Michigan Wrestle-Off Recap

Michigan held their wrestle-offs on Sunday somewhat clearing up the picture on what the starting Wolverine lineup will look like this year. 

Maize 25, Blue 16

157 -- Brian Murphy (Maize) dec. Jordan Amine, 4-3 (Maize, 3-0)
165 -- Logan Massa (Blue) major dec. Aaron Calderon, 20-7 (Blue, 4-3)
125 -- Austin Assad (Blue) major dec. Mike Volyanyuk, 12-3 (Blue, 8-3)
133 -- Stevan Micic (Maize) pinned K.J. Suitor, 3:48 (Maize, 9-8)
141 -- Sal Profaci (Maize) pinned George Fisher, 6:59 (Maize, 15-8)
149 -- Zac Hall (Blue) dec. Malik Amine, 5-2 (Maize, 15-11)
184 -- Domenic Abounader (Maize) major dec. Ernest Battaglia, 14-3 (Maize, 19-11)
Hwt -- Kostya Golobokov (Maize) dec. Ty Wildmo, 4-1 (Maize, 22-11)
157 -- Brian Murphy (Maize) dec. Jordan Amine, 4-1 (Maize, 25-11)
165 -- Logan Massa (Blue) tech. fall Aaron Calderon, 23-8, 6:18 (Maize, 25-16)

Let's go by weight as far as what we know. 

125

- Austin Assad wins the spot as expected. Conor Youtsey did not come back for his 5th year yielding the spot to the redshirt freshman from Ohio. He was 18-3 as a redshirt last year, and a 2-time Fargo champ in freestyle. Normally I would be cautious about expecting much from a freshman 125 in the Big Ten. However, the weight this year is much more wide open than recent memory. Assad could move up the rankings faster than expected. 

133

- Stevan Micic finally makes his varsity debut. He has some serious senior level wins in freestyle and should be a top 5 guy in the country this year right away. He is that good. 

141

- Sal Profaci won both close matches over George Fisher, who started the previous two seasons. Fisher was a 133/141 who filled in for Dutton two seasons ago, and knocked off several ranked opponents to be in and out of the rankings the previous two seasons. Last year, things didn't really go his way. Profaci is a redshirt freshman from New Jersey who wasn't a huge recruit. However, he performed really well as a redshirt going 21-7 at 133. Now he gets his chance this year as the season begins with him as the 141 starter. 

149

- There are a lot of rumors flying around about returning All-American Alec Pantaleo redshirting. That decision doesn't seem to made yet. Zac Hall, a 4-time Michigan state champ, made a few appearances at 141 last season in the lineup but missed a lot of the season with injury. As a redshirt, he won the Edinboro Open going 16-3. If Pantaleo indeed redshirts, it'd be interesting to see how Hall does if healthy the whole season.

157

- All-American Brian Murphy will be at the All-Star classic and looks to make a run at an NCAA title in his senior season. After an injury-riddled junior season,  Murphy is reportedly healthy and ready to go looking really good. Even so, he still nearly beat Isiah Martinez in the Big Ten semis less than nine months ago. 

165

- Logan Massa is a highly anticipated candidate to make his debut. Massa had about as good as a redshirt season as one can have. His lone loss was an 8-2 defeat in the Southern Scuffle finals to Dieringer, who won the Hodge and his 3rd title. Massa also qualified for the Olympic Trials on the senior level freestyle circuit. 

174

- Michigan has not wrestled off the spot yet. Davonte Mahomes has had some big wins in his first two seasons out of high school, but two knee injuries have prevented him from wrestling a match in March yet. He is working out and said to be looking good so far. Myles Amine is another redshirt freshman that could see serious time in the lineup. He was a 2-time state champ for Detroit Catholic Central and his father was an NCAA finalist for Michigan. He went 18-3 as a redshirt so McFarland appears to have options here. 

184

- Dominic Abounader has been a top-10 guy in a very tough weight for three seasons, capped off by a 2015 Big Ten champ. The elephant in the room is that he is at the top of the "best to never All-American" list in the country. 

197 

- Michigan has not wrestled off the spot yet due to "nagging injuries". Redshirt freshman Jackson Striggow was 21-6 as a redshirt last season and probably expected to win the spot.

285

- With Adam Coon redshirting, Michigan will have a different heavyweight in the lineup for a dual for the first time since Ben Apland in February of 2013. Ty Wildmo, listed as a 197, crashed the party on Thursday when he knocked off Dan Perry & Kostya Golobokov. Kostya got revenge on Sunday leaving a rubber match to be held another date. What I predict will happen is that through open tournament results, Perry will eventually end up with the spot. Perry was a state champ and a 2016 FloNationals champ.