Overview

My thoughts after just getting back: 125: DeAugustino looked game in all of his matches, unfortunately the trainers think he's probably dealing with an ACL injury Hopefully he can salvage his season if that's the case. 133: Tannefu filled in for an ailing Cannon, who will hopefully be back soon. 141: I've liked what I'm seeing with Lemley. Aggressive, great hand fighting and ties, seems to have some trouble against guys who can attack from middle and long range. Hopefully he'll continue to improve. 149: Gilcher definitely the future, but really should redshirt this year. 157: Lewan is well, Lewan. Just didn't turn up his game like he shoulda/coulda against Robb, who in contrast, has been wrestling every match like a man possessed. Considering he's the returning senior who's been here the longest, he absolutely has to step things up if there's any hope of improving on his previous finishes. 165: Amine was seconds away from winning in the semis when he let it get away. He could very easily have won the whole thing. 174: As disappointing a tournament as it was for Griffith, the talent is still there, and his problem is not that he isn't healthy. The coaches will need to bring him along carefully over the next few months. 184: Bullock was the guy who shined. Despite a 6th place finish, he fought his tail off in every match, and was real close against some top opponents. I've always liked his aggressiveness and being ready to compete. BTW, word is that Rylan Rogers will be good to go within the next few weeks and will be wresting at Midlands. 197: Striggow is Striggow. I spoke with his family at the tournament - great people. Unfortunately this weight needs a big shot in the arm. I'm thinking that between Bullock and Rogers at 184, the odd man out should get placed here. HWT: I was liking Davison's tournament until his finals match, in which he did practically NOTHING for the first two periods. He deserved to lose that match. I haven't had the chance to read through many of the other threads, as I was watching the action for much of the day. If this team wants to shine in March, someone has to step up to provide the spark. Rather than having a group of guys who are hungry to make the top of the podium in their last go, we've got a bunch of tired looking veterans appearing too often unsure as to whether they want to be out there, and it's setting a tone. Fortunately it's still early, and there's a lot more wrestling to be done over the next three months. Coaches have their work cut out for them.

Sources have told me Jim Harbaugh has been stealing Tom Ryan's signals. Single, double and low ankle picks. This better not be true!! We all know how much wrestlers use signals in the heat of a match.

Greetings All, Take a look at KC's preview for Michigan for this upcoming season. Kevin Claunch is also the co-host for one of the best, and my favorite, wrestling podcast. Give them a look, if you haven't yet. http://www.bloodround.com/playlist

Hiking the headwaters of the Mississippi for a few days. Left the laptop behind so just a guess. But if you add Gomez as first at 149 that gets them something like 16.8 extra for a total of 66. I don't remember what Cornell had at 149, but they probably edge down a bit. So a solid second.

@Wrestleknownothing, Where do you think it puts it now with Gomez in the thick of it?

Imagine if we get Gomez at 149 as well as if Bullock (or Walker or Walters) pulls in points at 197. Yeeeah boi!

I already complained to Bobo about it not ordering chronologically.

Using the pre-season Intermat rankings we are still around 80% chance of 4 AA's for the Wolverines.

Oops. Missed that there was a new thread.

Would it be too much of me to ask if you could post it in the 2023-2024 area, WKn?

Using the pre-season Intermat rankings we are still around 80% chance of 4 AA's for the Wolverines.

That would be awesome, although I doubt that Bono would let him go. He has the say-all, end-all authority.

I would hope that Gilcher gets to redshirt his first year. Any knowledge as to whether they've had any luck trying to get a certain CK athlete to use his remaining eligibility second semester? A real long shot at best, but would be the perfect answer for that weight.

My Gilcher homer-isms are based on two things, for what it is worth... He has never really cut weight. He won his most recent state title at 150, but wrestled down and up throughout the season. He will have a set weight at UofM and won't be asked to fluctuate too much. He has the pedigree to succeed. His brother... with what most would consider is lesser coachigng... is coming through for Indiana right about now (I am actually hoping he joins him next season at UofM as a Grad Transfer at 165 with Amine going up his senior season to 174... honestly either at 174 would make me happy I think).

Nice thorough analysis. Pretty spot on with what I am seeing right now, although I really don't like to speculate about how things will go in March, given how much can happen between then and now. All depends on whether everyone stays healthy, hungry for the top spot on the podium, and how 149 and 197 work out.

Feel free to throw in thoughts, questions, concerns, etc.

Thank you, nhs, for the write ups.

Any chance a Grad Transfer comes in for any of the weights in question?

