Wolverines to Wrap Dual Slate at In-State Foe Central Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 10-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team (7-4) will wrap up the dual-meet portion of its 2023-24 schedule with a 2 p.m. matchup against in-state foe Central Michigan (8-6) on Sunday (Feb. 25) at McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

Notes:

• Michigan is 7-4 in duals this season and wrapped up its Big Ten dual slate with a 5-3 record after defeating No. 23 Indiana 30-6 last Friday (Feb. 16) in Bloomington, Ind. U-M claimed eight bouts against the Hoosiers, including each of the first four and three with bonus points.

• Sophomore/freshman Nolan Wertanen earned his first collegiate dual win in the Wolverines' road win at Indiana last Friday, kicking off the meet with a first-period pin against Blaine Frazier with a cradle at the 1:44 mark of the 125-pound bout. Wertanen is 1-1 in duals this season, previously falling in his debut up at 133 pounds, and 7-4 overall on the season.

• Senior/junior Joseph Walker also earned his first dual win of the season -- and in his home state -- at Indiana last Friday, using a late third-period takedown to edge No. 21 Donnell Washington 4-3 at 174 pounds. Walker previously posted a pair of dual wins at 174 pounds last season.

• Freshman Sergio Lemley and Austin Gomez also picked up ranked wins at Indiana. Lemley has wrestled a ranked opponent in each of his last six bouts, including three in the top 10, and is 8-4 this season against ranked opposition. He earned a 5-1 decision over IU's No. 23 Danny Fongaro with a first-period takedown and 2:11 in riding time. Lemley is ranked No. 10 at 141 pounds and owns a 14-5 overall record in his rookie campaign.

• Gomez is 6-1 at 149 pounds 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 has defeated ranked opponents in four of his seven bouts, including a 3-2 decision against Indiana's No. 13 Graham Rooks last Friday. His only loss of the season came against Nebraska's No. 1 Ridge Lovett 11-4 after sacrificing an early seven points in the first period.

• Senior/junior Dylan Ragusin bounced back from his first loss of the season with a dominant 19-4, first-period tech fall against Indiana's Isaac Thornton. He is 21-1 this season and, prior to his 3-2 loss to Nebraska's No. 19 Jacob Van Dee on a locked-hands call, had earned ranked wins in previous four matches at 133 pounds -- and has won five of the last seven since coming out of redshirt prior to U-M's Maryland dual on Jan. 12. Notably, he scored four takedowns en route to a 15-6 win over Ohio State's No. 12 Nic Bouzakis and, a week earlier, was named the NCAA's Wrestler of the Week after earning a pair of top-10 wins against Penn State's No. 4 Aaron Nagao (Fall 7:28, Jan. 19) and Rutgers' No. 8 Dylan Shawver (8-5, Jan. 21). He remains ranked as high as No. 4 nationally.

• Graduate student Lucas Davison reached the 100-win milestone earlier this season with his 19-3 technical fall against Michigan State's Josh Terrill (Jan. 14) and has since improved to 104-34 -- and 66-19 over his last three seasons at heavyweight. Graduate student Will Lewan also is nearing the 100-win milestone with a 92-35 career record.

• Graduate student Shane Griffith owns a perfect 9-0 record in duals, including three straight ranked wins and four total on the season. Among his notable wins, he cruised to a 12-1 major decision against Iowa's No. 8 Patrick Kennedy, used a third-period rideout to beat Ohio State's No. 11 Rocco Welsh 2-1 and earned a 4-1 overtime decision over South Dakota State's No. 4 Cade DeVos. Griffith is 12-2 at 174 pounds and ranked No. 3 nationally.

• The Chippewas enter the weekend with an 8-6 dual record and have won five straight matches, including conference wins at Kent State (25-15, Feb. 16) and Clarion (28-10, Feb. 18) last weekend. CMU will wrestle at Michigan State on Friday (Feb. 23) prior to Sunday's dual finale. Three Chippewa wrestlers are nationally ranked at their respective weight classes, most notably No. 14 Corbyn Munson (149). Michigan owns a 28-7 advantage in the all-time series against Central Michigan, dating back to 1982, and claimed each of the last four, including a 30-9 decision at Crisler Center last season.