The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2022 THE WOLVERINE 37 Haskins and answered every OSU score with one of their own to capture the Big Ten East crown. U-M's offensive line and tight end Erick All bullied OSU up front, paving the way for 297 rushing yards, 7.2 per carry. Ohio State threw for 394 yards, but Michigan averaged more yards per pass (9.5 to 8.0) and the defense held OSU to 2.1 yards per carry. In what NCAA.com called an "epic" team race, the Michigan wrestlers earned the 2022 Big Ten title over heavily favored Penn State after titles by Nick Suriano at 125 pounds and Myles Amine at 184. Cam Amine, Will Lewan and Logan Massa all captured second-place finishes for key points, as well. Michigan would finish second to PSU at the NCAA Tournament. Best Female Team Upset — Golf Wins Its First Big Ten Title: No. 18 Michigan was the No. 1 seed heading into the Big Ten Tournament, but the Wol- verines had never won a championship and their top golfer heading in, Ashley Lau (the program's first Big Ten Golfer of the Year after leading the conference in scoring average at 71.7), wasn't playing particularly well. The senior would finish tied for 30th with junior Hailey Borja. But two golfers would step up big for coach Jan Dowling — sophomore Monet Chun, who was the individual champion by four shots (205, 8-under), and junior Mikaela Schultz (17th). The Wolverines made the national fi- nals for a second straight year and for the fifth time in school history after finish- ing tied for third at the regionals. They notched a 20th-place finish out of 24 teams. BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE Best Male Individual Performance (Tie) — Myles Amine Wins Big Ten Wrestling Title; Aidan Hutchinson Dominates Against Ohio State: Amine won a title as a 197-pounder in 2021 after being Big Ten runner-up at 174 pounds (2018, 2019). He repeated as a cham- pion, this time at 184. He was particu- larly impressive in beating two top-three wrestlers to win the title, including a win over No. 1-ranked and eventual national champion Aaron Brooks (Penn State) in the final. Brooks, the 2020 and 2021 Big Ten champion, was leading entering the third period before Amine scored takedowns late in regulation and also in overtime (sudden-victory) to earn a 6-4 win. Amine shared the honors as Most Out- standing Wrestler of the Championships. Hutchinson, meanwhile, notched 10 tackles and 3 sacks and earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors after dominating in Michigan's 42-27 win over Ohio State. He also captured the Bednarik and Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week awards. Best Female Individual Perfor- mance — Naz Hillmon Scores 29 Points Against Maryland: The senior basketball forward captured this honor the previous year, too, when she scored a whopping 50 against rival Ohio State. On Feb. 20 of this year, Hillmon went 10 of 15 from the floor, 9 for 11 from the free throw line, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished 3 as- sists in a 71-59 victory over the Terrapins. Maryland had entered on an eight-game win streak, but the Wolverines got the key victory thanks to the consensus All- American's heroics. The win completed a season sweep that included a 69-49 victory in College Park earlier in the year. ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Male Rookie Of The Year — Luke Hughes, Ice Hockey: Hughes earned co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year hon- ors after scoring 13 goals in conference play to tie for the league lead. He earned second-team All-Big Ten accolades in his first season. Hughes also notched 9 assists in con- ference play, good for 22 points. He led all defensemen nationally in scoring with 17 goals and 22 assists for 39 points overall in 37 games heading into the postseason, setting Michigan records in the process. His 17 goals topped Dean Turner's fresh- man defenseman record of 13 (1975-76). He also beat Jack Johnson's record of 32 points as a frosh defenseman. Hughes, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft (New Jersey Devils), has chosen to return to school for his sopho- more year. Female Rookie Of The Year — Laila Phelia, Basketball: A two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week and member of the All-Big Ten freshman team (coaches and media), Phelia started 14 of 29 games and averaged 8.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 22.9 minutes per game. She notched double figures in 11 games, including a 14-point showing in a Sweet 16 victory over South Dakota. That included the de- cisive layup in a tight win. Her best game came Feb. 6 against Iowa in her first start in nearly two months when she put up 24 points, adding 4 re- bounds and 3 assists in a 98-90 victory. ❏ Hassan Haskins rushed for 5 touchdowns to help lift Michigan past Ohio State. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL In his first season, Hughes tied for the Big Ten lead with 13 goals in league play. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL