With the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Championships on the horizon, Sergio Lemley is appreciative of how this time of year affords a fresh start, a chance for redemption.

A year ago at this time, he was in the midst of a terrific true freshman season, bringing a 15-5 record and #9 ranking at 141 pounds into the Big Ten tourney. 

Along the way, Lemley had racked up some impressive victories, including handing three-time All-American Real Woods (Iowa) only his third career bonus-points loss, a 14-2 major decision. Lemley also knocked off two-time All-American Clay Carlson (South Dakota State) and five-time NCAA qualifier Mitch Moore (Rutgers). 

While his second season in Ann Arbor has still been a solid one by most measures, Lemley was hoping for more by this point. 

He is 16-7 and ranked #11 at 141, fifth among Big Ten wrestlers, but is still seeking a signature win. The highest-ranked opponent he has beaten thus far is #19 Haiden Drury (Utah Valley). 

“I was certainly hoping I would be doing better record-wise by now, but at the end of the day, my effort and attitude remain strong and I’m controlling all the controllable things, which is what I really care about,” Lemley said. “My record is what it is at this point, but that does not matter now because I know anybody can beat anybody in March.” 

Other than the fact that everybody starts fresh in the postseason, there are other positives Lemley can point to. 

With six technical falls, three major decisions and a pin, he already has one more bonus point win than all of last season and he finished second on team in dual points with 36 on the strength of an 8-4 record.

In fact, only Lemley and 197-pounder Jacob Cardenas (11-1) started every dual this season for Michigan while posting a winning record in those matches. 

Lemley also held top-ranked, unbeaten Beau Bartlett (Penn State) scoreless until 28 seconds into the final period before dropping a 3-2 decision. It is the fewest points Bartlett, a two-time All-American, has scored in a match this season. 

All of Lemley's losses have been to All-Americans with the exception of #7 Josh Koderhandt (Navy), a three-time NCAA qualifier he lost to on a tiebreaker.

"I just need to concentrate on being clear on getting the best positioning, whether it's on my feet, top or bottom and fundamentals like that are about 85 percent of what I need to do," Lemley said. "It's perfecting the other 15 percent of my game, the nitty gritty stuff, that's going make a difference the rest of season, and that is what separates the top guys from everybody else."

Lemley further explained what he means by that.

"Things like getting that escape when its absolutely needed or being able to ride somebody out if that's what it takes to get that point, so I'm just hammering away at being the best I can be when it comes to that stuff," he said. "It's really all about heart at this point and anything can happen." 

Lemley certainly proved that last season when he opened the Big Ten Tournament by upsetting two-time All-American Brock Hardy (Nebraska). He followed with a close, 5-4 loss to Bartlett before eventually falling to Woods in the third-place match. 

Lemley went 1-2 at last season's NCAA Championships and, almost immediately, began taking advantage of a healthy offseason in hopes of bettering that showing. 

He spent essentially all of the previous offseason recovering from the shoulder surgery he underwent after winning his third Illinois state title. Lemley also won an Indiana state title as a sophomore.

Despite not being cleared to wrestle until two weeks before the Wolverines' 2023-24 season-opener, Lemley still earned the starting position at 141 left vacant by the graduation of NCAA qualifier Cole Mattin. 

Highlights of this offseason included a third-place finish at the World U20 Team Trials and training with partners like Woods, now part of the Ann Arbor-based Cliff Keen Wrestling Club. 

The two have continued training together this season, including Big Ten Tournament preparation this week. 

"It's always better not to be spending the summer just recovering from an operation," Lemley said. "Instead, I was able to spend the entire offseason refining my skills and just hammering away on the fundamentals to increase my offense and get better overall."

The Chesterton, Indiana native’s journey to Michigan began with a random text message.

During his sophomore season at Chesterton, Lemley walked into practice one day wearing University of Michigan shorts, which caught the attention of then-assistant coach Keith Davison, a two-time All-American at Wisconsin and the father of former Michigan wrestlers Lucas, a three-time All-American, and Andrew Davison.  

Keith Davison asked Lemley if the shorts meant he was interested in wrestling for the Wolverines and strongly encouraged Lemley to simply text head coach Sean Bormet. 

Hesitant at first about sending the out-of-the-blue message, Lemley did so anyway. Just over a year later, he committed to Michigan in April of 2022.

Lemley calls it one of the best decisions of his life and has been particularly thankful for the unwavering support of Bormet and the coaching staff during an up-and-down season.

"Especially with this season not being all that I was expecting, I've really seen how supportive and encouraging all the coaching staff is here at Michigan," Lemley said. "They are here for all of us, whatever we might need, on and off the mat and that's been hugely motivating for me to go out and fight another day."

Big Win For Brock

Brock Mantanona concluded the competition portion of his true freshman season with a bang during Michigan's win over Central Michigan on Feb. 23, knocking off another experienced, ranked foe.

In his first competition since finishing seventh at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 6 and bumping a weight to 174 to preserve his redshirt, Mantanona edged #8 Alex Cramer, a two-time NCAA qualifier, 9-8. 

Down 6-5 to begin the third period of a back-and-forth battle, he pulled even with an escape before finishing off a low single-leg attempt for the winning takedown with 35 seconds remaining. Cramer closed the gap to a point with an escape and stalling call, but Mantanona thwarted his double-leg shot and last-ditch throw attempt. 

Mantanona, who didn't celebrate his 18th birthday until five days after beating Cramer, finished 12-3 season, including six technical falls, two major decisons and a pin, and went 3-0 in duals. He is tied for third on team in techs. 

In all, Mantanona bested six wrestlers currently ranked in the top 30. In addition to Cramer, he defeated ranked 165-pounders Jack Thomsen (#19, Northern Iowa), Nick Hamilton (#20, Virginia), Cesar Alvan (#23, Columbia), Mac Church (#27, Virginia Tech) and Kyle Mosher (#29, Hofstra). 

Mantanona was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week in November following bonus-point wins over Hamilton and Alvan. 

Another True Freshman Makes Impact

Speaking of true freshmen, Cam Catrabone also put together an encouraging season while retaining his redshirt, finishing 11-4 at 149 pounds with a team-leading five pins, despite wrestling in fewer matches than 10 of his teammates.

The number of pins is not entirely surprising given Catrabone's pedigree. His father, Jeff, was a three-time All-American for the Wolverines in the 1990s and still ranks second in program history with 55 career pins. 

Cam Catrabone, a two-time New York state champion, gained valuable experience by starting three Big Ten duals against stiff competition. He helped Michigan to a dual win over Indiana  by decisioning Joey Buttler, 8-1. 

Catrabone's most impressive performance of the season was outlasting Northwestern's Sam Cartella in a 16-14 slugfest during the Cliff Keen Invitational. Cartella is currently ranked #22 at 149. 

Tech Tallies

With 46 technical falls as a team this season, Michigan is just two away from surpassing last season's total, which was the program's highest in any season this century.

Individually, Josh Heindselman upped his team-leading total to 10 with a 22-6 win over Central Michigan's Bryan Caves. Heindselman has needed just 47 minutes, 26 seconds to record all of his technical falls, an average of less than five minutes each. 

Heindselman, a four-time NCAA qualifier still seeking his first All-American finish, leads all Division I heavyweights in technical falls and tied for sixth in the nation overall. He is 19-2 this season with three pins in addition to the technical falls and ranked #7, third among Big Ten wrestlers.