Nick Suriano fought like he was focused on winning his second national championship in a fight against his old school, Rutgers University, for his new school, the University of Michigan, on Sunday.
Suriano, who became Rutgers’ first national wrestling champion when he won the NCAA 133-pound title in 2019, recorded a technical fall victory over Scarlet Knights sophomore Dylan Shawver in a bout. 125-pounder in the Wolverines’ 32-8 victory. at a Big Ten Conference game at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Both teams struggled without several starters.
Rutgers (12-4, 2-4), ranked 14th nationally, didn’t have two starters.
Sophomore freshman and last year’s 184-pound NCAA fourth-place finisher John Poznanski was sidelined with an injury sustained Friday night when he was shockingly pinned by Michigan State’s Layne Malczewski in a loss to the Scarlet Knights 20-17 against the Spartans.
Had he been available, Poznanski would have fought three-time NCAA third-place finalist and four-time national finalist Myles Amine. Rutgers lost that weight because he doesn’t have another 184-pounder on his list.
Scarlet Knights’ 157-pound title fighter Robert Kanniard also did not fight for the second straight bout.
Michigan (6-1, 2-1), ranked No. 3 nationally, was without three-time NCAA top-four finalist Stevan Micic at 141 pounds and the 149-pound titleholder , Cole Mattin.
Rutgers’ only wins came from Sebastian Rivera and Mike VanBrill with 141 and 149 respectively.
Michigan, rebounding from a 29-6 loss to No. 1 Penn State on Friday night, won the final in six bouts after the match was tied 8-8 and eight of 10 overall.
Two-time NCAA qualifier Will Lewan (157) gave Michigan the lead for good by defeating sophomore freshman Al Desantis 8-3.
The Wolverines’ victories included a 4-2 upset victory for Patrick Brucki over Greg Bulsak at 197 pounds.
Brucki, who was fourth with 197 in the 2019 NCAA Tournament when he wrestled for Princeton, recorded a takedown 27 seconds into the sudden winning period. It was Bulsak’s third straight loss after winning his first 15 bouts.
Suriano, who transferred to Michigan from Rutgers last fall for the final season of his college career, began the game with his landslide 16-1 victory. Sunday was his first fight against Rutgers since his transfer.
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Twice he had Shawver on his back for two sets of four points behind.
The first set came in the first period after he recorded a takedown on a double-legged flick. He also put Shawver on his back while riding him in the third period. Shawver fought his back both times.
Suriano, who joined the Michigan lineup on Jan. 9, is now 5-0 on the season with two technical knockdowns, two big decisions and a 2-1 drive-time victory Friday night over Drew Hildebrant of Penn State.
With three-time Iowa national champion Spencer Lee sidelined for the season after he decided to have knee surgery, Suriano is the favorite to win the 125-pound national championship on March 19 in Detroit.
Lee defeated Suriano 5-1 in the 2018 NCAA 125-pound final as Suriano became Rutgers’ first national finalist.
Suriano spent two years trying to make the United States Olympic team at 57kg for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. However, Covid testing ended that offer just before the US Olympic trials last April.
Sebastian Rivera (141) put Rutgers on the board with another technical knockdown.
Rivera, a three-time NCAA top-six finalist and four-time All-American, won via technical knockdown over redshirt freshman Chris Kim. The score was 19-4.
Kim took Micic’s place.
Micic also didn’t fight Penn State and its national champion Nick Lee. Lee didn’t intervene when Rutgers and Penn State fought on Jan. 16.
Rivera (18-0) has earned bonus points in every fight. He has 11 technical knockdowns, three big decisions, two pins, and two dropouts.
VanBrill (14-1), a two-time NCAA qualifier, defeated redshirt sophomore Pat Nolan 4-1. H got a takedown in the first period and took out Nolan in the third.
MICHIGAN 32, RUTGER 8
125: Nick Suriano (H) tf. Dylan Shawver 7:00 (16-1)
133: Dylan Ragusin (M) d. Joey Oliveri 3-1.
141: Sebastian Rivera (D) tf. Chris Kim 4:34 (19-4)
149: Mike VanBrill (right) d. Pat Nolan 4-1.
157: Will Lewan (M) d. To Desantis 9-3
165: Cameron Amina (M) d. Andrew Clark 3-1
174: Logan Massa (M) pg. Connor O’Neill 4:18
184: Myles Amine (M) by default.
197: Patrick Brucki (M) d. Greg Bulsak 4-2 (sudden win period No. 1)
HWT: Mason Parris (M) d. Boone McDermott 10-3.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism