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College Preview - Michigan natives to watch
11/2 - Contueing our 2012-13 College Previews, we have highlighted the big name Michigan
natives competing at in-state and out-of-state colleges. 7 Michiganders are featured in InterMat's Pre-Season Division 1 Rankings. The highest ranked Michigan natvie is former 2x State Champ from Highland Park Jarod Trice who is ranked 4th at 285lbs. Trice is a 2x All-
American coming off a 4th place finish at the Olympic Trials last year while redshirted. Click
more to see all the ranked Michiganders as well as others who are slotted to start for their
respective programs this season.
MI Grappler's College Preview 2012-13
11/1 - The 2012-2013 college wrestling season is upon us as #19 Michigan opens their season today, playing host to Olivet College. Michigan State and Eastern Michigan open this weekend at the Eastern Michigan Open, and #9 Central Michigan will get their season going with a big time matchup against Michigan next week. Get briefed on what Michigan's Division 1 programs are working with this year with our in-depth college previews. Included are projected lineups, recruiting round-ups, and an outlook on the 2012-13 season.
UM NCAA RECAP - Russell shines on big stage
3/23 - The University of Michigan gained national exposure from senior Kellen Russell winning his 2nd NCAA title and also landed Zac Stevens on the All-American podium as the Monroe native finished 7th at 133lbs. With both their All-Americans graduating this spring, the Wolverines will look for new faces to shine next year.
EMU NCAA RECAP - Eagles gain valuable experience
3/21 - Eastern Michigan coach Derek Delporto took the largest fleet of Eagles ever in his tenure in Ypsilanti, and while his young crew of 4 qualifiers failed to advance deep in to the tournament, they gained much needed expierence about what it takes to get there and to win at the NCAA Tournament. Click more for the full story.
CMU NCAA RECAP - Bennett lands 3rd AA honor
3/20 - Central Michigan University finished the NCAA Tournament in 24th place last weekend with one All-American, Ben Bennett, who finished 6th at 184lbs to earn his 3rd All-American honor. Click more for a full recap from MI Grappler's Jeff Chaney of how the Chipps fared in St. Louis.
Bennett runner-up at Midlands
12/30 - The Midlands Championships wrapped up in Evanston, IL last night and Rockford native Ben Bennett of Central Michigan finished runner-up for the 3rd straight year. Bennett fell 5-2 to Robert Hamlin of Lehigh in the184lb finals. The Chipps finished 11th overall with two placers. Eastern Michigan was in attendance as well, finishing in 23rd place behind Jared Germaine leading the way with a 7th place finish at 125lbs. Click below for more in-depth recaps of CMU and EMU.
Michigan adds Bormet & Pritzlaff to staff
6/18 - The University of Michigan made national headlines this week with the
announcement that Sean Bormet and Donny Pritzlaff will be their new assistant
coaches to go along with Head Coach Joe McFarland. Bormet, a Michigan alum, was a 2x All-American for Michigan and 1994 NCAA Runner-Up. He has been one of the premiere Freestyle coaches in the country over the past decade as the owner of the Overtime Wrestling Academy. Pritzlaff, a former NCAA Champion from Wisconsin, comes from the University of Wiscosin
where he has served as an assistant for five years. Click more for the full story.
Russell and Reader win National Titles
3/20 - The season ended for Boris Novachlav of Cal Poly and he only gave up two takedowns all year. Fortunately for Kellen Russell he was the culprit behind both of those takedowns, one of which won Russell a National title Saturday night in Philadelphia. The University of Michigan junior capped off a perfect season with a 3-2 win over Novachlav to win the 141lb National Title. The match was tied 1-1 in the 3rd period when Russell scored a that fatal takedown. The third Davison wrestler in recent years won a National Title as Jon Reader of Iowa State won the 174lb title in dominant fashion with a 10-3 win over Nick Amuchastegui of Stanford. Reader also finished a perfect season for the Cyclones.
Melinn wins NCWA Title; GVSU finishes 2nd
3/14 - Grand Valley State University continued their reign as one of the premiere NCWA programs in the country last weekend as they finished National Runners-Up at the NCWA National Championships. Corey Melinn won a national title for the Lakers at 285lbs and was one of 9 Grand Valley All-Americans. Click more for a full recap.
UM's Russell wins Big Ten Title, remains perfect
3/8 - The Big Ten Conference Championships wrapped up last weekend in Evanston, IL and The University of Michigan's Kellen Russell did the only thing he knows how to do when it comes to Conference Tournament time - win. Russell won his 3rd Big Ten Title in as many tries to remain unbeaten on the season and solidify his #1 ranking heading into the NCAA Tournament, which will take place in 2 weeks in Philadelphia, PA. Michigan finished 5th as a team with 7 total placers including freshman Eric Grajales finishing runner-up at 149lbs. Michigan State finished 11th with 6 placers including two wrestlers finishing in the Top 4. Click more for the full results.
Olivet wins Midwest Regional Title
3/8 - Olivet College did something they haven't done since 2006 last weekend when the Comets won the NCAA Div III Midwest Regional Title. The efforts of two individual champions, James Myers and Trevor Tyler, led Olivet to their Regional Title and Head Coach Brandon Brissette and assistant Jeff Therrian sweeped coach of the year honors. Click more for the full recap.
Muskegon finishes 9th in Nation
2/28 - Muskegon Community College wrapped up a banner wrestling season last weekend as they finished 9th in the NJCAA National Championships with four individuals earning All American honors. Sean Turner (141), Eric Telford (157), Trent Flegel (197), and Ryan Steverson (285) finished in the top 8 of their respective weight classes. Telford (pictured) earned the Most Falls Award for the tournament with 4 pins. Click more for the full story and results.
Alma College re-instates wrestling at D3 Level
2/22 - While most states in America are dropping collegiate wrestling, the State of Michigan took a huge step forward recently as a new NCAA Division 3 Wrestling Program was added at Alma College. Alma, which will feature wrestling as a Varsity Sport starting next year, will be led by a man who is no stranger to building college programs - Todd Hibbs. Hibbs was the main man behind the re-building of Olivet College's wrestling program which was on the brink of being dropped about a decade ago. Now Alma College will look to thrive on the D3 wrestling scene behind the direction of Hibbs. Click below for full stories on the Alma Wrestling Team.
Michigan storms past Central Michigan
1/16 - 11th ranked Michigan made the most of back-to-back bonus point wins at 149 and 157 to knock off #20 Central Michigan in Mt Pleasant tonight. Redshirt Freshman Eric Grajales (pictured) scored a 20-4 technical fall over Donnie Corby at 149lbs to kick start the Wolverines. Click more for the full story.
MSU falls 19-16 in barnburner with Buckeyes
1/16 - Michigan State University got the heart of their Big Ten season underway today as they dropped a close one to Ohio State on the road. The Spartans split with Ohio State, winning 5 matches. Among the winners for MSU was Dan Osterman who moved to 10-0 on the year in dual meets.
Wolverines runner-up at Virginia Duals
1/10 - It was an impressive showing at the Virginia Duals for the Michigan wrestling team this weekend. The Wolverines got off to a good start on Friday with two dominating wins over Liberty and Buffalo. On Saturday Michigan reached the finals by avenging an early season loss to #9 Lehigh by a score of 21-18. In the finals the Wolverines squared off with #2 Penn State. The team battled hard but the Wolverinesultimately fell by a score of 24-12. Several other Michigan teams were in action as well this weekend at the second annual Spartan Duals. Michigan State defeated Eastern Michigan by a score of 19-15 to finish 3-0 on the day. Click below to see full results from both tournaments.
Olivet cracks Top 10 after Vegas weekend
12/26 - Olivet College made a pre-holiday trip west to Las Vegas for the Desert Duals, where they went 2-2 and tallied a big win over then #5 ranked St Johns University (Minnesota). In the latest Division 3 NCAA Rankings, the Comets have cracked the Top 10 with a #8 national ranking. In addition, four Olivet wrestlers are ranked nationally in their weight classes: Vince Tucker (149), James Myers (157), Trevor Tyler (174), and Jim Neal (184). Click below to see all the latest D-3 Rankings as well as a recap of the Desert Duals.
Chipps fall to #12 Lehigh 23-9
12/12 - The #24 ranked Central Michigan wrestling team fell to #12 Lehigh today after dropping 7 of the 10 matches. #5 ranked Ben Bennett scored a win over #20 Austin Meys 1-0 at 174lbs. #10 ranked Jarod Trice lost to #1 ranked Zach Rey in a battle of the nation's top heavyweights. Click more for full story.
