sixth major decision of the season and improve his record to perfect 20-0.

Junior/sophomore Tyrel Todd (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS) also captured a big win for the Wolverine squad at the 184-pound division, scoring a second-period fall -- his fourth of the season -- against the Nittany Lions' Phil Bomberger. Todd dominated throughout the match, scoring five takedowns in the opening frame to build up a six-point lead after three minutes. Starting the second period on top, Todd rode hard before locking up a near-side cradle to roll Bomberger to his back to collect the pin at the 4:48 mark.

Despite the bonus wins late in the match, the Wolverine could never recover from the early deficit after Penn State claimed the opening three weights, including back-to-back major decisions at 125 and 133
pounds. Sophomore/freshman Justin Chrzanowski (Metamora, Mich./Lapeer West HS) put the Wolverines' first points on the board with a 7-2 decision at 141 pounds over the Lions' Bryan Heller. Chrzanowski claimed his points on the mat, countering errant shots by Heller in the first and third periods to force scrambles and score. In the second, the Wolverine scrambled for a reversal midway through and frame and added 2:22 in riding time to seal up his second dual win in three matches.

Senior/junior captain Josh Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) responded in kind in the subsequent bout at 149 pounds, scoring a takedown in each period to cruise past 16th-ranked Dan Vallimont 8-3.
Churella early with a first-period single leg, added a double early in the second and sealed it up with another single late in the third, while accumulating 2:11 in riding time.

Senior/junior Jeff Marsh (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) suffered a narrow defeat at 157 pounds as Bubba Jenkins used a takedown in the closing moments of the third period to take a 4-2 decision. Fifth-year senior Nick Roy (Wall, N.J./Wall HS) hung with top-ranked Phil Davis in the final home appearance, but the Nittany Lion wrestler, last year's NCAA runner-up at 197 pounds, earned an early advantage behind a pair of first-period takedowns to claim a 6-1 win.

The Wolverines wrap up the dual-meet portion of their 2006-07 slate on Sunday (Feb. 18), squaring off against No. 14 Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. The match is slated for a 7 p.m. CST start at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#11 Penn State 21, #23 Michigan 16
Individual rankings from NWCA/InterMat
Hwt -- #3 Aaron Anspach (PSU) dec. Casey White, 11-5 PSU, 3-0
125 -- #10 Mark McKnight (PSU) major dec. Michael Watts, 13-4 PSU, 7-0
133 -- #11 Jake Strayer (PSU) major dec. Chris Diehl, 13-2 PSU, 11-0
141 -- Justin Chrzanowski (U-M) dec. Bryan Heller, 7-2 PSU, 11-3
149 -- #3 Josh Churella (U-M) dec. #16 Dan Vallimont, 8-3 PSU, 11-6
157 -- Bubba Jenkins (PSU) dec. Jeff Marsh, 4-2 PSU, 14-6
165 -- #2 Eric Tannenbaum (U-M) major dec. Dave Rella, 12-3 PSU, 14-10
174 -- #5 James Yonushonis (PSU) major dec. Jordan Sherrod, 12-4 PSU,
18-10
184 -- #4 Tyrel Todd (U-M) pinned Philip Bomberger, 4:38 PSU, 18-16
197 -- #1 Phil Davis (PSU) dec. #20 Nick Roy, 6-1 PSU, 21-16

The No. 22 Michigan State wrestling team (3-8, 2-4 Big Ten) returns home after a long road trip to Minnesota and Iowa last weekend to host No. 18 Indiana on Friday at 7 p.m. and No. 11 Penn State on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Spartans fell to the top-ranked Gophers, 35-4, and lost at No. 10 Iowa, 33-9.

Second-ranked Nick Simmons won both of his matches over the weekend to improve to 30-1 for the season. He notched a major decision (13-0) over Minnesota's Mike Thorn for MSU's only win of the dual, then won by injury default over Iowa's Mario Galanakis. Simmons was up 5-0 on Galanakis before the match was stopped with 37 seconds left in the first period.

Junior Joe Williams reached a milestone with his win in the Iowa dual, collecting his 23rd victory of the season, marking a new career high. His previous career best was 22 wins, when he went 22-8 his freshman year. The Orange, Calif., native is ranked 10th at 184 pounds with a 23-9 record.

