Michigan
NCAA Championships
Wolverines to Send Nine Qualifiers to Kansas City for NCAA Championships
3/18/2024 10:27:00 AM | Wrestling
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan wrestling team will send nine individual wrestlers to Kansas City, Mo., to compete in the 2024 NCAA Championships, scheduled for Thursday through Saturday (March 21-23) at the T-Mobile Center.
The NCAA Championships will take place in six sessions over three days, beginning at 11 a.m. CT on Thursday (March 21) with pigtail matches and the first round. The second session will resume later that day at 6 p.m. CT and feature continued preliminary matches as well as the first round of wrestlebacks.
On Friday (March 22), wrestling will begin at 11 a.m. CT with the quarterfinal round and continued wrestlebacks. The fourth session is slated for 7 p.m. CT and will feature semifinals and wrestlebacks. On Saturday (March 23), the fifth session is scheduled for 10 a.m. CT and will wrap up the consolation bracket, featuring seventh-, fifth- and third-place matches at all weights. The finals are slated for 6 p.m. CT on Saturday.
The Wolverines have finished runner-up at the NCAA Championships on five occasions (1928, '29, '67, '74, 2005, '22) and have earned seven straight top-10 NCAA finishes, including four in the top five over the stretch (2018-19, '21-22). Michigan took sixth place last season with an NCAA champion and three total All-Americans.
Individually, U-M has produced 24 NCAA champions and 208 All-Americans. The Wolverines have boasted at least one All-American in 26 of the last 28 tournaments, including three or more in each of the last eight appearances. Michigan has also had an NCAA champion in each of the last two seasons with Nick Suriano (125 pounds, 2022) and Mason Parris (Hwt, 2023).
Notes
• Michigan will send nine wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, including six returning NCAA All-Americans in Michael DeAugustino (125 pounds), Austin Gomez (149), Will Lewan (157), Cameron Amine (165), Shane Griffith (174) and Lucas Davison (Hwt). Griffith is an NCAA champion, winning at 165 pounds in 2021, and a three-time All-American. Amine is also a three-time All-American, Lewan and Davison are two-time All-Americans, while DeAugustino and Gomez both claimed fourth place in 2022.
• Two Wolverines are set to make their NCAA Championships debut this week in Kansas City: freshman Sergio Lemley (141 pounds) and senior/junior Jaden Bullock (184).
• With 208 NCAA All-America certificates in program history, the Wolverines rank sixth among the leading programs in the nation, trailing only Oklahoma State, Iowa, Iowa State, Oklahoma and Penn State. Michigan has produced at least one All-American in 26 of the last 28 seasons. The Wolverines also shares the eighth spot among the national elite with 24 NCAA individual titles in program history.
• All four members of the Michigan coaching staff garnered NCAA All-America honors during their respective collegiate careers. Head coach Sean Bormet was a two-time NCAA All-American at 158 pounds, after seeing his sophomore season cut short due to injury, and reached the final as a senior (1994). Assistant coach Josh Churella was a three-time All-American at 141 and 149 pounds and reached the final as a junior (2007), while Kevin Jackson was a four-time All-American at LSU and Iowa State. Volunteer coach David Bolyard claimed All-America honors at 165 pounds (2004) at Central Michigan.
• Michigan earned seven top-10 NCAA seeds, including four in the top eight at their respective weights. Griffith is U-M's highest seed at No. 4 at 174 pounds, Dylan Ragusin, now a four-time NCAA qualifier, is No. 5 at 133 pounds, Gomez is No. 6 at 149 pounds, and Lemley is No. 8 at 141 pounds.
• The Wolverines took second place at the 2024 Big Ten Championships with 123.5 points and nine total placewinners, including eight top-four finishers. It was Michigan's second-highest Big Ten point total in program history and U-M's second top-two finish in three seasons. Ragusin (133), Gomez (149), Lewan (157) and Griffith (174) all reached the finals, but it was a tough final session for Michigan, who dropped eight medal matches -- four in overtime, another by one point and one by forfeit.
• Four Wolverines avenged losses from the dual season at the Big Ten Championships. Lemley used a last-second takedown to edge Nebraska's sixth-ranked Brock Hardy, 4-2, in the quarterfinals after falling 13-9 in the regular season. Lewan defeated Indiana's 15h-ranked Brayton Lee, 4-1, on an overtime takedown in the semifinals after falling 2-1 on a stall call in the dual meeting. Amine turned around a 2-2 tiebreaker loss to a 2-2 tiebreaker win against Nebraska's 12th-ranked Antrell Taylor. Bullock, who lost to Ohio State's 16th-ranked Ryder Rogotzke, 21-0 in the dual meet, used two takedowns to beat the Buckeye, 8-7, in the quarterfinals.
• The Wolverines wrapped their Big Ten dual slate with a 5-3 record to finish sixth the regular-season conference standings. Michigan earned three ranked wins in Big Ten dual action, most notably a 24-11 home win against No. 2 Iowa but dropped its three other top-10 matchups to Penn State, Ohio State and Nebraska. Michigan has posted a stellar 35-13 Big Ten dual record under fifth-year head coach Sean Bormet.