College Preview - University of Michigan
11/25 - The 2010-11 season is young and things are already looking up for the Michigan Wolverines. Joe McFarland and his Wolverine squad are coming off a rough season last year, however, they return virtually their whole lineup in from last year with the addition of All-American Kellen Russell who comes off a redshirt and big-time impact freshman Eric Grajales. Click below for the full preview of this year's Michigan team.
Muskegon places 7 at Concordia Open
11/21 - Muskegon Community College traveled to Wisconsin this weekend for the Concordia Open with 7 individuals placing in their weight, including Monroe native Sean Turner who won the 141lb title. Click more for a full recap.
Olivet goes 3-1 at Comet Duals
11/21 - Olivet College opened their dual-meet season this weekend with wins over Oakland University, Grand Valley, and #29 UW-Whitewater. The Comets fell to #2 Wartburg, but managed to win 4 matches. Click more for the full recap.
Chipps & Wolves fall in big Friday Night Duals
11/20 - The #5 ranked Central Michigan and #16 ranked University of Michigan wrestling teams both dropped big time Friday night duals last night as CMU lost to top ranked Cornell 24-10 while Michigan was out-gunned by #13 Lehigh 25-6. A couple Michiganders with upset wins over ranked opponents were Zac Stevens of UM knocking off #20 Frank Cagnina of Lehigh and Kyle Waldo of CMU beating #16 Frank Perelli of Cornell. Click below for the full recaps.
Wolverines down #14 Pitt in home opener
11/15 - We are only a couple weeks into the 2010-11 season and the Michigan Wolverines have already shown that this year will be nothing like last year. The Wolverines, who had their worst Big Ten season finish in years last year, toppled #14 Pittsburg in their home opener Sunday afternoon at Cliff Keen Arena. Click more for a full recap.
Trice selected to compete in All-Star Classic
10/28 - Central Michigan junior heavyweight Jarod Trice was selected to compete in the annual NWCA All-Star Classic, which pits top contenders against one another at the start of the season. Trice, who was an All-American last year for the Chippewas, goes into the season ranked #2 in the country at 285lbs. Click more for the full story from the NWCA.
Curby flying like an Eagle in Yspilanti
10/1 - Former Hillsdale State Champion and Fargo finalist Mike Curby may have never envisioned himself in Ypsilanti after high school, but the 174lb freshman is there wrestling for Eastern Michigan, and he wouldn't rather be anywhere else. In his Welcome to College blog he diiscusses how he ended up at EMU an how it has been thus far, click more to read his entry.
CMU frosh Cooley kicks off Welcome To College
9/26 - Michigan Grappler's "Welcome to College" Blog Series is back for the 4th year and providing our first entry is Central Michigan freshman 149lber Dakota Cooley of Chelsea. In his blog, the Division 2 State Champion goes in depth on his transition to the academic and athletic rigor of being a Chippewa wreslter. Click more to read his blog.
CMU lands Ohio standout Ty Davis
8/22 - Central Michigan landed a big time commitment from the state of Ohio this month as
2x Ohio State Placer Ty Davis announced his intentions to wrestle for the Chipps. Davis, who
projects at 141lbs in college, is a former Cadet and FILA Cadet Freestyle All-American.
Recruiting Roundup - Small College Programs
8/3 - The 2010-2011 college season is nearly upon us as college wrestlers will be returning to their respective campuses in the next month. With that, Michigan Grappler has released our Recruiting Roundup for all of the non-Division 1 programs. Click more to see who Olivet College, Muskegon Community College, Oakland University, Grand Valley State, and Mott CC will be adding to their programs this year and what kind of impact we can expect from these recruits.
Waldo returning home to wrestle for Chipps
8/2 - For Kyle Waldo, there is no place like home. After spending his freshman season at the Univeristy of Nebraska, the former 4x Division 1 State Champ has informed Michigan Grappler that he will be transferring to Central Michigan and bringing his talents to the Chippewas. Waldo comes at a perfect time for CMU, who just graduated their starting 125lber, Matt Steintrager. Click more for the full article and our one-on-one interview with Waldo.