Although the final score was 33-9, MSU battled Iowa in several hard-fought matches. MSU was up 6-3 after Simmons' injury default win, but unfortunately gave the six points right back with a forfeit at 141 pounds. At 157 pounds, Tony Greathouse lost by one point to 16th-ranked Ryan Morningstar, 3-2, and Rocky Cozart led most of his match at 165 against fourth-ranked Mark Perry before falling 9-7. In the 174-pound match, John Murphy and No. 3 Eric Luedke were tied after regulation, 1-1, but Luedke had a riding-time advantage of 1:22 to collect the one point needed for the victory. In the opening match at 125 pounds, No. 4 Franklin Gomez lost on a last-second takedown in the third period to No. 8 Charlie Falck.

No. 18 Indiana enters East Lansing with a 12-4 record, 3-3 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers scored wins over No. 23 Michigan, 21-15, and No. 12 Northwestern, 28-11, last weekend.

Penn State, ranked 11th, did not wrestle last weekend. The Nittany Lions (12-5, 3-3) will head to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan Friday night before facing MSU on Sunday. In their last dual, the Lions defeated Iowa, 24-13, before a crowd of nearly 6,000 at PSU's Rec Hall. Penn State also defeated Northwestern, 25-8, that same weekend.

The matches against Indiana and Penn State are the final duals of the Big Ten schedule. The Spartans close the regular season Friday, Feb. 23 against No. 14 Oklahoma at Jenison Field House. MSU hosts the 2007 Big Ten Wrestling Championships March 3-4 at the Breslin Center.

J.D. Bergman defeats second-ranked Mike Tamillow; Buckeyes improve to 8-4
COLUMBUS , Ohio ? The Ohio State wrestling team defeated No. 10 Northwestern, 18-16, Sunday at St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio. The Buckeyes' record improved to 8-4 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten Conference. This is the third-consecutive match in which the Scarlet and Gray has topped a ranked opponent and fourth time this season. Northwestern stands at 11-7 overall and 1-4 in the league.
The match came down to the final bout at 141 pounds with the Buckeyes trailing the Wildcats, 16-15. J Jaggers (So., Northfield, Ohio/St. Peter Chanel), who now is 13-4 on the season was able to garner the 7-5 decision over James Kohlberg to give Ohio State the win.
Another crucial win for OSU came at 197 pounds when No. 7 J.D. Bergman (Jr., Oak Harbor, Ohio/Oak Harbor) upset second-ranked Mike Tamillow, 4-2. The win put the Buckeyes on top 12-10 after six matches. However, Northwestern won the next two bouts at 285 and 125 pounds. No. 4 Dustin Fox beat Corey Morrison (So., Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights), 6-1, and Brandon Precin defeated Will Livingston (Fr., Stillwater, N.J./Kittatinny Regional), 5-0. Down 16-12, T.J. Enright (Jr., Galloway, Ohio/Westland) pulled Ohio State within one after posting a 7-2 decision against Eric Metzler to set up the final and deciding match at 141 pounds.
St. Edward graduate Lance Palmer (Fr., Lakewood, Ohio) and Jason Johnstone (So., Massillon, Ohio/Perry) helped the Buckeyes take an early 9-0 lead when Palmer recorded an 8-1 decision over Marty Gould at 149 pounds and Johnstone dropped Dominic Marella in 58 seconds at 157 pounds.
Fellow St. Edward alum and 16th-ranked Chris Vondruska (Sr., Lakewood, Ohio) lost a close 4-2 match to Greg Hagel at 165 pounds and third-ranked Mike Pucillo (Fr., Cuyahoga, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) lost his first bout of the year to No. 1 Jake Herbert, 11-5.
Ohio State will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to face No. 21 Michigan Feb. 11 for a 2 p.m. match.
Ohio State 18, No. 10 Northwestern 16 OSU NU
149 ? No. 16 Lance Palmer (OSU) dec. Marty Gould (NU), 8-1 3 0
157 ? Jason Johnstone (OSU) pinned Dominic Marella (NU), :58 9 0
165 ? Greg Hagel (NU) dec. No. 16 Chris Vondruska (OSU), 4-2 9 3
174 ? No. 15 Nick Hayes (NU) mdec. Wes Bergman (OSU), 8-0 9 7
184 ? No. 1 Jake Herbert dec. No. 3 Mike Pucillo (OSU), 11-5 9 10
197 ? No. 7 J.D. Bergman (OSU) dec. No. 2 Mike Tamillow (NU), 4-2 12 10
285 ? No. 4 Dustin Fox (NU) dec. Corey Morrison (OSU), 6-1 12 13
125 ? Brandon Precin (NU) dec. Will Livingston (OSU), 5-0 12 16
133 ? T.J. Enright (OSU) dec. Eric Metzler (NU), 7-2 15 16
141 ? J Jaggers (OSU) dec. James Kohlberg (NU), 7-5 18 16

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan wrestling
team split 10 individual matches down the middle against No. 3 Hofstra
as the two teams teams battled to a 18-18 tie on Saturday evening (Jan.
6) in front of 871 fans at Cliff Keen Arena. It marks the first U-M tie
in two seasons as well as the first tie in the series history between
the two programs.