• DeAugustino went to overtime in four of his five Big Ten Championships matches, dropping three close bouts to finish sixth, including a 5-2 decision in the second sudden victory against Penn State's ninth-ranked and eventual champion Braeden Davis in the semifinals. DeAugustino claimed his second win of the season over Iowa's second-ranked Drake Ayala, 4-2, with a late third-period takedown on the edge. He owns eight total ranked wins on the season.
• Ragusin leads Michigan with a 24-2 record on the season and took runner-up at Big Tens after coming out of redshirt prior to U-M's Big Ten opener at Maryland (Jan. 12). He was named the NCAA's Wrestler of the Week after earning a pair of top-10 wins against Penn State's No. 4 Aaron Nagao (Fall 7:28, Jan. 19) and Rutgers' No. 8 Dylan Shawver (8-5, Jan. 21). Ragusin earned another win over Nagao at Big Tens before falling to Shawver in the championship final. While in redshirt, Ragusin won tournaments at the Michigan State Open, Cleveland State Open and Midlands Championships.
• Lemley has faced ranked opponents in 11 of his last 14 matches over the second semester, including six in the top 10, and went 7-4 in those ranked matches. Two of those four were one-score decisions to Penn State's Beau Bartlett, while he fell to Iowa's Real Woods, 11-8, in his Big Ten medal match. His dual win over then-No. 1 Woods is the biggest of his career to date, scoring on a reversal, takedown and eight back points en route to a 14-2 major decision. Lemley is 18-7 in his rookie campaign.
• Gomez is 9-2 at 149 pounds since joining the Wolverines in December as a transfer -- and after relocating to Ann Arbor last summer as a member of the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club. He has defeated ranked opponents in six of his 11 bouts, while his only losses of the season have come against Nebraska's No. 1 Ridge Lovett, including a close 5-4 defeat in the Big Ten finals.
• In his week off between the end of the dual season and the conference tournament, Gomez qualified himself for the 2024 Paris Olympics by reaching the finals of the Pan American Qualifier (March 1) in Acapulco. Gomez, who represents Mexico in international competition, went 3-0 at 65kg freestyle, earning a 6-3 win over Canada's Lachlan McNeil in the semifinals. He also used a big second-period comeback, scoring 14 unanswered points, to tech former Penn State NCAA champion Nick Lee, 22-12, in the quarterfinals. It will be Gomez's first Olympic Games.
• Lewan earned two ranked wins, including a second-period pin against Minnesota's No. 4 Michael Blockhus in the quarterfinals, en route to a runner-up finish at Big Tens. Lewan also avenged his dual loss against Indiana's Lee in the semifinals before dropping an overtime decision, 4-1, to Penn State's top-ranked Levi Haines in the final. Lewan, who owns seven total ranked wins this season, is 12-7 this year and 96-36 in his collegiate career -- just four wins shy of the 100-win milestone.
• Amine took fourth place at the Big Ten Championships with a 3-2 record and a pair of one-score losses to Iowa's sixth-ranked Michael Caliendo, including a 4-1 sudden-victory decision in the medal round. Amine, who missed several weeks over the second semester with illness, also earned three ranked wins at Big Tens, notably flipping a dual loss against Nebraska's No. 16 Antrell Taylor in the consolation semifinals.
• Griffith owns a 14-3 record in his first season up at 174 pounds with two of his three losses coming on medical forfeits, including in the Big Ten championship finals. He had won nine consecutive matches this semester prior to the Big Ten final. Among his notable wins, he earned a 4-1 overtime decision over South Dakota State's No. 4 Cade DeVos (Jan. 4), beat Ohio State's No. 11 Rocco Welsh, 2-1, and won a pair against Iowa's No. 8 Patrick Kennedy, including a 12-1 major decision in the dual meeting.
• Bullock has enjoyed a big breakout season at 184 pounds after redshirting in 2021-22 and missing nearly all 2022-23 with injury. Bullock is 18-10, including eight wins against ranked opponents, and owns 10 bonus wins. He took fourth place at Big Tens after two close 4-1 defeats to top-five opponents -- at the third-period buzzer against Minnesota's No. 5 Isaiah Salazar and in overtime against Nebraska's No. 3 Lenny Pinto. Bullock started for the Wolverines at 174 pounds as a true freshman in 2020-21 and went 3-6 that season.
• Davison owns an 18-4 record at heavyweight with 13 bonus wins, including two en route to a third-place finish at the Big Ten Championships. He owns seven wins over ranked wrestlers, including a pair against Rutgers' Yarasalu Slavikouski, most recently, a 6-3 decision in his Big Ten medal match. Davison reached the 100-win milestone earlier this season with his 19-3 technical fall against Michigan State's Josh Terrill (Jan. 14) and has since improved to 100-36 -- and 71-19 over his last three seasons at heavyweight.
