Michigan
Michigan State Open
Wolverines to Kick Off 2023-24 Campaign at Annual MSU Open
11/7/2023 1:20:00 PM | Wrestling
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team (0-0) will kick off its 2023-24 season -- its 102nd year of intercollegiate competition -- at the Michigan State Open on Saturday (Nov. 11) in East Lansing. The tournament is slated for a 9:30 a.m. start at Jenison Field House, and it will be streamed live on FloWrestling.
The Wolverines plan to send 24 wrestlers, mostly attached, to the MSU Open. Other Big Ten teams slated to appear include host Michigan State, Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio State and Wisconsin.
Notes
• Michigan returns two All-Americans and three total NCAA qualifiers from its 2022-23 starting lineup. Will Lewan is a three-time All-American and two-time placewinner at 157 pounds, claiming fifth place in 2022 and eighth place last season. Cameron Amine is a three-time All-American at 165 pounds with back-to-back fourth-place finishes after claiming seventh as a freshman.
• The Wolverines added four All-America graduate transfers over the offseason in Michael DeAugustino (125 pounds), Chris Cannon (133) and Lucas Davison (Hwt) from Northwestern and Shane Griffith (174) from Stanford. Griffith captured the 2021 NCAA title and is a four-time All-American and three-time placewinner at 165 pounds. DeAugustino placed fourth at NCAAs in 2022, Cannon is a two-time seventh-place finisher, and Davison owns a pair of top-six finishes, claiming fifth place last season.
• The Wolverines will start the 2023-24 season with seven wrestlers ranked nationally at their respective weight classes, including six in the top 10 according to InterMat: No. 8 DeAugustino (125), No. 8 Cannon (133), No. 7 Lewan (157), No. 3 Amine (165), No. 4 Griffith (174) and No. 3 Davison (Hwt).
• The Wolverines boasted four individual champions and 11 total placewinners at last year's Michigan State Open. Cole Mattin went 4-0 en route to the 141-pound title, Mason Parris rolled to a 5-0 record with five bonus wins to capture his third career MSU Open title, and Rylan Rogers and Ira Jenkins captured the freshman/sophomore division titles at 184 pounds and heavyweight, respectively.
• Michigan welcomed an eight-man freshman class to Ann Arbor this fall. The class, ranked No. 2 nationally for the Class of 2023, combined for 20 high school state titles and includes five wrestlers listed among the top recruits by at least wrestling outlet, including three in the top 20: No. 7 Beau Mantanona, No. 11 Sergio Lemley and No. 16 Dylan Gilcher.
• Head coach Sean Bormet enters his sixth season at the helm of the Wolverine program. Bormet, who was named the 2021-22 Big Ten and NWCA Coach of the Year, has guided the Wolverines to a 48-13 dual-meet record under his leadership, including a 30-10 mark in Big Ten duals, the 2022 Big Ten title and three top-five NCAA finishes, including a runner-up showing in 2022. Michigan has claimed an NCAA champion each of the last two seasons in Nick Suriano and Mason Parris, who also claimed 2023 Hodge Trophy winner as the nation's top college wrestler and boasted 16 NCAA All-Americans under Bormet -- plus four NWCA All-Americans during the Covid-canceled 2019-20 season.
• Michigan will face six teams ranked in the NWCA preseason poll, most notably No. 1 Penn State and No. 2 Iowa. All 14 Big Ten schools were either ranked or receiving votes to start the 2023-24 season, including five of the top 10. Michigan earned the No. 6 preseason ranking.
Players Mentioned
