Tsirtsis, Malone Knock Off Ranked Opponents at Michigan

Mike Bare January 29, 2016, 9:19 pm 7.2k Views 175 Votes

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Jason Tsirtsis won with a thrilling takedown in sudden victory, and Dominick Malone won a one-point decision, but No. 6 Michigan bested Northwestern Friday night, 39-6.

Malone put the Wildcats on the board with a 3-2 victory at 133 lbs. over No. 17 Rossi Bruno. The two entered Friday’s match 1-1 against each other all-time with each winning a match in the postseason. Malone improved to 16-6 this season and now has two wins over top-20 opponents.

Tsirtsis followed that up with an awesome finish at 149 lbs. that brought the Northwestern bench to its feet. He and No. 6 Alec Pantaleo headed to sudden victory tied at two, and Tsirtsis rolled out of a takedown attempt by Pantaleo and finished one of his own all in the same motion to pull out the 4-2 win.

The match marked Tsirtsis’ fifth straight against a top-6 opponent.

Jacob Berkowitz wrestled a tough match at 197 lbs. against No. 6 Max Huntley but came up just shy of a big upset. Huntley led just 6-5 going into the third and final period and was able to use an escape plus riding time to pull out an 8-5 decision.

The Wolverines took a 24-0 lead into the intermission after two falls, a tech fall and a major decision in the first five matches. They used a forfeit and a fall in the final five matches to extend the final margin out to 39-6.

Chicago’s Big Ten Team is back in action Sunday at 12 p.m. CT against Michigan State. The match will be streamed live via BTN Plus.

#6 Michigan 39, Northwestern 6
174: #13 Davonte Mahomes (MICH) maj. dec. Mitch Sliga (NU), 12-4 [MICH 4, NU 0]
184: #8 Domenic Abounader (MICH) Fall Regis Durbin (NU), 1:56 [MICH 10, NU 0]
197: #6 Max Huntley (MICH) dec. Jacob Berkowitz (NU), 8-5 [MICH 13, NU 0]
285: #4 Adam Coon (MICH) Fall Conan Jennings (NU), 0:40 [MICH 19, NU 0]
125: Conor Youtsey (MICH) Tech Fall Garrison White (NU), 20-2 (6:23) [MICH 24, NU 0]
133: Dominick Malone (NU) dec. #17 Rossi Bruno (MICH), 3-2 [MICH 24, NU 3]
141: George Fisher (MICH) Win by Forfeit [MICH 30, NU 3]
149: #4 Jason Tsirtsis (NU) dec. #6 Alec Pantaleo (MICH), 4-2 (SV1) [MICH 30, NU 6]
157: #9 Brian Murphy (MICH) Fall Anthony Petrone (NU), 1:03 [MICH 36, NU 6]
165: Garrett Sutton (MICH) dec. Luke Norland (NU), 8-3 [MICH 39, NU 6]