125 Early Favorite: M. DeAugustino Contender(s): None Spot Starter(s): C. Tanefeu, C. Horwath B1G Prediction: M. DeAugustino NCAA Prediction: Mid AA (3-6) I think we see DeAuggie man the spot when it matters aside for when he needs rest. I expect the smaller Tanefeu to get some spot starts here and there. I hope we can see Horwath getting reps down at 125 as I do expect him to get the Rogers treatment. Spot starts at 125/133 to get his five (5) weigh-ins done. I think DeAuggie keeps the injury and HEW bug away and he brings home hardware. 133 Early Favorite: C. Cannon Contender(s): None Spot Starter(s): W. Tanefeu, C. Horwath B1G Prediction: C. Cannon NCAA Prediction: Mid AA (3-6) Much the same as above, just with Cannon and the 'larger' Tanefeu. Horwarth and possibly Lemley to get spot starts, although I expect Lemley to be 141/149 on his spot starts. 141 Early Favorite: D. Ragusin Contender(s): N. Jerore Spot Starter(s): S. Lemley B1G Prediction: D. Ragusin NCAA Prediction: Mid AA (3-6) Ragusin likely gets the nod here unless he redshirts (which he has the option to). Perhaps they play around with Lemley as an option here until it is decided on Ragusin (rumor is it is not yet). With 149 being the 'up-in-the-air' weight, I expect Lemley at 141 for the sake of bumping for at least some of his five (like Rogers). I also don't think Ragusin redshirts unless Lemley comes in and blows some shit up. To be clear, I only believe Jerore is a contender because Ragusin might still use a redshirt. 149 Early Favorite: F. Mayora Contender(s): D. Gilcher Spot Starter(s): S. Lemley B1G Prediction: D. Gilcher NCAA Prediction: R12/R16 I fully expect Mayora to get the nod to start the season. I don't know that he will at the end of the season. Gilcher is ready to go straight out of the gate and while Lemley may be undersized... he might be as well. If either Gilcher or Lemley show signs of awesomeness and can limit injury or Frosh burnout... I do expect one to get the nod at B1Gs. Hopefully that decision can be made a good while prior to B1Gs for qualification/seeding purposes. I think NCAAs as a true frosh at 149 is going to be a helluva grind and will wear on Gilcher when the time comes. 157 Early Favorite: W. Lewan Contender(s): None Spot Starter(s): B. Mantanona B1G Prediction: W. Lewan NCAA Prediction: Mid AA (3-6) Like other weights, the obvious favorite is already written in stone. I expect Mantanona to get spot starts at both 157 and 165 to get to his five weigh-ins. I don't care what you say, Lewan can win this weight. He has that potential. Will he? No. 165 Early Favorite: C. Amine Contender(s): None Spot Starter(s): B. Mantanona, Z. Mattin, J. Consuelos B1G Prediction: C. Amine NCAA Prediction: Contender/Mid AA (1-6 range) Calling my shot here. Having Griffith in the room will help him take that next step. I expect a spot start or two from Mattin and the obvious 'donor' spot start or three for Consuelos if not at this weight then 157 or 174... whichever route he goes. Mantanona should get a look or two in at 165 as well. 174 Early Favorite: S. Griffith Contender(s): None Spot Starter(s): Z. Mattin, J Consuelos, J. Knudten B1G Prediction: S. Griffith NCAA Prediction: Contender/Mid AA (1-6 range) Yeah... I think Griffith could win it all at 174... with or without Stalrocci there. We could see some amalgamation of spot starters... depending on Griffith's load. 184 Early Favorite: R. Rogers Contender(s): J. Walker Spot Starter(s): C. Khawaja B1G Prediction: R. Rogers NCAA Prediction: Low AA/R12 (6-R12 range) I think Rogers will take some lumps... but health permitting could contend for a high AA spot. I think R12/Low AA is more realistic at this point and that is what we will see. Walker settling in and getting some starts to alleviate load will help down the line... but might hurt seeding and AQ chances... so placing at B1Gs might be of a high priority. 197 Early Favorite: None Contender(s): B. Yatooma, B. Striggow, J. Bullock, J Cummings, H. Walters Spot Starter(s): See Above B1G Prediction: J. Bullock NCAA Prediction: R12/R16 There is no favorite so there is no spot starters. If Walters cements himself as a clear favorite... expect him to get the nod. I still believe in Bullock and without weight management should be able to focus on wrestling and cement himself as a clear starter - thus allowing Walters to complete a redshirt. I had put Trost as 197, however the UofM roster page has him at HWT at this point. 285 Early Favorite: L. Davison Contender(s): None Spot Starter(s): I. Jenkings, L. Trost B1G Prediction: L. Davison NCAA Prediction: Contender (1-4 range) I think Davison does it. Beats Kerk when it matters as well as Hendrickson to win a NC. So for those chasing the rabbit... 125 - 5th, 10 + 1 = 11 points 133 - 4th, 12.5 + 1 = 13.5 points 141 - 3rd, 13.5 + 0 = 13.5 points 149 - R16, 0.5 + 0 = 0.5 points 157 - 5th, 10 + 0 = 10 points 165 - 3rd, 13.5 + 1 = 14.5 points 174 - 3rd, 13.5 + 1 = 13.5 points 184 - 7th, 6.5 + 0 = 6.5 points 197 - R12, 2 + 0 = 2 points 285 - 1st, 20 + 1 = 21 points Total - 106 points I did use wrestlestat to 'project' the bonus point totals, so there you have that. This is optimistic, I think. Very small chance to improve, but I think we could expect an average of 2-3 positions lower per wrestler. Right now the average is 10.1 points per wrestler (sans bonus), which is somewhere just above 5th per wrestler. If you drop 2-3 you could get 7th-8th points per average on wrestlers... which would be as high as 65 but as low as 55... sans bonus, obviously - from an unbiased perspective. Biased perspective? They're taking home a trophy and breaking that century mark with a PSU team taking home 1st while coming pretty damn close to breaking the all-time scoring record.

