Injury forces Michigan's Beazley to withdraw from NCAA Championships
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by Leah Howard, Michigan Athletics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan graduate student Kevin Beazley has withdrawn from the 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships due to injury, head coach Joe McFarland announced Wednesday (March 7). Beazley, a 2017 NCAA All-American, was ranked as high as 10th in the most recent national rankings at 197 pounds.
"It's incredibly unfortunate," said McFarland. "We all really feel for Kevin. He was wrestling great before that injury occurred. It's just a really disappointing way to end a great collegiate career. He's been a big part of our success this season, and he's been a good leader in our room. He'll be traveling with the team next week, and I know he'll move on from this. He's got a lot more wrestling in his future."
Beazley took fourth place at the Big Ten Championships last weekend (March 3-4) to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the third time in his career. He was forced to injury default at the 3:45 mark of his third-place match against Wisconsin's Hunter Ritter, whom he had pinned in the quarterfinals the previous day.
Beazley, who transferred to Michigan from Old Dominion last summer, finished his collegiate career with a 119-61 record over his five competitive seasons. He claimed eighth place at 197 pounds at last season's NCAA Championships and was a Mid-American Conference finalist who placed top-four in three MAC tournament appearances. This season, he was 16-9 and, perhaps most notably, helped propel the Wolverines' to a 19-17 dual win at then-No. 4 Iowa -- U-M's first win in Iowa City since 2005.
The NCAA has been informed of Beazley's withdrawal from the tournament. He will not appear in the NCAA brackets to be released later today.
"It's incredibly unfortunate," said McFarland. "We all really feel for Kevin. He was wrestling great before that injury occurred. It's just a really disappointing way to end a great collegiate career. He's been a big part of our success this season, and he's been a good leader in our room. He'll be traveling with the team next week, and I know he'll move on from this. He's got a lot more wrestling in his future."
Beazley took fourth place at the Big Ten Championships last weekend (March 3-4) to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the third time in his career. He was forced to injury default at the 3:45 mark of his third-place match against Wisconsin's Hunter Ritter, whom he had pinned in the quarterfinals the previous day.
Beazley, who transferred to Michigan from Old Dominion last summer, finished his collegiate career with a 119-61 record over his five competitive seasons. He claimed eighth place at 197 pounds at last season's NCAA Championships and was a Mid-American Conference finalist who placed top-four in three MAC tournament appearances. This season, he was 16-9 and, perhaps most notably, helped propel the Wolverines' to a 19-17 dual win at then-No. 4 Iowa -- U-M's first win in Iowa City since 2005.
The NCAA has been informed of Beazley's withdrawal from the tournament. He will not appear in the NCAA brackets to be released later today.
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