Michigan
South Dakota State
Michigan to Kick Off 2024 with Thursday Dual Against SDSU
1/2/2024 2:37:00 PM | Wrestling
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team (2-0) will resume its dual-meet schedule in the new year with a neutral-site meeting against No. 15 South Dakota State (3-2) on Thursday (Jan. 4) in Sioux Falls, S.D. The dual is slated for a 7 p.m. CST start at the Sanford Pentagon.
Notes
• Michigan is 2-0 in duals on the season after opening up with dominant road wins at Columbia (33-6, Nov. 15) and Rider (27-14, Nov. 17), taking 16 of 20 total bouts. The Wolverines earned bonus points in eight matches -- four per dual meet -- with senior/junior Cameron Amine and graduate student Lucas Davison earning two bonus wins at 165 pounds and heavyweight, respectively, with a major decision and technical fall in their first action of the season.
• Six wrestlers made their debuts in the Michigan starting lineup in the dual opener at Columbia: graduate transfers Michael DeAugustino, Chris Cannon, Shane Griffith and Davison and true freshmen Sergio Lemley and Dylan Gilcher. The newcomers went 8-2 over the dual weekend.
• The Wolverines are set to add another newcomer to the starting lineup in graduate transfer Austin Gomez. Gomez was a 2022 NCAA All-American for Wisconsin after placing fourth at 149 pounds and captured the Big Ten title at the weight the same year, sharing the conference's Outstanding Wrestler of the Championship award with Michigan's Myles Amine. He owns a 67-17 career record over four competitive seasons and was granted a medical hardship after missing the two full seasons due to injury.
• Davison was the Wolverines' top finisher at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 1-2), taking runner-up at heavyweight with a 4-1 record and three bonus wins. He earned ranked wins over Virginia Tech's No. 18 Hunter Catka (11-2) and Campbell's No. 15 Taye Ghadiali (6-2) before narrowly falling 5-3 to Iowa State's No. 7 Yonger Bastida in the finals. Davison is 6-1 on the season with three ranked wins and five bonus wins.
• Senior/junior Jaden Bullock surged to No. 14 in the latest InterMat rankings after a 5-3 record en route to a sixth-place finish at the CKLV Invitational. He earned two ranked wins over the tournament -- a 4-3 decision against Ohio State's No. 8 Gavin Hoffman and a 9-6 decision against NC State's 20th-ranked Dylan Fishback. Bullock also earned a ranked win in the dual opener with a 9-5 decision over Columbia's No. 30 Aaron Ayzerov. He is 10-4 on the season.
• Senior/junior Dylan Ragusin, who is currently redshirting the 2023-24 season, has captured three tournament titles this season at 133 pounds, most recently winning the Midlands Championships last week (Dec. 29-30) with a 5-0 record. He defeated Rutgers' Dylan Shawver 4-1 in the championship final. Ragusin also earned tournament wins at the Michigan State Open (Nov. 11) and Cleveland State Open (Dec. 9). He is 13-0 on the season.
• Freshman Beau Mantanona also put together a stellar performance at the Midlands with a 6-1 record en route to third place at 165 pounds. Among his wins, Mantanona pinned Michigan State's 10th-ranked Caleb Fish in a first-period cradle and won a wild overtime scramble to edge Northwestern's 18th-ranked Maxx Mayfield 4-1 in the medal round. Mantanona is 14-3 this season.
• The Wolverines are nationally ranked at all 10 weights after the addition of Gomez at 149 pounds. U-M boasts seven in the top 10 according to InterMat: No. 6 DeAugustino (125), No. 7 Cannon (133), No. 9 Gomez (149), No. 9 Will Lewan (157), No. 5 Amine (165), No. 5 Griffith (174) and No. 4 Davison (Hwt).
• The Jackrabbits enter the dual with a 3-2 record this season and are coming off losses to Big Ten opponents Minnesota (19-13, Nov. 26) and Nebraska (21-17, Dec. 16). SDSU placed 10th at the CKLV Invitational and, most recently, fourth at the Solider Salute last weekend (Dec. 29-30). Eight SDSU wrestlers are ranked at their respective weights, most notably No. 4 Cade DeVos (174), No. 7 Tanner Sloan (197) and No. 7 Clay Carlson (141). It will be the first-ever meeting between Michigan and South Dakota State.
Players Mentioned