Michigan College Recruiting Roundup
Top in-state talent headlines MSU, UM, CMU, EMU recruiting classes
7/8 - The 2010 Recruiting season over for the most part and with that, Michigan
Grappler brings our Recruitng Roundup for all the Michigan programs. First, we
have the list of incoming recruits and breakdown of how these newcomers will impact Michigan's Division 1 programs. Michigan State brings in the #23 class in the country, led by Senior National Champ Nick McDiarmid of Hartland. Click more to read our in-depth breakdown of Michigan State, Michigan, Central Michigan, and Eastern Michigan's recruiting classes. Check back next week for the recap of the other Michigan programs' recruits.
Rodriguez & Trice Double Up in Akron
4/11 - CMU All-American Jarod Trice (pictured left) and Holt state champ Freddie Rodriguez (right) both won Freestlye titles today at the FILA Cadet/ University Nationals in Akron, Ohio, giving them the title of "Double Champs" as they both also won Greco titles two days ago. Three Michigan preps earned All-American honors in the FILA Cadet Division while a total
of 5 Michigan collegiates placed in the University Division. Click more for full recap and results.
Grand Valley finishes 4th, Aikens wins Natl Title
3/16 - Grand Valley State put in another Top 5 finish at the NCWA National Championships last weekend as the Lakers finish 4th with 6 All-Americans. Pacing GVSU was 197lb senior John Aikens, who won his weight class with a 1st period finals fall to seal the deal. Aikens, who was a 3x state qualifier for Holly High School, pinned his way through the tournament and was named Outstanding Wrestler. Click more to see all the placers and all the results from last weekend.
Lansing native Yewah shines at DIII Nationals
3/15 - Last weekend the state of Michigan crowned our first NCAA Champion of the year
before the NCAA D-I Tournament even started in Omaha. Former Lansing Sexton graduate
Bebeto Yewah won the NCAA Title for Division III Wisconsin-Lacrosse at 133lbs. Yewah, who began wrestling in high school, has emerged as one of the elite Division III Collegiate athletes in the country as he steamrolled to his first National Title as a sophomore. Click more for a full recap from the UWL website and click below to see the brackets.
Michiganders Omaha-Bound
NCAA Tournament Brackets released
3/11 - The NCAA Championship brackets and final qualifiers were released this week and a slew of Michiganders will be making the trip to Omaha to battle for All-American status. Central Michigan qualified their whole squad, with 10 wrestlers going to Omaha. Michigan State earned 6 bids to NCAAs while Michigan landed 3 and two EMU Eagles qualified. Click more for a full list of Michigan's qualifiers as well as a link for the brackets.
CMU wins 9th straight MAC Title
3/9 - Central Michigan University continued their MAC dominance last weekend, claiming their 9th straight conference title when they hosted the MAC tournament at Rose Arena. 5 Chippewas won Individual Titles as Matt Steintraiger, Conor Beebe, Steve Brown, Tyler Grayson, and Ben Bennett all earned automatic NCAA berths by winning with their respective weights. Two EMU Eagles, Sean Clair and David Wade, placed high enough in their respective weights to earn NCAA Qualifying bids. Click more for a full recap.
Metcalf knocked off in Big Ten Finals
MSU junior Anthony Jones finishes 3rd after coming in unseeded
3/7 - The Big Ten Finals wrapped up today in Auburn Hills and Brent Metcalf was victim of an upset similiar to his NCAA final loss to Darrion Caldwell from a year ago as Lance Palmer put Metcalf on his back at the end of their 149lb final match to slay Goliath. Michigan State finished 7th, their best conference tournament finish in 7 years, led by 3rd place finishes from Anthony Jones (pictured) and Franklin Gomez. Click more for a full recap.
MCC qualifies 9 for NJCAA National Tournament
2/15 - Muskegon Community College finished 4th in the NJCAA Central District Tournament yesterday in River Grove, Illinois. The Jayhawks qualified 9 individuals for the NJCAA National Tournament, including Matt Fetterly and Justin Leanord who finished runner-up at 174 and 197lbs, respectively. The NJCAA National Championships will go down February
26-27 in Des Moines, IA. Click more for full recap and finals results.
