Michigan vs Central Michigan Tonight

Tonight Michigan will travel to Mt Pleasant to take on in-state rival Central Michigan. The dual will feature several entertaining match-ups with a great atmosphere. Unfortunately for Kevin and the Chips, they have a couple key injuries and redshirts that should prevent the score from being very close. However, CMU has enough talent to pull off some upsets and take advantage of spots where Michigan could be without their starters. All in all, it should be entertaining to watch in person or on the ESPN3 stream this evening at 7pm EST. 

125- Connor Youtsey (Michigan) vs Brent Fleetwood (Central Michigan)

- Fleetwood is a freshman who was a 4-time Deleware state champ. Youtsey started off the season ranked, but enters the match just 3-3. Expect Youtsey to grab a decision over the freshman here. (Michigan 3-0)

133- #9 Rossi Bruno (Michigan) vs Tyler Keselring (Central Michigan)

- I expect the senior Tyler Keselring to enter the top 20 rankings as the season goes on. With talented lightweights the past few years, he has been the odd man out of the starting lineup for CMU. Bruno enters ranked in the top 10, but this match could go either way. I expect a very close decision for Bruno. (Michigan 6-0)

141- #4 Stephen Dutton (Michigan) vs #12 Zach Horan (Central Michigan)

- This is the marquee match-up of the evening. Dutton took 7th last year only competing in half of the season. Horan went 2-2 at the NCAA's capping a very good sophomore season. I really like Horan, but I think Dutton will be too much for him here in a low scoring 3-2 type match. (Michigan 9-0)

149- Alec Pantaleo (Michigan) vs Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan)

- Redshirt freshman Heffernan takes on true freshman Pantaleo. Pantaleo impressed when he won the MSU freshman/sophomore division. Heffernan had a very good first year 21-5 in open tournaments. I think Heffernan takes this one to put CMU on the board. (Michigan 9-3)

157- #9 Brian Murphy (Michigan) vs Malcolm Martin (Central Michigan)

- We would expect two top 10 guys here, but Luke Smith is out with injury for CMU. Martin is a good wrestler, but not on the level of Murphy. (Michigan 13-3)

165- #8 Taylor Massa (Michigan) vs Jordan Wohlfert (Central Michigan)

- Wohlfert is a transfer from Michigan State and a 2-time state champ from St Johns meaning these two guys were high school teammates. That's always strange so you could see a low scoring match even though Massa usually racks up points. (Michigan 16-3)

174- #19 Davonte Mahomes (Michigan) vs Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan)

- Mahomes has been a breakout star as a true freshman for the Wolverines. His impressive start includes a win over #9 Cody Walters (Ohio). This weight class is expected to be filled by Mike Ottinger for CMU but we haven't seen him since he was disqualified for biting Matthew Miller (Navy) at the NCAA's. Ottinger was the 10 seed and finished 2-2, and some expect him to redshirt. Ellingwood is a redshirt freshman who was 18-6 last year. This is another nice test for Mahomes. (Michigan 19-3)

184- #7 Domenic Abounader or Ayoola Olapo (Michigan) vs Jackson Lewis (Central Michigan)

- Abounader took 3rd in the Big Ten last year, but is yet to wrestle this season. Michigan's picture for their dual tonight is of him so maybe that's a hint? Olapo is 2-3 and is a fun to watch redshift freshman.  Lewis finished 5th in the MAC at 197, and is down to 184 this season. I expect Lewis to beat Olapo unless Abounader wrestles. (Michigan 19-6)

197- #15 Max Huntley (Michigan) vs Austin Severn (Central Michigan)

- Severn is a redshirt sophomore who split matches with Gabe Dean (Cornell) as a senior in high school. A 2-time Michigan state champ, he was 14-13 last year in and out of the CMU lineup. Huntley is off to a really good start recently dominating top ten Phil Wellington (Ohio). Huntley should win handily here. (Michigan 23-6)

285- #4 Adam Coon (Michigan) vs  Newton Smerchek (Central Michigan)

- Coon should do what Coon does here. (Michigan 29-6)