Michigan to Kick off 2025-26 at MSU Open, Against VMI at Cliff Keen Arena

Promotions:

Nov. 9
• Military Appreciation Dual -- Join us in celebrating all of our military service members on Military Appreciation Night. Military-themed takedown fan signs will be available to the first 750 fans. Michigan wrestling will also recognize crowd military service members and a Hero of the Dual.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team (0-0) will kick off its 2025-26 season -- its 104th year of intercollegiate competition -- with a pair of events this weekend. The Wolverines will send 11 wrestlers to compete in the annual Michigan State Open, slated for a 9 a.m. start on Saturday (Nov. 8) at Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing, Mich., before returning home to host Virginia Military Institute for their dual opener at 2 p.m. on Sunday (Nov. 9) at Cliff Keen Arena. Saturday's action will be streamed live on Flo Wrestling, while Sunday's dual will be streamed live on B1G+.

Notes

• Michigan returns three NCAA qualifiers from its 2024-25 starting lineup. Junior Sergio Lemley and redshirt sophomore Beau Mantanona reached the NCAA Round of 12, finishing just one win shy of All-America honors at 141 and 165 pounds, respectively. Dylan Gilcher, who, along with Mantanona, qualified for his first NCAAs, posted an 0-2 record at 149 pounds.

• Michigan also returns graduate student Dylan Ragusin, who missed most of 2024-25 after suffering a season-ending injury at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in December. Ragusin, who took fifth place at 133 pounds in 2024, is a four-time NCAA qualifier and owns an 85-30 career record. Ragusin enters the year as the No. 11-ranked wrestler at 141 pounds.

• Ragusin is one of four Wolverines in the projected lineup expected to move up in weight this season. Beau Mantanona will move up one spot to 174 pounds, while Gilcher and redshirt freshman Brock Mantanona will bump up two weights to 165 and 184 pounds, respectively.

• Lemley is currently slated to redshirt the 2025-26 season. He will also move up in weight and compete unattached at 149 pounds.

• The Wolverines added three graduate transfers in Lachlan McNeil, Diego Sotelo, and Taye Ghadiali from North Carolina, Harvard and Campbell, respectively. McNeil, a three-time All-American at both 141 and 149 pounds, finished fourth (2023), sixth (2024), and fifth (2025) in the NCAA and compiled an 83-24 record over four years at UNC. Sotelo, a two-time NCAA qualifier at 125 pounds, reached the NCAA Round of 16 in 2024 and accumulated a 55-34 record at Harvard. Ghadiali claimed eighth place at the 2024 NCAA Championships and was a four-time NCAA qualifier at heavyweight. During his time at Campbell, Ghadiali posted a 102-28 record.

• McNeil and Ghadiali made their unofficial debut at the NWCA All-Star Classic, where both dropped close matches in exhibition action. McNeil fell to Oklahoma State's fifth-ranked Casey Swiderski 4-2 at 149 pounds on a second-period takedown. Ghadiali lost 8-2 to Iowa State's third-ranked Yonger Bastida at heavyweight on two third-period counter takedowns. Bastida spun behind a deep single-leg shot and again in the closing seconds on Ghadiali's go-for-broke attempt.

• The Wolverines will begin the 2025-26 season with eight wrestlers ranked nationally at their weight classes, including three ranked in the top 10 according to FloWresting: No. 3 McNeil (149), No. 9 Beau Mantanona (174) and No. 4 Taye Ghadiali (Hwt).

• Michigan also welcomed a six-man freshman class to Ann Arbor this fall. The class, ranked No. 9 nationally for the Class of 2025, combined for six high school state titles and includes five wrestlers listed among the top recruits by at least one wrestling outlet, most notably No. 22 Niko Sahakian and No. 34 Eren Sement.

• Sean Bormet, the Ron Weiser Head Wrestling Coach, enters his eighth season at the helm of the Wolverine program. Named the 2022 Big Ten and NWCA Coach of the Year, Bormet has guided the Wolverines to a 63-22 dual-meet record, including a 38-18 mark in Big Ten duals, a Big Ten title (2022) and four top-five NCAA finishes, including trophy finishes in 2022 and 2024. Bormet's leadership has produced two NCAA champions (Nick Suriano, Mason Parris) and 22 NCAA All-Americans, along with four NWCA All-Americans during the COVID-19-canceled 2019-20 season.

• VMI will open its dual season at home Friday against Emory & Henry before taking on Michigan on Sunday. The Keydets boasted three FR/SO division placewinners at the Southeast Open last Sunday (Nov. 2), including 174-pound champion Beau Lewis. VMI posted a 7-11 dual record in 2024-25 and did not qualify a wrestler to the NCAA Championships after taking seventh place at the Southern Conference Championships. Sunday will mark the first-ever meeting between Michigan and VMI.