MSU, Michigan fall in Friday Night Duals
2/13 - Michigan and Michigan State both fell on the road to highly ranked opponents Friday night as MSU fell 26-12 to #10 Penn State in State College and Michigan won 4 matches in a 22-13 loss to #13 Indiana in Bloomington. Click below for full recaps.
Chipps down Spartans 23-10
2/5 - 6th ranked CMU held strong tonight against Michigan State, winning 7 of 10 matches at Rose Arena to defeat Michigan State 23-10. The Rock the Rose event attracted over 3,000 fans to see the interstate dual. MSU claimed two victories in matchups of ranked opponents as #4 Franklin Gomez beat #8 Scotti Sentes at 133lbs and #12 David Cheza upended #14 Tony D'Alie 7-3 at 149lbs. Central Michigan scored major decisions at 125lbs and 165lbs from Matt Steintrager and Tyler Grayson. Click more for a full recap from CMU Sports Information.
Cheza named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week
1/27 - Michigan State sophomore David Cheza was named Co-Wrestler of the Week yesterday by the Big Ten Conference. Cheza shared the award with Ohio State's Lance Palmer. Last weekend Cheza kicked off the 2010 Big Ten Dual season with a pair of wins over ranked opponents, downing #18 Mario Mason of Minnesota 12-8 and #20 Eric Terrazas of Illinois 2-0.
Conference Season underway...
CMU starts MAC season with a bang, knocking off in-state foe EMU
1/22 - The most important part of the College season is now underway as the conference schedules are gettingunderway. Conference duals play an instrumental part in National
Rankings and Conference seeding. CMU was the only in-state to start out with a conference win as they beat Eastern Michigan 34-3 Thursday night. Michigan and Michigan State kicked off the Big Ten dual season with losses to Top 5 teams at home last night as Michigan was shutout by #1 Iowa and MSU fell to #5 Minnesota 18-16. Michigan is back in action today at home against Minnesota while MSU will take on #19 Illinois Sunday at Jenison Fieldhouse. The Chipps, meanwhile, are done for the weekend. Click below for results from the weekend duals.
Spartans trounce West Virginia 24-9
1/10 - Michigan State got the new year off on a good note with a 24-9 stomping of West Virginia in East Lansing last night. Three Spartans scored wins over ranked Mountaineers as #1 Franklin Gomez majored #17 Collin Johnston at 133lbs, true freshman Dan Osterman scored a 7-6 win over #11 Brandon Rader, and Nick Palmeiri edged #18 Matt Ryan at 184lbs. Click more for
the full article.
Lansing native lands #1 Division III National Ranking
1/5 - Former Lansing Sexton standout Bebeto Yewah, who is currently a sophomore at Wisconsin-Lacrosse, was named the WIAC Wrestler of the Week last week after scoring a 10-2 major decision over then #1 ranked Mogi Bataar of Saint Johns College. In the most recent NCAA Div III Brute-Adidas rankings, Yewah was featured as the top ranked 133lber in all of NCAA Division III. Yewah, who was a 2008 Division 1 State Runner-Up for Sexton, is now 12-1 on the season for UW-L. Click more to view the full rankings.
Metcalf and Trice win Midlands Titles
12/30 - Davison native Brent Metcalf continued his reign as one of the premiere college wrestlers of the decade, dominating the Midlands Championships this week in Evanston. Metcalf was named the most outstanding wrestler of the tournament as well as the high point scorer, racking up 32.5 points for his Iowa squad that won the team title. CMU sophomore Jarod Trice had a breakout tournament, wrestling from the #8 seed to win the 285lb championship over 4 top 10 ranked wrestlers. The Chippewas finished 3rd overall with 7 individual placewinners. Click more for a full recap.
Simaz dominates the Southern Scuffle
12/30 - the Southern Scuffle, which is beginning to compete with the Midlands as College Wrestling's top regular season event, wrapped up today in Greensboro and former Allegan 3x state champ Cam Simaz won the 197lb title in dominant fashion. Simaz was 5-0 on the tournament with three major decisions, a fall, and a 18-0 tech-fall. Anthony Biondo and Dave Johnson led Michigan as the Wolverines finished 14th overall. Click more for a full
recap.
