Wolverines to Kick Off 2024-25 Season at Clarion Open

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 10-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team (0-0) will kick off its 2024-25 season – its 103rd year of intercollegiate competition – at the Clarion Open this Sunday (Nov. 3) in Clarion, Pa. Michigan will send 21 wrestlers to the competition, scheduled for a 9 a.m. start at Tippin Gymnasium.

Notes

• Michigan returns one All-American and three total NCAA qualifiers from its 2023-24 starting lineup. Dylan Ragusin reached the NCAA podium last year, placing fifth at 133 pounds, reaching the Big Ten finals, and posting a team-best 28-4 record. Sergio Lemley (141) and Jaden Bullock (184) also had strong breakout seasons, earning fourth place at Big Tens and their first NCAA Championships appearances. Lemley went 19-9 as a true freshman, while Bullock returned after two years out of the lineup to go 20-12.

• The Wolverines added two graduate transfers in Chase Saldate (157 pounds) and Jacob Cardenas (197) from Michigan State and Cornell, respectively. Saldate, a four-time NCAA qualifier at 157 pounds, reached the NCAA Round of 12 in 2023 and recorded an 85-33 record over four seasons at MSU, including a 25-8 mark last season. Cardenas, a two-time All-American at 197 pounds, finished fourth (2024) and eighth (2023) in the NCAA and compiled a 71-22 record at Cornell, with a 28-8 mark last year.

• Cardenas claimed 92kg silver at the U23 World Championships last week in Tirana, Albania. He went 4-1 in the competition, with his biggest win coming in the first round -- a 10-0 tech over Russian Mustafagadzhi Malachdibirov, the junior world champion at 92kg earlier this fall. He fell to Iran's Amir Hossein Firouzpour, 11-4, in the gold-medal final after leading 4-4 at the break. Firouzpour, a 2022 U23 world titleholder, is a two-time senior-level Asian champion. It was Cardenas' third medal in consecutive world appearances, adding to his silver in 2022 and bronze in 2023.

• The Wolverines will begin the 2024-25 season with seven wrestlers ranked nationally at their weight classes, including three in the top 10 according to InterMat: No. 4 Ragusin (133), No. 8 Lemley (141), and No. 3 Cardenas (197).

• Michigan welcomed a six-man freshman class to Ann Arbor, Mich. this fall. Ranked No. 11 nationally for the Class of 2024, the class boasts 10 high school state titles and includes four wrestlers listed among the top 100 recruits by at least one wrestling outlet, most notably No. 10 Brock Mantanona and No. 41 Cameron Catrabone.

• Head coach Sean Bormet enters his seventh season leading the Wolverine program. Named the 2022 Big Ten and NWCA Coach of the Year, Bormet has guided the Wolverines to a 56-17 dual-meet record, including a 35-13 mark in Big Ten duals, the 2022 Big Ten title, and four top-five NCAA finishes, including a runner-up finish in 2022. Michigan has earned an NCAA champion in two of the last three seasons in Nick Suriano and Mason Parris, the 2023 Hodge Trophy winner as the nation's top college wrestler. Bormet's leadership has produced 20 NCAA All-Americans, along with four NWCA All-Americans during the COVID-canceled 2019-20 season.

• Michigan will face four teams ranked in the NWCA preseason poll, including No. 1 Penn State and No. 4 Nebraska. Twelve of 14 Big Ten schools were either ranked or receiving votes to start the 2024-25 season, with five in the top 10. Michigan earned the No. 10 preseason ranking.