University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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En route to a 15-9 victory, sophomore Mike Kulzycki takes his Penn State opponent down. Kulzycki led the Wolverines in total victories with 31. photo by Jon Hammer In his final match at Cliff Keen, senior Otto Olson rides his Penn State opponent to a technical fall. Olson finished his senior season with a 20-1 record in dual meets. photo by Jon Hammer As his opponent tries to escape, redshirt freshman Clark Forward throws him back down. Forward was one of nine ranked Maize and Blue wrestlers, photo by Jon Hammer Wrestling

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Junior Brent Sheffer thrusts himself into the air in an attempt to improve upon his personal best of 17-1. Sheffer placed 4th at the Big Ten Indoor Champion- ships, photo by Abby Johnson With a countenance of determination and focus, true freshman April Phillips prepares to launch the shot. Phillips used the traditional technique to lead the team in the shot put. photo by Abby Johnson A Wolverine hurdler warms up before the 110 meter hurdles. Members of the track team had to stay loose but focused in the moments leading up to their events, photo by Abby Johnson Sports

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Grapplina ith Success Senior Otto Olson, the Wolverine ' s co-captain with senior Joe DeGain, and the nation ' s best wrestler at 1 74 pounds had been through more than his fair share of adversity. Olson had dealt with a pair of torn knee ligaments, a serious car accident, and being struck by a car while riding his bike - all between December, 1999 and December, 2000. While it would have been easy for Olson to just admit he had been defeated and quit, living with such a mentality never occurred to Olson or to his Wolverine teammates. Two weeks after being hit by a car and having his shoulder separated, Olson was back on the mat, defeating his Michigan State opponent by fall at 4:52 into the match. After the first 13 meets, Olson had recorded only one loss, despite his injured shoulder. The rest of the Wolverine team followed Olson ' s lead. The tough and dedicated team had wrestlers ranked within the top 20 nationally of every weight class. While Olson was heavily favored to bring the Wolverine ' s first individual national title back to Cliff Keen since 1986, sophomore AJ Grant at 125 pounds, sopho- more Mike Kulczycki at 149 pounds, junior Charles Martelli at 1 65 pounds, and junior heavyweight Matt Brink were all expected to compete for national titles. The Wolverines opened their season in impressive fashion, out of their first 1 3 meets, the Maize and Blue only lost two of them and those were to the third and fourth ranked teams respectively. The Wolverines proved to be one of the most dominant teams in the program ' s history. The team set a new school record at the Wendy ' s Classic by shutting out three straight opponents. The team also dominated the preseason tournaments. The Michigan wrestlers opened the season in impressive fashion at the Eastern Michigan University Open by claiming eight individual championships. At the Eagle open, four wrestlers claimed indivdual titles, and Kulczycki and sophomore Dan Seder became co-champions. Sophomore Katsuhiko Sueda also placed in the Open. The Wolverines never left the top ten in the national rankings during the season and had high expectations for the post-season, by Jon Hammer Redshirt freshman Foley Dowd tries desperately to get out of bounds before his opponent scores on him. Dowd was one of just two freshman to see significant playing time, photo by Jon Hammer Th i 12 1-12 2 at Cliff Keen Invitational 10th of 52 1 20 Nebraska-Omaha 37-6 12 8 Michigan State 22-12 1 20 Lehigh 22-16 12 9 Central Michigan 37-0 1 21 Iowa State 16-22 1 5 at Lehigh 22-12 1 21 Oklahoma 19-19 1 7 at Pennsylvania 26-6 1 26 at Minnesota 6-29 1 14 at Wendy ' s Classic 1 28 at Michigan State 20-12 1 14 Binghamton 45-0 2 2 Iowa 18-16 I 1 14 Marquette 50-0 2 3 Wisconsin 37-4 1 14 Cleveland State 48-0 2 9 at Indiana 24-14 1 20-1 21 at Cliff Keen National Duals 5th of 16 2 1 1 Ohio State 20-18 1 20 Virginia Tech 35-6 2 16 Penn State 27-12 1 20 Iowa 18-20 2 18 at Northwestern 36-7 Overall Record: 17-3-1 Big Ten: 7-1 Sports 211