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Corum is in the back row and center with the gold singlet Blake Corum kind of runs like a wrestler. By that, I mean he leads with his face. When Michigan beat Penn State 24-15 in November, Corum ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns. He left the field with blood dripping down his cheeks because of a cut between his eyes. When Michigan beat Ohio State 30-24 two weeks later, Corum ran for 88 yards and two more touchdowns. He wasn’t stopped for a loss on any of his 22 carries that day, and 56 of his 88 yards — about 64% — came after contact. And when Michigan beat mighty Alabama, Corum recorded 118 total yards, 83 rushing and 35 receiving, and two touchdowns in a 27-20 overtime win. He converted a big fourth down on the scoring drive that forced OT, then scored on the second play of OT to lift Michigan into the national championship game. With the national championship on the line, Corum totaled 134 rushing yards on 21 carries and a pair of touchdowns. For his efforts, he was named the game’s Offensive MVP. Why, you might be asking, am I writing about Blake Corum, Michigan’s All-American running back, on a wrestling website? Is it because Corum, in a past life, was a standout wrestler? That’s part of it. He won a Virginia youth state title in middle school. As a sophomore at Saint Vincent Pallotti, he took fourth at the Maryland state tournament at 182 pounds. But then he transferred to St. Frances Academy in Baltimore and became a blue-chip running back recruit. Is it because I lost a bet to Kevin Claunch, the smart, witty, good-looking, award-winning podcaster who also contributes award-winning coverage to this award-winning website? I can neither confirm nor deny, but, hey, here we are. Is it because I felt like I needed to make that connection to continue writing about Blake Corum and Michigan and football and wrestling? Absolutely. Corum, much like our buddy Claunch (a Central Michigan diehard at heart, but we’re keeping things Maize and Blue here for the sake of the alleged bet), carries all the same traits and characteristics as our favorite wrestlers. He’s confident. He’s direct. He’s likable. He admits faults, relishes triumphs, and gives credit where and when it’s due. Corum measures up at 5-foot-8 and 213 pounds, putting him on the small side for running backs, but he makes up for it by playing big. Roughly half of his total rushing yards this season (approximately 600 out of 1,245) have come after contact. He didn’t lose a single fumble this year. He led the nation with 27 rushing touchdowns this season. In another life, he would’ve made a great 174- or 184-pounder. Imagine Corum, with his tree-trunk legs, wicked lower-body horsepower, insane grip strength, and his willingness to run through his opponents, tangling with the likes of, say, Mikey Labriola, or Dustin Plott, or Trent Hidlay, or Marcus Coleman. Are we assuming Corum would’ve been an All-American-caliber wrestler? Yes, we are, especially if he would’ve wrestled at Michigan. Sean Bormet, Michigan’s head coach and Claunch’s slightly-thicker doppelgänger, has done great things with 174- and 184-pounders (and, really, the entire program). Is that bold of us to say? Yes, it is. Too bold, perhaps, but we’re pretty confident in our assessment here. Even the MatScout would agree. Just watch the tape. Of all of Corum’s athletic traits — strength, horsepower, his grip, his ability to attack face-first — perhaps his best is the fact that he just fights, for himself, his teammates, and for the millions that rep the Block M across the country and around the world. Never was that more apparent than in the Rose Bowl and the national championship game that followed in Houston. Against the surging Crimson Tide, Corum played huge. He averaged 5.6 yards per touch, and about half of his total rushing yards (41) came after contact. He was responsible for three of Michigan’s nine explosive plays, two by rush and another by air. On the go-ahead touchdown in overtime, he spun through three would-be tacklers. Standing next to Corum afterward, he still carries himself like a wrestler, even if it’s been a while since he last hit the mat. He conducted his postgame interviews shirtless. In the middle, he took a three-minute phone call with his dad. He talked about not fearing Alabama, and how his team just needed to go do what they do to win. A week ago, Corum led Michigan over Washington for the national title in Houston. Michigan hadn’t won a football national title since 1997 — and even then, they technically tied with Nebraska that season. You’d have to go back to 1948 for the last outright Michigan football title. Point is, it’s been a while, and who knows if Michigan will ever get to this point again. But Blake Corum led with his face and plowed over any Washington defender in his way — running like a wrestler — leaving those who rock the Block M, across the country and around the world, proud of their team and superstar.

