No. 18 Rutgers falls to No. 4 Michigan 28-7 on Senior Day

It was a tough day at the RAC, but there were some positives to take away from Rutgers loss to Michigan. On senior day, Anthony Ashnault earned a major decision and John Van Brill, despite his loss to No. 5 Alec Pantaleo, earned a nice standing ovation from the crowd.

Here’s what happened on Sunday afternoon:

Suriano falls short of knocking off Micic

It was a closely contested battle, but Michigan’s Steven Micic escaped with the victory, earning a third period takedown and holding off Suriano’s last efforts. It should be noted, the officials on the mat are the same ones from Suriano’s bout with Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix as the crowd continually grew angry over some questionable stoppages and a few non-stall calls.

Suriano easily attacked more but could not finish against the stout defense of Micic. One instance took place along the boundary with roughly 30 seconds left in the match, Suriano trailing 3-2. Suriano had the single leg and was trying to break Micic’s defense to finish, but the refs blew the action dead. There’s a good possibility we see Suriano and Micic rematch in the Big Ten Tournament, likely in the finals in that scenario.

Ashnault shines in final home match

Anthony Ashnault didn’t waste any time in his match against Malik Amine as he earned four takedowns in the first period. He ended up with a 16-4 major decision to cap off his career in the RAC. There’s still plenty more for Ashnault to accomplish throughout the postseason, but it was a nice sendoff for the best wrestler in program history.

Joe Grello earned a solid win

Grello was controlling against Michigan’s backup Reece Hughes at 174. All-American Myles Amine got the day off so Grello took advantage and earned the second win of the day for Rutgers. His top game was solid and looked pretty fluid on his feet.

Box Score:

125: No. 13 Drew Mattin (MICH) MD Shane Metzler (RU): 9-0

133: No. 1 Stevan Micic (MICH) DEC No. 4 Nick Suriano (RU): 3-2

141: No. 7 Kanen Storr (MICH) DEC Peter Lipari (RU): 6-1 TB1

149: No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (RU) MD Malik Amine (MICH): 16-4

157: No. 5 Alec Pantaleo (MICH) DEC No. 17 John Van Brill (RU): 7-2

165: No. 7 Logan Massa (MICH) win by Forfeit

174: Joe Grello (RU) DEC Reece Hughes (MICH): 4-1

184: No. 19 Jelani Embree (MICH) DEC Anthony Olivieri (RU): 7-2

197: Jackson Striggow (MICH) DEC Matt Correnti (RU): 6-4

HWT: No. 11 Mason Parris (MICH) DEC Christian Colucci (RU): 4-3

Final Score: Michigan wins 28-7

What’s Next?

Rutgers will wrap up the dual meet season with a road date against Maryland next Friday. Rutgers will be heavily favored on paper and it will be the last piece of business before final preparations for the Big Ten Tournament.