Link to last years write up: https://mgoblog.com/diaries/michigan-wrestling-2018-19-roster-analysismaizeblue-preview

 

2019/2020 Michigan Wrestling Preview.

 

Intro: In years past we have had the annual Maize and Blue Intra-squad scrimmage, however with so many redshirts and no announcement of any such match card this close to season’s start I have to assume that the Intra-squad is not going to occur. If new information comes out I will certainly amend my write-up because, well, I enjoy doing this. Without further ado, I present to this board and the wrestling fans that inhabit it, the 2019-2020 Michigan Wrestling Preview.

 

125:

Favorite: Austin Assad.

Challenger(s): Kurt McHenry, Jack Medley.

 

Back for his Redshirt Senior year is Austin Assad, and unlike the previous two years, Mr. Assad does not have to look up to Drew Mattin (moved up to 133). Last year I picked Assad over Mattin in a tight 5-3 bout but Mattin obviously had other plans and dominated a 6-0 decision start to finish. Assad is the man this year…unless he isn’t. I say this for two reasons. First and foremost, Assad is injury prone (recurring Knee injury) and with the B1G being a brutal league to navigate when healthy it would not surprise me to see a “back-up” at some point or even often this season. Nonetheless Assad is a former starter and has the talent to be a top 10 wrestler within the B1G.  Secondly, Assad is not the most talented wrestler at this weight on this roster. That distinction goes to uber-recruit Kurt McHenry. McHenry is a former 2x cadet world champion for USA wrestling, one of two such champions on this team with Will Lewan earning one such title prior to being a Wolverine. McHenry won 2 of the 3 top tier high school tournaments winning the Beast of the East 3x and the Powerade once, unfortunately his school (St Paul Prep) does not attend the Ironman. McHenry left high school a bit earlier than most to get into Michigan’s training program bringing us to the reason I am not picking McHenry to start (right away at least). McHenry was a 113 in high school and while I did not see weigh-in cards first hand, he was not a big 113. He enrolled early, in this author’s opinion, to benefit from a college strength and conditioning program to add the necessary weight. I expect McHenry to take a Redshirt this season but we should see him in open tournaments, which will gauge his college readiness. If McHenry is indeed healthy, big enough, and ready to roll I expect we see a similar situation to Mason Parris last year or Spencer Lee (Iowa) the year before, and he will make a midseason debut. If McHenry is in full Redshirt and Assad is injured, Jack Medley is available, though this would be a break glass in case of emergency option.

 

 

 

 

133:

Favorite: Drew Mattin

Challenger(s): Silva(?)

 

As mentioned above, it is speculated that Mattin has made the move up to 133 this season after being a very large 125 last season. This does not surprise me in the slightest and fits a few theories for roster management going into next season where somehow McHenry, Mattin, Micic, and Silva will fit into 125-141 with an odd person out. That being said, Mattin has a redshirt and I believe he will use it next year when Micic returns to the line up. I am hesitant to put Mattin here as the starter as Joey Silva is listed on the official roster as a 133, and I believe Silva to be the superior wrestler. Nevertheless I am going with Mattin at 133 and Silva at 141 where he was listed last season. Mattin, though up a weight from last season, is a 2x NCAA qualifier posting identical 2-2 records each trip. Mattin has several impressive victories early in his career, most notably in his Freshman year over former Minnesota All-American Ethan Lizak. Improving upon a 10th place finish at Big Ten’s his Freshman year, Mattin pinned Purdue’s Schroder to earn 7th in the B1G as a Sophomore. Now you may be thinking to yourself 7th in his league is an improvement?! And he is the Starter?! But I remind you the B1G was/is VERY deep, with 2x national champion Lee (Iowa), All-American and NCAA top seed Rivera (Northwestern), and 3 other top 15 wrestlers sprinkled in amongst the field. Possibly why Mattin is making the move up to 133, however last year’s 133 was the most brutal weight class by a good margin. Even at 133 Mattin is a solid piece to the line up but is a notch below All-American caliber.

 

 

141:

Favorite: Silva

Challenger(s): Ben Freeman, Nick Freeman

 

