Michigan
NCAA Championships
Gomez, Davison Advance to NCAA Finals; U-M Sits Second in Team Standings at NCAA Championships
3/22/2024 11:59:00 PM | Wrestling
» Michigan sits in second place (64.5 points) in the team standings after the second day at the NCAA Championships.
» Austin Gomez (149 pounds) and Lucas Davison (heavyweight) claimed decision wins in the NCAA semifinals. Gomez beat Arizona State's Kyle Parco, 11-7, while Davison defeated Air Force's Wyatt Hendrickson, 13-7.
» Dylan Ragusin (133) and Shane Griffith (174) also secured All-America honors with quarterfinal wins; both will wrestle in tomorrow's consolation semifinals.
Site: Kansas City, Mo. (T-Mobile Center)
Event: NCAA Championships (Day 2 of 3)
U-M Standing: Tied for 2nd Place of 68 Teams (64.5 points)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, March 23 -- at NCAA Championships - Day 3 (Kansas City, Mo.), 10 a.m. CT
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Graduate students Austin Gomez and Lucas Davison earned spots in the championship finals to headline the University of Michigan wrestling's performance on the second day of competition at the 2024 NCAA Championships on Friday (March 22) in front of a crowd of 15,463 at the T-Mobile Center. With four All-Americans, U-M sits in second place with 64.5 points.
Gomez and Davison are the Wolverines' fifth and sixth NCAA finalists since 2021. Both are first-time finalists and reached the championship match after knocking off higher-seeded opponents in both the quarterfinals and semifinals.
Gomez, seeded sixth at 149 pounds, surged in the second period to earn an 11-7 decision over Arizona State's Kyle Parco in the semifinals. He finished on a single leg early in the frame then added another, wrapping up both ankles just 25 seconds later. He earned a quick escape in the third and used a double leg to secure his third takedown 30 seconds into the frame. Parco narrowed the final score with a late takedown as Gomez pushed for a bonus point.
He rallied then built up a sizable lead en route to a 12-9 decision over NC State's sixth-seeded Jackson Arrington in the quarterfinals. Arrington scored the first takedown, but Gomez escaped quickly and immediately shot in on a double leg to take the lead and ride out the first period. He added a pair of single-leg takedowns in the second period to surge ahead, while Arrington scored late in the third to narrow the final margin.
Gomez, who improved to 13-2 since joining the Wolverines in January, is now a two-time All-American after previously taking fourth in 2022. He'll face Virginia Tech's fourth-seeded Caleb Henson in the finals.
Davison, seeded 10th at heavyweight, rallied to beat the second seed and third seed in back-to-back matches. He defeated Air Force's No. 3 Wyatt Hendrickson, 13-7, in the semifinals, surging with a pair of single-leg takedowns in quick succession; after Hendrickson rolled out for the escape, and Davison immediately dropped down on another single and rode out the first period. He locked up a cradle out of a scramble to earn another takedown in the second and, despite giving up a takedown late, finished with 1:56 in riding-time advantage to wrap up the win.
He used a last-second takedown to edge Iowa State's second-seeded Younger Bastida, 6-4, in the quarterfinals, earning a stall point late in the third period before shooting in on a single leg with just nine seconds remaining -- and finishing it on the edge with :02 on the clock. It avenged Davison's loss to Bastida in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational finals in December.
Davison improved to 22-4 on the season. A three-time All-American who previously placed sixth (2022) and fifth (2023), Davison is the second Michigan heavyweight to reach the NCAA finals in as many years, joining 2023 NCAA champion Mason Parris. He will face Penn State's top-seeded Greg Kerkvliet in the finals.
Dylan Ragusin, seeded fifth at 133 pounds, locked up his first career All-America honor with a 9-3 decision against Rutgers' fourth-seeded Dylan Shawver in the quarterfinals, avenging his loss in the Big Ten finals and earning his third win this season against the Scarlet Knight wrestler. He took an early lead on a double-leg takedown and rode out the first period to accumulate nearly two minutes of advantage time. A Rutgers takedown narrowed the score, but Ragusin countered a Shawver throw attempt to tack on another takedown in the waning seconds and added a point for 1:41 in riding time.
He dropped a controversial decision to Oklahoma State's top-seeded Daton Fix, 3-2, in the tiebreaker of his semifinal bout. Ragusin was awarded an escape and stall point in the first 30-second tiebreaker frame, but the stall point was waved off on review, then was hit with a locked-hands in the second 30 seconds, halting his riding time clock. Poised to lose on riding time, he cut Fix loose but could not score.