So here is what the 'roster' breakdown currently is, per Wrestlestat 125 #7 - DeAugustino , M. - SR #91 - Tanefeu , C. - SO #114 - Wertanen , N. - RSFR #133 - Horwath , C. - FR 133 #9 - Cannon , C. - JR #136 - Tanefeu , W. - SO 141 #9 - Ragusin , D. - JR #47 - Jerore , N. - RSFR #186 - Lemley , S. - FR 149 #75 - Mayora , F. - JR #186 - Gilcher , D. - FR 157 #9 - Lewan , W. - SR #201 - Mantanona , B. - FR #201 - Gulacha , A. - FR #201 - Ramsey , Z. - FR #326 - Wesselman , A. - SO 165 #3 - Amine , C. - JR #118 - Mattin , Z. - SO #247 - Consuelos , J. - SO 174 #3 - Griffith , S. - SR #91 - Khawaja , C. - RSFR #92 - Knudten , J. - RSFR #154 - Owens , C. - FR 184 #27 - Rogers , R. - RSFR #37 - Walker , J. - JR #119 - McKenna , M. - JR 197 #89 - Yatooma , B. - JR #52 - Bullock , J. - JR #70 - Striggow , B. - SR #101 - Cummings , J. - RSFR #128 - Trost , L. - RSFR #130 - Walters , H. - FR 285 #5 - Davison , L. - SR #69 - Jenkins , I. - RSFR #118 - Nugent , K. - SO #125 - Khurshidov , D. - SO #225 - Jordan , A. - SO

Currently it looks like this will be the starters... any thoughts, questions, or curiosities to these (Wrestlestat's Starters w/ their ratings listed)? 125 - #7 DeAugustino, Michael 133 - #9 Cannon, Chris 141 - #9 Ragusin, Dylan 149 - #75 Mayora, Fidel 157 - #9 Lewan, Will 165 - #3 Amine, Cameron 174 - #3 Griffith, Shane 184 - #27 Rogers, Rylan 197 - #89 Yatooma, Brendin 285 - #5 Davison, Lucas I don't necessarily think everyone listed will be the starter by season's end (or beginning for that matter). Curious what folks expectations are, or might be? Mine will follow.

As of now: 125: McHenry appears to have the spot, although watching him, he doesn't appear to be 100% healthy, and injury defaulted to eighth place at Vegas this past week. 133: Ragusin appears solid. Semifinal match against McGee was much closer than the match during the pandemic a few years ago. 141: In spite of getting stuck in the quarters, Cole Mattin looking solid, and always comes to compete. 149: Lamer overall looking solid against top competition despite losses to Parco and Arrington. 157: Lewan good, hopefully injury not severe. 165: Amine back by January 174: Walker getting used to being on stage. 184: Finesilver looking good against most competition, still struggles against the best. 197: This might be a problem. Striggow and Bullock both out with knee injuries, and Yatooma had to withdraw from Vegas this past weekend. That would leave Cummings and Trost as the last options. Stay tuned. HWT: Parris is the man. They brought Jenkins to Vegas to be his workout partner; hopefully he's learning things fast.

He's recovering from elbow surgery, and is actually good right now, but they're holding him out until the beginning of the year.

Oh very well, spanky big dog. Using these and rounding to the nearest whole number all three have them with a total of 4.

Apparently he transferred to Northern Iowa? Or I accidentally pasted in the UNI table. How is this?