Michigan
Ohio State
Michigan to Host Rival No. 4 Ohio State on Saturday at Crisler Center
1/28/2025 3:18:00 PM | Wrestling
Promotions
• Maize Out -- Help us Maize Out the Buckeyes by wearing maize to the dual.
• Rivalry Rumble Rally Towel Giveaway -- The first 2,000 fans in attendance will receive a Rivalry Rumble Rally Towel!
• Wolverine Kids Club Day -- All Wolverine Kids Club members are invited to attend this game. Kids club members can earn bonus points at this game!
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team (5-3, 2-3 Big Ten) will host rival No. 4 Ohio State (11-1, 3-1 Big Ten) at 2 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 1) at Crisler Center.
Notes
• The Wolverines have eight wrestlers ranked nationally at their respective weight classes, including five in the top 15 according to InterMat: No. 11 Sergio Lemley (141), No. 15 Chase Saldate (157), No. 10 Beau Mantanona (165), No. 29 Joseph Walker (174), No. 20 Jaden Bullock (184), No. 2 Jacob Cardenas (197) and No. 9 Josh Heindselman (Hwt).
• Graduate student Jacob Cardenas is undefeated this season with a 13-0 record, including an 8-0 mark in dual meets, and boasts 10 bonus wins, with seven technical falls. Cardenas also owns seven ranked wins on the season, most recently defeating Nebraska's No. 22 Camden McDaniel 5-2 and Indiana's No. 23 Gabe Sollars 8-4 at home last weekend (Jan. 24-26).
• Graduate student Josh Heindselman also picked up a pair of ranked wins over the weekend to improve to 14-1 since joining the Wolverine team this semester. He posted a 9-6 decision over Nebraska's No. 21 Harley Andrews before picking up his second win this season against Indiana's No. 19 Jacob Bullock 2-1 on a second-period stall call. Heindselman boasts 11 bonus wins -- three pins and eight tech falls. His only loss this season came against Minnesota's No. 1 Gable Steveson.
• Heindselman and Cardenas rank among the nation's top 10 leaders in tech falls -- Heindselman at No. 5 with eight tech falls and Cardenas at No. 9 with seven.
• Heindselman is just two wins away from hitting 100 in his collegiate career with a 98-47 career record, while Saldate is also within single digits of the milestone with a 95-39 mark. Several Wolverines have hit 100 career wins over the last few years, including Lucas Davison last season. Davison ended his collegiate career with a 113-37 record, including a 22-5 mark at Michigan.
• Sophomore/freshman Beau Mantanona has earned ranked wins in three of his last four matches at 165 pounds, including an 8-5 decision against Indiana's No. 14 Tyler Lillard in his last outing. Mantanona also posted the second top-10 win of his collegiate career a week earlier with a 7-4 decision against Minnesota's No. 9 Andrew Sparks. Mantanona is No. 10 in the latest InterMat rankings.
• Mantanona is 8-2 this season since returning from injury. He suffered what was thought to be a season-ending knee injury a week before the season started in November, but on closer inspection, it did not require surgery and he has rehabbed it back to health. His brother, freshman Brock Mantanona, held down the 165-pound spot last semester, posting an 11-3 record with two ranked wins and a seventh-place finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Brock has one date remaining to maintain his redshirt this season.
• Freshman Cameron Catrabone earned his first collegiate dual win with an 8-1 decision against Indiana's Joey Buttler at 149 pounds, using a late first-period takedown and four-point tilt to build a big early lead. Catrabone made his dual debut a week earlier up a weight at 157, where he dropped a close 4-1 decision to Minnesota's No. 9 Tommy Askey. Catrabone is 11-3 on the season and has two more dates left to maintain his redshirt.
• Eleven wrestlers have made their debuts in the Michigan starting lineup so far this season, including six who have earned their first varsity win in a U-M singlet: grad transfers Cardenas, Saldate and Heindselman, senior/junior Dzhabrail Khurshidov, junior/sophomore Codei Khawaja and freshmen Brock Mantanona and Catrabone. Senior/junior Christian Tanefeu has also earned a pair of bonus wins -- his first, though not in his debut -- in duals against Columbia and Maryland.
• Fifth-year senior Dylan Ragusin will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season after suffering a knee injury at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 6-7). Ragusin, who has already had surgery to repair the injured knee, is a 2024 All-American and four-time NCAA qualifier. He was ranked No. 4 at 133 pounds to start the season after coming out of redshirt midseason to go 28-4 last year and claim a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. He is 82-30 in his career and will have one more year of eligibility after medical hardship.
• Ohio State is 11-1 on the season and 3-1 in Big Ten duals after falling 24-13 to Iowa on the road last Saturday (Jan. 25). The Buckeyes are ranked at all 10 weight classes, including six in the top 10 and most notably No. 1 Jesse Mendez (141 pounds) and No. 5 Carson Kharchla (174). Michigan leads 72-23-4 in the all-time series against Ohio State and has claimed five of the last nine meetings, but dropped a 20-19 heartbreaker last season in Columbus.
Players Mentioned
