After garnering the title as the first two national qualifiers in one season in USM wrestling history last weekend at the New England Wrestling Association Championships, senior Mike Morin (Fryeburg) and junior Matt Ulrich (Garfield, N.J.) amazed the Husky faithful once again as they both claimed All-American honors at the 2010 NCAA DIII Wrestling National Championship this past Friday and Saturday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“It was just a surreal weekend for us,” USM head coach Joe Pistone said.
Morin, who became USM’s first wrestling All-American last year while finishing fourth, found his way back to the National Championship Tournament this year as he took fifth place in the 165 pound weight class. Ulrich, who took his first trip to the National Tournament this year, came out strong and focused in Cedar Rapids and claimed the sixth place spot in the 141 pound division.
After a tough week of practices preparing for the NCAA DIII Tournament, Morin and Ulrich showed they were ready to face the toughest competition in the country. Morin began the tournament with a first round bye and then went on to defeat Vincent Alber of University of Wisconsin- Platteville 7-5 in the second round. After his win over Alber, Morin dropped a match to Vincent Renaut of Merchant Marine Academy by decision 5-3. The senior All-American gathered himself after only his fourth loss of the year, and defeated Stevens Institute of Technology’s Joey Favia by a major decision of 12-4 and then won his third match of the tournament 7-6 against University of Wisconsin- La Crosse’s Corey Ferguson. Morin lost another match to Coe University’s Nick Leclere, and then regrouped to defeat Justin Barowski of De Val 13-8 to earn his fifth place finish in the 165 pound weight class.
“What Mike did this weekend was remarkable,” Pistone said. “The 165 pound weight class was up for grabs for everyone in it. Mike had a tough road but fought back to grab fifth place and he is very proud of that.”
Ulrich, who came into his first NCAA Tournament unseeded, earned wins over two ranked wrestlers en route to his 6th place finish. The junior lost a match to Jeremy Stierly of Ithaca College by a 4-2 decision, but recorded wins over seventh seeded Kevin Donahue of Cornell (6-5), and two-seeded Jafari Vanier of Augsburg (6-2) to helped him gain his spot in USM wrestling History.
“In Matt’s first match he faced a two-time national qualifier and then in his second he faced a two time All-American and he beat them both. He took it to them and was really on a different level mentally and physically when he stepped onto the mat,” Pistone said of Ulrich. “Matt and Mike made a pact and said anything less than an All-American would be unacceptable and to do what they did was phenomenal.”
Aside from Morin being an All-American for the second straight season, he joined fellow captains senior Doug Christensen (Middletown, N.Y.) and junior Billy Cole (Madbury, N.H.) as USM’s three Wrestling Scholar All-American’s.
With the 2010 season coming to an end, it also marks the end of Morin’s brilliant career. Morin, who is known as the wrestling program’s most decorated wrestler, finishes his career with a record of 133-21 and a winning percentage of .863. He is also a three-time All-New England Champion at the 165 pound weight class.
Christensen, who joins Morin as one of USM’s two seniors, finishes his career with a record of 49-41 to go along with two Wrestling Scholar All-American titles and is a two-time All-New England Wrestler.
The USM wrestling program will take a young team into next year, but with experienced coaching and hard work, look for another Husky to become a national qualifier in 2011.