The one thing I wanted to see last year from the Maize and Blue Match was Silva vs. Micic. Not because Silva would have won, because I believe he would have turned some heads with his speed on his feet. Alas it was not to be as originally Silva was slated to wrestle Storr at 141, then a late scratch saw him removed from the bouts altogether. Silva is a former 5x Florida State Champion, 4x NHSCA, 3x Super 32 Champion, Ironman champion, #7 ranked overall recruit in his class, and one of the most anticipated debuts in recent memory. Going to copy and paste a bit from last year here, “Very few recruits come to Michigan with as impressive accolades as Silva. Silva is patient, quick, and powerful and has competed against the very best in high school (highly recommended that you watch his super32 victory against Iowa 133 Austin DeSanto, also put up a good fight against Iowa 125 national champion Spencer Lee in the Ironman 2 years ago).” As mentioned in the 133, Silva is listed on the official roster as a 133 however coming out of high school the #1 ranked 138 and slotting him in against Storr at 141 in last year’s Maize and Blue match, conventional wisdom tells me he will compete at 141 this year and beyond. With several Olympic redshirts this weight class will be wide open. Silva can make some noise here and I believe will earn All-American status this season, regardless if its at 141 or 133. I do expect Silva to drop a few matches he probably shouldn’t, as Silva’s patience can borderline tentativeness at times. If Silva does decided to go 133, we may see Mattin bulk/bump up to 141 (stranger things have happened) or we will see Ben Freeman. Freeman was ranked #20 by flowrestling in late September, and does have a victory over the projected champion Dom Demas (Oklahoma) 6-4 in SV last season. Freeman a former 4x Michigan state champion, and Fargo champion has a good list of accolades. I have not seen him wrestle so I cannot speculate further but Freeman’s list of honors reminds me a bit of Mattin. In one scenario where Silva is at 133 and Mattin cannot beat him, Mattin bulks to 141 and a wrestle-off pitting Mattin against Freeman would be highly intriguing.

 

149: 

Favorite: Ben Lamantia

Challenger(s): Nick Lombard, Tyler Meisinger

 

Here we go again…149…my least favorite weight to preview from a U of M perspective the last few years. For whatever reason Michigan cannot find a solid 149 to save their lives. Last year’s starter Malik Amine has graduated, and to his credit held his own at the weight but was never close to All-American status and, unlike Mattin at 125, did not accrue any substantial wins to my knowledge (If he did please comment below and I will give my sincerest apologies to Malik). The backups are not any better and seem to be a step further in the wrong direction. Ben Lamantia is the favorite to start here in my opinion, as he stepped in to a few dual meets last season notching 2 B1G wins. Lamantia is a fifth year senior and a warm body in the right weight range. He will probably beat the likes of Maryland and Indiana and compete with whomever Michigan State trots out however that’s all I expect from this weight. Meisinger was injured last season and is a wildcard here. In a perfect world next year Storr bulks up to take control of 149, or Bormet and company hit the recruiting trail hard for a plug in starter. The former is more likely than the latter currently and that’s meant as more a compliment to Storr than a shot at Bormet’s recruiting.

 

157: 

Favorite: Will Lewan

Challenger(s): Layne Van An Rooy

 

Last season, Pantaleo was the odds on favorite to lead the Wolverines from this spot as the unquestioned starter, ranked #4 in the nation, and captain. Enter True Freshmen Will Lewan, a former cadet world champion that took the world by storm when he beat Pantaleo…twice. Winning 2-1 in the wrestle-off, and 10-8 (SV) at the MSU open. Pantaleo would go on to earn All-American status and avenge several close defeats when he beat Hayden Hidlay at NCAA’s. As a side note, just about every single person watching the NCAA tournament witnessed Hayden Hidlay defeat Jason Nolf…problem is the referee’s did not award Hidlay a takedown that he most assuredly had earned. The call was reviewed and still not awarded the rightful 2-point takedown in what was the most blatant missed call that I have ever seen dating back to the upheld “interception” in the OSU-PSU football game where they claim it was upheld due to “reviewing the wrong footage.” Jason Nolf himself said he believed it was a takedown in the post match interview, as they showed Hidlay’s face of despair again and again. All of that aside, Lewan will challenge the upper echelon at 157 this year. Ranked #22 to start I believe Lewan will work his way into the top ten nationally by midseason if he remains healthy. The B1G will provide several roadblocks with preseason #2 Young (Iowa), #3 Deakin (Northwestern), #5 Berge (Penn St.), and #6 Barrone (Illinois) all currently set to challenge the Redshirt Freshmen. Behind Lewan is Layne Van An Rooy, a former 4x Oregon state champion that has yet to break into the lineup. Van An Rooy is a bit of an unknown at this point. It is likely that Van An Rooy will compete at 165, which I believe is a more natural weight for him, as I doubt he has the chops to beat Lewan.

 

165: 

Favorite: Reece Hughes

Challenger(s): Layne Van An Rooy

 

I consider Van An Rooy more of a 165, but again he is listed at 157 on the official roster, and has never competed at 165. That being said, I really like the scrappy Hughes to take over this spot while Massa takes an Olympic redshirt. Hughes won two dual meet matches last season, including a match against Northwestern where he bumped up to wrestle 184(!!!) and won via first period fall. That’s impressive. Hughes has my attention at this spot, being the only listed 165 on roster (minus Massa), though I don’t expect him to do a lot of damage. Hughes will scrap and probably steal a few matches he shouldn’t but NCAA qualifier is going to be a lengthy reach. Again, Van An Rooy is a wildcard as a big unknown.

 

 

174: 

Favorite: Max Maylor

Challenger(s): uhhhhhh

 

There’s not a whole lot to say here, Max Maylor is the only listed 174 on the roster (minus Amine). Maylor is a former Wisconsin state champion, redshirted last season and posted a 7-3 record competing unattached in two tournaments. I honestly do not know what to expect from Maylor this season, and the upper weights in the room are not likely to help him progress from where he is (See the note below). Pure guess, Maylor’s ceiling is a .500 season that potentially earns an at large bid to the NCAA’s. The depth is concerning, but with the lack of scholarships afforded to the wrestling team, you can’t exactly go 2 or 3 deep at each weight.