Shane Griffith, seeded fourth at 174 pounds, mounted a big third-period comeback to earn an 8-7 decision over Northern Iowa's Jared Simma in the quarterfinals to secure the fifth All-America honor of his career -- and first at Michigan. Griffith trailed 5-0 with Simma's riding time locked up late in the second when he started his comeback with a reversal at the period buzzer. He scored two takedowns in the final 55 seconds of the third, hitting a go behind, cutting Simma loose, then quickly locking up a cradle to take his first lead and riding out the final 32 seconds of the bout for the win. Griffith fell to Penn State's three-time defending NCAA champion Carter Starocci, 2-0, in the semifinals on an escape and 1:48 riding time.
Fifth-year senior Cameron Amine, seeded 10th at 165 pounds, just missed on his fourth All-America honor after a 4-2 decision to Stanford's Hunter Garvin in the Round of 12. After several bodylocks and flurries produced no points through two periods, Garvin took the lead late with a single-leg takedown in the third period. Amine also fell to Penn State's second-seeded Mitch Mesenbrink, 6-1, in the quarterfinals on a second-period takedown.
Graduate student Michael DeAugustino, freshman Sergio Lemley, graduate student Will Lewan and senior/junior Jaden Bullock were also eliminated from the morning consolation round. Bullock added a wrestleback win with a 4-2 decision against North Carolina's Gavin Kane with a single-leg takedown in the third period, reversing another loss from a season ago.
DeAugustino and Lewan both wrap their collegiate careers as multi-time All-Americans. DeAugustino earned first-team honors in 2020 and took fourth place in 2021, while Lewan, a five-year starter at 157 pounds for Michigan, was a second-team honoree in 2022 before placing fifth and eighth the last two seasons.
The Wolverines will return for the NCAA Championships' fifth session on Saturday (March 23) at 10 a.m. CDT at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo. The morning session will feature third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches. The finals will kick off at 6 p.m. CDT and will be broadcast live on ESPN.
Team Standings (Top 10)
1. Penn State 148.0
2. MICHIGAN 64.5
3. Iowa 60.0
4. Arizona State 59.5
    Iowa State 59.5
6. Cornell 58.5
7. Ohio State 57.0
8. Oklahoma State 55.0
9. Virginia Tech 53.0
10. Nebraska 52.0
Michigan Results (Day 2)
Numbers listed are tournament seeds
125 Pounds -- #18 Michael DeAugustino
Consolations - dec. by #17 Brett Ungar (Cornell), 4-2
Eliminated with a 1-2 record
133 Pounds -- #5 Dylan Ragusin
Quarterfinals - dec. #4 Dylan Shawver (Rutgers), 9-3
Semifinals - dec. by #1 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State), 3-2 TB
Consolations - vs. #7 Nasir Bailey (Little Rock)
141 Pounds -- #8 Sergio Lemley
Consolations - major dec. #7 Cael Happel (Northern Iowa), 14-5
Eliminated with a 1-2 record
149 Pounds -- #6 Austin Gomez
Quarterfinals - dec. #3 Jackson Arrington (NC State), 12-9
Semifinals - dec. #2 Kyle Parco (Arizona State), 11-7
Final - vs. #4 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech)
157 Pounds -- #9 Will Lewan
Consolations - dec. by #26 Johnny Lovett (Central Michigan), 4-1 SV
Eliminated with a 1-2 record
165 Pounds -- #10 Cameron Amine
Quarterfinals - dec. by #2 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State), 6-1
Consolations - dec. by #20 Hunter Garvin (Stanford), 4-2
Eliminated with a 2-2 record
174 Pounds -- #4 Shane Griffith
Quarterfinals - dec. #28 Jared Simma (Northern Iowa), 8-7
Semifinals - dec. by #9 Carter Starocci (Penn State), 2-0
Consolations - vs. #2 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State)
184 Pounds -- #12 Jaden Bullock
Consolations - dec. #22 Gavin Kane (North Carolina), 4-2
Consolations - major dec. by #14 Chris Foca (Cornell), 11-3
Eliminated with a 2-2 record
Heavyweight -- #10 Lucas Davison
Quarterfinals - dec. #2 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State), 6-4
Semifinals - dec. #3 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force), 13-7
Final - vs. #1 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)
• Day 1 Results
Players Mentioned