The All-330 projections are back for January of 2024. The All-330 is a series of educated guesses on who will be the 330 wrestlers who make the trip to Kansas City, Missouri to compete at the 2024 NCAA Championships. So, how are these different than the national rankings, which go down to #33? There's a little bit of guesswork, projection, and opinion that goes into these, which is generally frowned upon with rankings. In some cases, we think a particular wrestler is poised for a big second half (or not-so-big). Another factor for these is conference allocations. Right now we can just speculate allocations for each conference and weight, but you can get an idea of how many each league will get based on rankings. For instance, in a Big Ten weight class with 10 of the top-22 wrestlers in the country (157), you can also assume that the conference probably steals an at-large berth as a lower-ranked wrestler probably only needs one win to lock up a national qualifying bid. Wrestlers are listed by conference, in alphabetical order, based on school name, so they are not conference rankings. The good news is that if someone is not listed or in the "just missed" category, they have almost half a season's worth of action to go, along with a conference tournament. There's still plenty of time left to change a narrative or impress the masses. 125 lbs This is a bit of a sneak preview for tomorrow’s updated NCAA rankings which will feature true freshmen Luke Stanich (Lehigh) and Braeden Davis (Penn State). It appears as if both will have the opportunity to compete for their respective teams in the postseason. You’ll notice four wrestlers from the Pac-12 in this weight. Unfortunately, the last year of Pac-12 wrestling might be its best in recent memory. Barring something unforeseen, it’s hard to argue with any of these four going to Kansas City. 133 lbs If 125 lbs has been the most unpredictable, 133 has been the most volatile. Filled with wrestlers that aren’t known commodities, there are lots of new faces. This is the only EIWA weight where we’ve projected eight wrestlers qualifying for nationals. It’s also deep in the Pac-12. More than any other weight this could see the most change between now and March, as there isn’t much separation between numbers 11 and 33. 141 lbs The super-powers shine here with 19 of the possible 33 qualifiers hailing from either the Big 12 or Big Ten. Very few of them are either projections or borderline hopefuls. The SoCon looks up-for-grabs here and we’re going with the true freshman from VMI, Jordon. Should he qualify, he’d be the first for VMI since 2020. 149 lbs This weight class was extremely deep for the MAC in 2023, with five automatic bids and six wrestlers competing at nationals. We’re a bit more conservative this time; however, there are a few MAC wrestlers in the “Just Missed” category and beyond that could shake things up. However, as things shake out in the EIWA, there will be plenty of new blood in the mix. None of the four we’ve projected to qualify have done so in the past. 157 lbs We mentioned the MAC in the previous weight class. This one could be the conference’s most plentiful, in terms of NCAA qualifiers. We have them with four, with another in the “Just Missed” category. This weight class is just absurd in the Big Ten. With 11 in the projected qualifiers and two more in the “Just Missed” group, the Big Ten tournament will be even crazier than normal. 165 lbs This weight has the chance to rival or surpass 133 lbs as the one with the most wrestlers from the EIWA. Seven, plus two others who just missed out on the top-33, is pretty impressive. Like last season, 165 is the most star-studded weight in the Big 12. Two national champions, plus two other All-Americans, all currently ranked in the top-ten is quite imposing. 174 lbs Some injuries have really hampered the top tier at this weight class; however, near the 33 cut-off was as strong as any weight this season. All six of the wrestlers in the “Just Missed” category have all qualified for at least one national tournament. And even at that point, there are still other quality wrestlers that could've been included. 184 lbs 184 lbs could be one of only three Big 12 weights where eight wrestlers qualify for nationals. Looking at our projections six of them are sitting pretty and virtual locks, barring something unforeseen. There’s also one wrestler in the “Just Missed” range, so the Big 12 is very deep here. 197 lbs Although we don’t have grades listed, this could be one of the younger 197 lb NCAA brackets in recent memory. Seven freshmen (two true) are a part of the 33 we’ve projected heading to Kansas City. 197 also has its stars and top-contenders distributed relatively even amongst multiple conferences, rather than just coming from the Big Ten. 285 lbs Speaking of the Big Ten, if these projections hold, it could be the smallest contingent from the B1G at any weight in 2024. Should Josiah Hill make the tournament, as projected, it could give Little Rock as many as five or six qualifiers, after only having one in their short history.

Welcome to a new running feature that we'll use to keep track of ex-wrestlers who are now competing in MMA. As more fights are agreed upon, they will be added to this article. Jan. 12 LFA 174 (UFC Fight Pass) JaCobi Jones (CSU Pueblo) vs. Kegan Gennrich Wes Schultz (Iowa Lakes/Wyoming/Wisconsin La Crosse) vs. Maurice Morris Jan. 13 UFC Fight Night (ESPN+) Jim Miller (Virginia Tech) vs. Gabriel Benitez Phil Hawes (Iowa Central/Iowa State/Wartburg) vs. Bruno Ferreira Jan. 20 UFC 297 (ESPN Pay Per View) Jasmine Jasudavicius (Canadian nationals) vs. Priscila Cachoeira Jan. 21 Fury FC 85 Tracy Reeder (Central Oklahoma) vs. Hector Saenz Jan. 28 ONE 165 (YouTube) Gustavo Balart (Greco Olympian for Cuba) vs. Hiroba Minowa