 

184: 

Favorite: Jelani Emberee

Challenger(s): JT Correll

 

Finally! A name we recognize from last year. Jelani Emberee had a decent first year all things considered. 4-2 at the Cliff Keen Invite is no small feat, and his 7-1 dual meet record looks elite given that Emberee competes in the Big Ten (far and away the toughest wrestling conference in the nation) but did not wrestle MSU, OSU, Illinois, Purdue, etc so that record is inflated. The lone dual loss came to Penn State’s Shakur Rasheed in a 5-3 decision. That match showed Emberee’s potential, however I distinctly recall Emberee’s motion, or lack there of in particular. He’s not overpowering, not fleet of foot, and often times looked flat out disinterested with the matches that I watched him in. Emberee does have a good motor, but 0-3 at the Big Ten tournament leaves a lot to be desired. This year Emberee is ranked #25 currently and after last year that is about right. I am hoping for a big sophomore leap but in order to do so Emberee needs to drastically improve his pace and hand fighting. The schedule is a little more forgiving with no OSU or PSU this year but Emberee was a far cry from All-American status when last we saw him. Look for Emberee to be a qualifier to the NCAA tournament, but not much else. Emberee is very much fighting for his future position this season as when all the redshirting starters come back, they may bump up a weight to reach their highest place on the podium, both as individuals and as a team. In my opinion the best lineup leaves Emberee out in the cold (C. Amine at 165, Massa at 174, My. Amine at 184, Garcia at 197).  Correll is a decent back up and bore the more difficult matchups last season taking on Caffey (MSU), Parker (Illinois), and Martin (OSU) but Emberee won their matchup via 15-0 technical fall. That’s a pretty distinct talent gap.

 

197: 

Favorite: Jackson Striggow

Challenger(s): Andrew Davison

 

Jackson Striggow enters his Redshirt Senior year and the favorite to return as the starter at 197 for the Wolverines. I will say this, 149 is definitely the weak spot on this team, and that’s even with all the new faces in the line up. 197 is also an area of concern, though in this lineup projection 165 and 174 are less stable. Striggow went 0-2 at B1G, a bit of a disappointment. For those of you that follow football recruiting (which I assume is the majority of this board) Gaige Garcia was a massive recruiting win at a place of need, but that does not help us out this year. Striggow is ranked 25th in flowrestling’s preseason rankings which is a solid starting place, but with 5 of the top 10 ranked wrestlers hailing from B1G schools Striggow will have a rough go trying to climb up. NCAA qualifier is his ceiling and I would say that is a bit of a pipe dream at this point.

 

 

HVY: 

Favorite: Mason Parris

Challenger(s): Zach Nemec, Luke Ready

 

Gather round children, and let me relay to you a tale of a giant slayer named Mason Parris. On the third day of January, just a mere 7 months ago, the mighty Parris took off his shirt made of red to do battle against the mighty Amar Dhesi. Few knew the beast that lie within Parris, though soon the name would be shouted throughout all the land…or at least the state of Michigan. Parris, in his very first collegiate varsity match, dominated the then #1 ranked wrestler Dhesi to the tune of an 11-4 decision. Thoughts of Adam Coon and the grandeur that he brought to the Michigan line up immediately flowed through every fan of the Maize and Blue. Coo-, I mean Parris, later sealed the victory in a hard fought match over Ohio St. Not bad for a true freshman. Parris did get brought back to reality with multiple losses to Northwestern’s Jennings (though quite frustrating as Jennings never had a single hint of offense…) and an opening round loss at NCAA’s to Sam Stoll (Iowa) with some, shall we say, questionable officiating. Parris would fail to place at nationals falling one match short losing to Stencel (CMU) in the blood round. Parris had pinned Stencel earlier in the season at the MSU open. Would you be surprised to know that Adam Coon also failed to place in his highly decorated freshman year? I am not saying, I’m just saying. Parris really needs to fill out as a heavyweight and he will hit another level. Last year I assume he competed somewhere around 245-250. I’d love to see Parris grow into a full heavyweight, or at least a solid 260. Half of the matches I saw Parris wrestle in saw him drastically outsized and sometimes fall short because of it. Parris made the U23 national team and captured a junior world title in Estonia over the summer. Parris is without a doubt an All-American contender and will headline the 2019-2020 team.

 

****Special Note: Stevan Micic (Serbia) Myles Amine (San Marino) will compete in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and will subsequently redshirt this year. Logan Massa and Kanen Storr will also be redshirting as they pursue Olympic bids. The 2019-2020 team will be a far cry from what they were the past two years as 40% of their line up is looking to reach the pinnacle of the sport, an Olympic Gold Medal. Look for the 2020-2021 team to bring home a team trophy and hopefully an individual champion or two.