Kicking off the dual with the marquee match of the evening at 165
pounds, senior/junior captain Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North
HS), ranked fifth nationally in the latest NWCA poll, used a
first-period takedown to earn a 3-1 decision over the Pride's
fourth-ranked Mike Patrovich. The Wolverine scored the match's only
offensive points with a single leg late in the opening frame. After
quick escapes by both wrestlers early in the second and third periods
kept point differential at two, Tannenbaum stayed on the attack with a
deep single-leg shot midway through the final frame but could not
convert on the edge of the match. With the win, Tannenbaum improved his
season record to a perfect 11-0.

Michigan extended its advantage to 12-0 with wins by senior/juniors
Steve Luke (Massillon, Ohio/Perry HS) and Tyrel Todd (Bozeman,
Mont./Bozeman HS) in the subsequent two matches, including a quick
first-period fall at 184 pounds. Luke needed just a pair of escapes to
emerge with a 2-0 victory over 12th-ranked Alton Lucas. The U-M
sophomore, ranked eighth, earned a quick escape at the start of the
middle frame and another at the early in the third after the Pride
wrestler took a second injury timeout.

Fourth-ranked Todd wasted little time before dumping Rich Muzikar to the
mat, shooting in on a single 30 seconds into the match and finishing
with a double leg on the edge of the mat. The Wolverine sophomore used a
arm bar to turn Muzikar for two points midway through the frame and,
just moments later, used head lever to put the Pride wrestler flat on
the mat, earning his third fall of the season at 1:48 mark.

Hofstra claimed its first win of the evening at 197 pounds, where the
Pride's third-ranked Chris Weidman used riding time to earn a 9-8
decision over junior/sophomore Casey White (Commerce, Mich./Walled Lake
Central HS). White, in his first match in more than a month, trailed by
five points after the opening two periods but rallied in the final frame
with a takedown and two escapes. The Wolverine ran out of time, however,
as Weidman's 4:00 in time advantage proved to be the tiebreaker.

Senior/junior heavyweight Omar Maktabi (Iowa City, Iowa/West HS)
converted on a takedown midway through the overtime frame to secure a
3-1 decision against Hofstra's Matt Pollock and give the Wolverines a
15-3 advantage entering the halftime intermission. The wrestlers
exchanged escapes during regulation, but neither was able to take
advantage of scoring opportunities. In extra time, Maktabi used a front
headlock to gain position behind Pollock, locked up his hands and used a
trip to put the Pride heavyweight on the mat.

The Pride would claim the next three matches at the lightweights,
including two with bonus points, to even the team score at 15-15 with
two bouts remaining. Fifth-ranked Dave Tomasette initiated the rally in
the first match out of the break, earning a 16-0 technical fall at 125
pounds against senior/junior James Shaheen (Troy, Mich./Athens HS) in
the Wolverines' varsity debut. The Pride wrestler scored a pair of
takedowns and 11 back points to end the bout at the 5:59 mark.

Freshman Chris Diehl (Burton, Mich./Flint Kearsley HS) kept his
133-pound match close against 19th-ranked Lou Ruggirello, matching the
Pride wrestler two takedowns with a pair of his own. Ruggirello,
however, held the advantage in escapes and used three of them to claim a
7-4 decision. At 141 pounds, Hofstra's 19th-ranked Charles Griffin
accumulated a pair of takedowns, a second-period revedrsal and five back
points en route to a 12-2 major decision against sophomore/freshman
Justin Chrzanowski (Metamora, Mich./Lapeer West HS).

The teams traded decision victories in the final two matches -- at 149
and 157 pounds -- to preserve the final 18-18 tie. Senior/junior captain
Josh Churella (Northville, Mich./Novi HS) cruised 6-1 win over Mike
Parziale behind single-leg takedowns in the first and third periods. He
added 1:31 in riding time en route to his seventh consecutive victory.

