Michigan
Ohio State
Wolverines Set for Rivalry Dual at No. 7 Ohio State
1/23/2024 3:45:00 PM | Wrestling
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) will return to the road after its three-dual homestand, traveling to Columbus, Ohio, to take on No. 7-ranked rival Ohio State (11-1, 3-0 Big Ten) at 7 p.m. on Friday (Jan. 26) at the Covelli Center. The dual will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
Notes
• The Wolverines are 5-2 in duals and 3-1 in Big Ten duals following last weekend's split -- a 27-9 loss to No. 1 Penn State on Friday (Jan. 19) and 23-10 bounceback win against No. 13 Rutgers on Sunday (Jan. 21). Three Wolverines maintain perfect dual records; Shane Griffith (174 pounds) is 6-0, while Dylan Ragusin (133) is 4-0 and Austin Gomez (149) is 3-0 in duals.
• Senior/junior Dylan Ragusin was named the NCAA's Wrestler of the Week after earning a pair of top-10 wins over the weekend. Ranked sixth at the time, Ragusin scored an overtime pin (7:28) against Penn State's fourth-ranked Aaron Nagao on Friday (Jan. 19) before rallying to an 8-5 decision win against Rutgers' eighth-ranked Dylan Shawver on Sunday (Jan. 21) -- his second win over Shawver over a three-week stretch. Ragusin surged to No. 4 in the latest national rankings this season and is 18-0 on the season.
• Ragusin came out of redshirt two weeks ago and has since gone 4-0 in Michigan's Big Ten duals with three ranked wins over the stretch. In addition to his wins over No. 4 Nagao and No. 8 Shawver, he also defeated Maryland's No. 19 Braxton Brown 5-1 in his first appearance back in the lineup on Jan. 12. Ragusin earned three tournament titles at 133 pounds while in redshirt, including the Midlands Championships (Dec. 29-30), where he defeated Shawver 4-1 in the championship final.
• Freshman Sergio Lemley earned his highest-ranked win of his collegiate career to date with a 10-7 decision against Rutgers' No. 11 Mitch Moore, ultimately scoring the winning takedown in the waning seconds of sudden victory after having two go-ahead takedowns waved off on review. Lemley, who suffered his first dual loss with a close 7-5 defeat to Penn State's No. 2 Beau Bartlett, is now ranked as high as 17th at 141 pounds. He owns six total ranked wins on the season, including three over his last five matches. He kicked off the New Year by rallying to a 6-4 decision over No. 14 Clay Carlson, a two-time All-American for SDSU, on Jan. 4.
• Graduate student Lucas Davison split his duals last weekend, falling to Penn State's No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet 8-3 before bouncing back with a 4-0 decision against Rutgers' No. 7 Yaraslau Slavikouski. It was Davison's career rubber match against Slavikouski, who won the first meeting 5-3 at the 2021 CKLV Invitational before Davison claimed a 4-2 sudden-victory decision in the NCAA bloodround last season.
• Davison hit 100 career wins with his 19-3 technical fall against Michigan State's Josh Terrill (Jan. 14) and has since improved to 101-33 -- and 63-17 over his last three seasons at heavyweight. Graduate student Will Lewan also is nearing the century mark with a 90-33 career record. The most recent Michigan wrestlers to reach the milestone were Mason Parris and Matt Finesilver, who finished their collegiate careers last season with records of 124-18 and 107-35, respectively.
• Graduate student Austin Gomez is 3-0 since joining the Wolverines in December as a transfer -- and after relocating to Ann Arbor last summer as a member of the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club. He earned his first fall, at 1:58 against Michigan State's Braden Stauffenberg and already owns two ranked wins against South Dakota State's 18th-ranked Alek Martin (10-4) and Maryland's 17th-ranked Ethen Miller (10-6). He is ranked as high as No. 5 nationally at 149 pounds.
• Gomez missed last weekend's dual meets due to his required participation in the second Mexican national qualifying tournament, held Saturday (Jan. 20) in Monterrey, Mexico. Gomez went 4-0 en route to the 65kg freestyle title, posting three first-period techs and a first-period pin. He defeated Ramon Guzman Romero 11-0 in the championship final with five stepouts and a four-point takedown and gut wrench in just 1:36. Gomez represented Mexico at the 2023 World Championships.
• Graduate student Shane Griffith improved to 6-0 in duals with his 2-1 decision against Penn State's Terrell Barraclough last Friday and he is 4-0 this semester since kicking off the New Year with a 4-1 overtime decision over South Dakota State's No. 4 Cade DeVos -- his best win as a Wolverine to date. Griffith fought off an SDSU single-leg attack over the final seconds of regulation then finished on one of his one about 30 seconds into the sudden-victory period. Griffith is 9-2 at 174 pounds and ranked as high as No. 3 nationally.
• Senior/junior Jaden Bullock has knocked off ranked opponents in two of his last three matches, including a dominant 13-3 major decision against Rutgers' No. 20 Brian Soldano last Sunday. Bullock also avenged two previous losses to Michigan State's Layne Malczewski with an 8-4 decision against the 23rd-ranked Spartan two weeks ago. He previously fell to Malczewski twice during the 2020-21 season -- 6-2 in the dual meeting and 6-5 at the Big Ten Championships at 174 pounds. Bullock, who missed nearly two full seasons with injury, owns six ranked wins this season and is ranked as high as 12th himself. He is 13-6 on the season.
• The Buckeyes own an 11-1 record on the season and are 3-0 in Big Ten duals after defeating Maryland (38-4, Jan. 19) and Wisconsin (27-15, Jan. 21) last weekend. Their lone defeat came at home against Pittsburgh, 21-13 on Dec. 10. Ohio State is ranked at all 10 weight classes with a pair of Buckeyes listed top 10: No. 3 Jesse Mendez (141 pounds) and No. 9 Dylan D'Emilio (149). Michigan leads 72-22-4 in the all-time series against Ohio State and has claimed five of the last eight meetings, but dropped a 23-15 decision last season in Ann Arbor.
Players Mentioned
