Three-Time All-American McNeil Transfers to Michigan

Three-time All-American Lachlan McNeil has announced his transfer destination. McNeil will get a bit closer to home and finish his career with the University of Michigan. 

McNeil earned All-American honors every year he competed for the University of North Carolina - finishing fourth as a freshman, sixth as a sophomore, and fifth as a junior. In each of the last two seasons, McNeil has earned the #6 seed at the NCAA Championships. The ACC has typically been loaded in McNeil’s weight class, so he was third in his first two tries and a runner-up to returning national champion Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) in 2025. 

With two of the top-four finishers at NCAA’s at 149 lbs out of eligibility, McNeil will be the third-highest returning placewinner at the weight. He’ll give Michigan an immediate spark at the weight. In 2025, Michigan saw redshirt freshman Dylan Gilcher make the national tournament after finishing eighth in the Big Ten; however, he went 0-2 in Philadelphia. 

Michigan is one of the programs that has benefited the most from seniors in the transfer portal. They had two All-Americans of that variety in 2025 and three in 2024. In 2022, Nick Suriano came aboard for his last year of eligibility and won a national title at 125 lbs. 

One would think that McNeil is not only thinking about his final year of collegiate eligibility with this move, but also his Senior level freestyle career. McNeil represents Canada internationally and Michigan’s Cliff Keen Wrestling Club is vast and features an excellent staff. CKWC also has featured a handful of athletes who represent other nations on the international level. 

The move to Michigan also brings McNeil closer to his home of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 

McNeil is the second All-American that Michigan has added from the transfer portal this offseason. They got the portal action started by inking Campbell heavyweight Taye Ghadiali.