The 2021 Michigan Wolverine Lineup Look
The 2021 Michigan Wolverine Lineup Look
An in depth breakdown of the Michigan Wolverine potential lineup for the 2021 NCAA wrestling season.
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After finishing with a 7-6 duals record and seventh in the Big Ten Championships, Michigan is seeking improvement this season.
Chances are, the Wolverines will find exactly that considering the strength of their lineup.
Check out our long-term lineup projections from earlier this summer.
It features nine NCAA qualifiers, including six All-Americans, eight ranked wrestlers and a pair of 2021 Olympians.
Here is a closer look:
125: Jack Medley
The junior is 16th in the latest NCAA rankings and finished fourth in the Big Ten last season. He owns a 32-21 career record with 13 wins coming via pin (one), technical fall (two) or major decision (10).
Among those he beat last season was fifth-ranked Jakob Camacho of North Carolina State, an NCAA qualifier and ACC champion who finished with a 20-6 record. Jack Medley was also named an honorable mention NWCA All-American.
At Senior Nationals in October, Medley knocked off heralded Nebraska freshman Dominick Serrano, a four-time Colorado state champion who finished his prep career with a 168-0 record, including 122 pins. He is also a cadet and junior national freestyle champion.
Coaches never have to doubt Medley’s fitness. He mapped out and ran a marathon twice in a span of about six weeks during the offseason. The first was a solo run near his hometown of New Baltimore, Michigan. Teammate Kanen Storr joined Medley for the second marathon June 18th in Iowa.
133: Stevan Micic
The senior, back after taking an Olympic redshirt, qualified to represent Serbia 2021 Games by finishing fifth in the 57-kilogram weight class at last year’s World Championships.
This week, Stevan Micic placed fifth in the individual World Cup. He reached the bronze medal match before falling, 4-2, to World Championships bronze medalist Andrii Yatsenko of Ukraine.
Micic, ranked second at 133 and seventh pound-for-pound, can become a four-time All-American and two-time Big Ten champion this season. He was fourth, second and third at the NCAA Championships from 2017-19.
Micic was Big Ten champion in 2018 and sixth the next year after an injury forced him from the tournament. He placed fourth as a freshman.
Micic takes a 74-11 record into his final collegiate season with 70 percent of his win (52) coming by pin (seven), technical fall (16) or major decision (29).
141: Drew Mattin
There is some competition for this spot, but Drew Mattin, a junior who took a redshirt last season, will likely be the starter. He was 8-5 in open competition last season.
Mattin finished seventh at the UWW Junior Freestyle championships, beating Appalachian State All-American Colby Smith. He also bested NCAA qualifier Collin Gerardi of Virginia Tech.
Mattin is seeking a third trip to the NCAA Championships. He reached the round of 16 as a freshman and sophomore while wrestling at 125 pounds. Mattin’s record is 41-23 with 10 pins coming by pin (seven), technical fall (one) and major decision (two).
The biggest win of Mattin’s career came when he was a freshman. He took a 4-1 decision from Minnesota’s Ethan Linzak, a three-time All-American and one-time NCAA runner-up.
149: Kanen Storr
The senior and two-time NCAA qualifier is ranked ninth. Kanen Storr finished fifth at last year’s Big Ten Tournament after opting to come out of an Olympic redshirt.
Storr was eighth at the Senior Nationals with his biggest win coming against two-time All-American and four-time NCAA qualifier Earl Hall (Iowa State).
Storr has a 58-20 career record with 14 wins coming via pin (three), technical fall (three) or major decision (eight). He reached the round of 16 at the 2019 NCAA Championships and was named NWCA second-team All-American last season.
157: Will Lewan
The sophomore went 21-7 last season, qualified for the NCAA Championships and was named NWCA second-team All-American. Lewan, ranked 14th, was fifth at the Big Ten Championships.
Among those he defeated last season were two-time NCAA qualifier Justin Thomas, who reached the round of 12 in 2019 and Army’s Luke Weiland, who made the round of 16 in 2018. Lewan also knocked off two-time NCAA qualifier Peyton Robb.
Will Lewan captured the 70kg UWW Junior Freestyle championship. During the tourney, he beat Iowa’s Kaleb Young, a two-time NCAA qualifier who placed fifth in the 2019 NCAA Championships.
Currently, Young is ranked 10th, Robb 13th and Thomas 19th.
165: Cameron Amine
The latest in a long line of Amines to wrestle for the Wolverines, the redshirt freshman and cousin of teammate Myles Amine, was 15-5 in open competition last season. He recorded five pins, one major decision and one technical fall.
