Stevan Micic gets his hand raised after a win at the NCAAs (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan senior/junior Stevan Micic has been forced to withdraw from the 2018 World Wrestling Championships due to injury. Micic, previously a junior world bronze medalist, was set to make his senior world debut at 57kg/125 pounds wrestling for Serbia.
"Our staff and team are obviously very disappointed for Stevan," said head coach Sean Bormet. "He worked very hard, made a lot of improvements and had a lot of international success this spring and summer. He was right on track to peak at the World Championships. Stevan, our medical staff and our coaching staff did everything possible so he might still have an opportunity to wrestle in Budapest, but unfortunately time was just not on his side. Stevan is one of the most positive and optimistic young men that I have ever coached. He has handled this situation like a champion and will be back in good health soon. We look forward to his return to our lineup sometime this semester."
"I've had time to process it, but it's definitely something that I've been down about and upset to miss this opportunity," said Micic. "I was really confident in my training and my ability to compete with the best. My mindset was to go in there and get gold. But with missing so much mat time over the last month, I didn't want to go if I wouldn't be as prepared as I should or be able to wrestle to my full ability. I don't want to make this worse. So, I'm not going to regret it. I'm excited to win an NCAA title this year. That's my focus now, and I'm very motivated."
Micic suffered the injury in the semifinals at the Poland Open in early September. He finished out the tournament, however, earning a 10-0 technical superiority win over Italy's Givi Davidovi in the 57kg championship bout for his first international gold medal. Micic also took bronze at the 2018 European Championships in May, earning Serbia its first ever European medal in freestyle wrestling, and up at 65kg at the Mediterranean Games in June.
Micic is a two-time NCAA All-American for Michigan, claiming runner-up honors last season after taking fourth place as a freshman in 2017. He captured the Big Ten 133-pound title last year and has two collegiate seasons remaining.
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