Senior/junior Jeff Marsh (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) hung close with
fourth-ranked James Strouse through most of his 157-pound contest, but
the Pride wrestler sealed his 6-3 victory midway through the final frame
with a low single leg on the edge of the mat.

The Wolverines will compete in the prestigious Cliff Keen/NWCA National
Duals on Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 13-14) in Cedar Falls, Iowa. U-M will
be one of 16 teams competing in the Division I field. Hosted by the
University of Northern Iowa, all matches will be held at the UNI Dome.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

#11 Michigan vs. #3 Hofstra
165 -- #5 Eric Tannenbaum (U-M) dec. #4 Mike Patrovich, 3-1
174 -- #8 Steve Luke (U-M) dec. #12 Alton Lucas, 2-0
184 -- #4 Tyrel Todd (U-M) pinned Rich Muzikar at 1:48
197 -- #3 Chris Weidman (Hofstra) dec. Casey White, 9-8
Hwt -- Omar Maktabi (U-M) dec. Matt Pollock, 3-1
125 -- #5 Dave Tomasette (Hofstra) tech. fall James Shaheen, 16-0 (6:59)
133 -- #19 Lou Ruggirello (Hofstra) dec. Chris Diehl, 7-4
141 -- #19 Charles Griffin (Hofstra) major dec. Justin Chrzanowski, 12-1
149 -- #3 Josh Churella (U-M) dec. Mike Parziale, 6-1
157 -- #4 James Strouse (Hofstra) dec. Jeff Marsh, 6-3

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 9-ranked University of Michigan wrestling
team suffered its first loss of the season, falling to No. 11 Central
Michigan 21-12 in U-M's home opener Friday (Dec. in front of 1,444
fans at Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverines won four bouts during the
contest, but could not recover after CMU built an early nine-point
advantage with wins in the first three matches.
With U-M trailing by three points entering the final bout,
senior/junior heavyweight Omar Maktabi (Iowa City, Iowa/West HS) scored
a takedown late in the second period to take control of his match
against seventh-ranked Bubba Gritter. After the wrestlers traded
escapes, Maktabi still held an one-point advantage until late in
regulation when he was hit with his second stalling call. In the waning
moments of the match, the Wolverine was caught up in a scramble as
Gritter forced him to his back to earn the fall at 6:48 and seal the
Chippewa win.
Michigan claimed four of five matches at the middle weights to rally
back and knot the score at 15-15. Senior/junior captain Josh Churella
(Northville, Mich./Novi HS) initiated the comeback at 149 pounds, using
takedowns in the first and second periods to cruise to a 7-3 decision
over Brandon Carter. The Chippewa wrestler cut down the deficit with a
reversal at the second-period buzzer, but Churella, ranked fourth
nationally in the latest NWCA/InterMat poll, maintained his control,
adding 1:26 in riding time to claim his sixth straight win.
Senior/junior captain Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./North HS) also
extended his winning streak and remained a perfect 10-0 on the season
with a 4-0 victory over 16th-ranked Trevor Stewart. Tannenbaum earned a
full two minutes of riding time in the second period, and then picked up
a quick reversal early in the final frame to take the only lead he would
need. The Wolverine captain, ranked fifth, converted on a low single leg
on a restart late in regulation to lock it up.
U-M claimed back-to-back decision victories in the marquee matches of
the evening as junior/sophomore Steve Luke (Massillon, Ohio/Perry HS)
and Tyrel Todd (Bozeman, Mont./Bozeman HS) knocked off Central
Michigan's Brandon and Christian Sinnott, both ranked sixth nationally,
at 174 and 184 pounds, respectively. With the 174-pound bout tied at 1-1
through regulation and 2-2 through the first round of tiebreakers,
seventh-ranked Luke used a single-leg takedown midway through the second
sudden-victory frame to earn the 4-2 upset and end the bout after
nine-and-a-half minutes.
Todd, ranked fifth, could not finish on several scoring opportunities
throughout his match against Christian Sinnott, but used his 1:25 riding
time advantage at the end of regulation to break a deadlocked score and
earn a 2-1 decision. Each wrestler earned his escape point, but Todd
held the Chippewa wrestler to the mat for most of the second frame,
which would prove the deciding factor.
After a quick break for the holidays, the Wolverines will return to the
mats for the prestigious Midlands Championships, scheduled for Dec.
29-30, in Evanston, Ill. It will be Michigan's first trip to the
Midlands since the 2002-03 season.