His most noteworthy victory came against Army’s Cael McCormick, a two-time NCAA qualifier who finished 21-7 last season and was 20th in final 2019-20 rankings.
Cameron Amine, a Detroit Catholic Central graduate, won three state titles and was second in the state as a freshman. His prep record was 167-15. Amine is also a six-time Fargo All-American and finished second at Super 32 as a senior.
174: Logan Massa
The senior, who returns after taking an Olympic redshirt, is currently ranked fifth at 165 pounds, but is slated to wrestle at 174 spot this season with Cam Amine holding down the 165 spot.
Logan Massa, a three-time NCAA qualifier and 2017 All-American, put together an impressive offseason, going 10-1 at the RTC Cup, Senior Nationals and a Nittany Lion Wrestling Club freestyle event. He was 3-1 at the RTC Cup, won his second straight Senior Nationals title and knocked off an Olympian at the NLWC event.
Among those Massa has beaten since September are 2019 NCAA Champion Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech (ranked first at 165), three-time North Carolina state All-American Hayden Hidlay (second, 157), 2019 junior freestyle world champion and two-time NCAA qualifier David Carr of Iowa State (third, 157), three-time Wisconsin All-American Evan Wick (fourth, 165), Arizona State All-American Anthony Valencia (fifth, 174) and Missouri’s Evan Wick, a two-time NCAA qualifier who is ranked 16th at 157.
Massa's most impressive recent win, however, came at the NLWC event where he edged 2016 Olympian and Clarion All-American Bekzod Abdurakhmonov, 4-3. He was fourth in Rio.
Massa, who reached the round of 12 at the 2019 NCAA Championships, has a 72-18 record with 37 wins coming by pin (four), technical fall (18) or major decision (15). He has finished third, fifth and second at the Big Ten Tournament.
184: Myles Amine
Myles Amine, who took an Olympic redshirt last season, qualified for the 2021 Games by placing fifth in the 2019 World Championships at 86kg. He is ranked second at 174 and 11th pound-for-pound, but will fill the 184 spot in the Wolverines’ lineup.
During the offseason, Amine defeated two-time Indiana All-American Nate Jackson and two-time Minnesota All-American Brett Pfarr. During his last collegiate season (2018-19), Amine twice bested four-time Missouri All-American Daniel Lewis.
Amine is a three-time All-American, having finished fourth, third and third at the NCAA Championships. He has placed third, second and second at the Big Ten Tournament as well. Also, all college opponents who have beaten him are out of eligibility and he has lost only one or two-point decisions the past two seasons.
Amine boasts an 80-18 record with 33 wins coming via pin (six), technical fall (nine) or major decision (18).
197: Jelani Embree
The junior is ranked 15th at 184, but is filling the 197 spot in the lineup this season.
Jelani Embree, who started at 184 last season, was an NCAA qualifier who defeated Michigan State’s Cameron Caffey, two-time NCAA qualifier who is ranked 8th at 197. Embree also finished eighth at the Big Ten Tournament.
He owns a 29-18 record with 10 wins coming by pin (one), technical fall (two) or major decision (seven).
Heavyweight: Mason Parris
The junior is the nation’s second-ranked heavyweight and No. 19 pound-for-pound. Minnesota’s Gable Steveson sits ahead of Parris, but the gap between the two appears narrow. Parris dropped an 8-6 decision to Steveson in last season’s Big Ten title match.
Mason Parris went 8-1 at Senior Nationals and the RTC Cup, winning a Senior Nationals title and knocking off some impressive opposition.
None more so than two-time World Championships bronze medalist and two-time NCAA Champion Nick Gwiazdowski. Parris decisioned him, 10-7, during the RTC Cup.
Parris also knocked off two-time Lehigh All-American Jordan Wood twice as well as Arizona State All-American Tanner Hall and Wisconsin All-American Trent Hillger.
The two-time NCAA qualifier and 2019 World Junior champion also beat Hillger (ranked fifth) twice last season and bested Central Michigan All-American Matt Stencel (fourth) three times. Parris also defeated third-ranked Anthony Cassioppi of Iowa and was named a first-team NWCA All-American.
Parris reached the round of 12 at the NCAA Championships as a true freshman and was seventh in the Big Ten Tournament that year.
His record is 61-10 through two seasons with 61 percent (37) of his victories coming via pin (24), technical fall (two) or major decision (11).