Olivet finishes 4th at NCC Invite, Tucker named OW
12/14 - Olivet College traveled to North Central College this weekend and brought home one tournament title and 6 other top 6 finishes. Clio native Vince Tucker won the 141lb championship and was named Outstanding Wrestler for his efforts. The team finished 4th overall with Adam Wilson (133), Ben Hitchcock (157), and Jim Neal (165) finishing in the top three. Click more for the full story.
Simaz, Biondo, Zeerip place at CK Vegas Invite
12/5 - The Cliff Keen College Invite wrapped up today in Las Vegas and three Michiganders placed in their weight class, including two Wolverines.Former Allegan 3x state champ Cam
Simaz finished 3rd at 197lbs wrestling for Cornell while Justin Zeerip and Anthony Biondo finished 6th for University of Michigan at 174 and 197lbs, respectively. Biondo, the #7 seed, upset Simaz, the #2 seed in the quarterfinals, but suffered an injury in the semifinals that withdrew him from the tournament, defaulting to 6th while Simaz battled back for 3rd. Michigan finished 16th in the final team standings. Click below for full brackets.
Spartans route Eagles 26-9 in Throwdown
12/3 - Michigan State won 8 of 10 matches in Ypsilanti tonight for what their "Thursday Night
Throwdown" with Eastern Michigan. The Spartans picked up all their bonus points from St. Johns grads as Dan Osterman and Tyler Dickensen scored major decisions at 133 and 197lbs. Osterman, a true freshman, was making his debut in the Spartan lineup and did so in impressive fashion with a 15-6 major decision over Andrew Novak of EMU. Click more for the full results and go to the Video Page to watch the entire dual.
CMU downs #6 Maryland at Northeast Duals
11/29 - CMU and Michigan were in action last weekend at the Journeymen Northeast Duals in Troy, NY and #10 Central came away with two wins over ranked opponents, including an upset special over #6 Maryland. Michigan went 1-2 with a win over Penn. Click more for full recap and results and go to the MI Grappler Video Page to watch CMU and UM matches from the event.
Michigan, MSU, EMU in action on Sunday
11/23 - Michigan, Michigan State, and Eastern Michigan were all busy yesterday with big dual meets. Michigan State went 2-1 at the Sprawl & Brawl Duals in Binghamton, NY while Eastern Michigan wrestled Northwestern to a 18-18 tie and Michigan fell to #16 Lehigh in their home opener. Click more to see all the boxscores from Sunday's action.
Olivet goes 2-1 at Comet Duals
11/23 - Olivet College hosted the Comet Duals last weekend, and went 2-1 with wins over Trine University and Grand Valley State University. The Comets fell to Heidelburg University 24-10. Click the headline for a full recap.
EMU blows out Cleveland State in opener
11/20 - Eastern Michigan opened their 09-10 dual season with a bang this week, blowing out Cleveland State 36-6. Click the headline for the full boxscore of the dual.
Gomez, Biondo shine at MSU Open
11/16 - Michigan's best collegiates were on display at the MSU Open last weekend in East Lansing. Two Michiganders won titles in the Open Division - Franklin Gomez of MSU and Anthony Biondo of Michigan. Click the headline for a full recap.
Michigan Grappler College Previews
Michigan Grappler will be releasing College Team Previews for the 09-10 season over the course of the next two weeks. Kicking things off is Grand Valley State, check back to see the rest.
College season kicks off with EMU Open
11/8 - The college season got underway here in Michigan last weekend with the EMU Open and all Michigan colleges were well represented. Eddie Phillips of Michigan was the only Michigander to win in the open division as he took home the 285lb title. Click more for full results and recap.
Michigan lands Blair standout
10/29 - It was announced today that National Prep Champion Max Huntley of Blair Academy in New Jersey has verbally committed to The University of Michigan. Huntley, who is also a Walsh Ironman and Beast of the East Champion, wrestled 189lbs for Blair last year and is projected at 197lbs for the Wolverines. He is the 3rd Blair prospect in the last 4 years to pick Michigan, following NCAA All-American Kellen Russell and current true freshman Sean Boyle.
Gomez & Miller land #1 Pre-Season Rankings
10/1 - The Amateur Wrestling News recently released their Pre-Season College NCAA Division 1 Rankings and two Michigan collegiates landed top rankings. Returning NCAA Champ Franklin Gomez of Michigan State (pictured) received the #1 nod at 133lbs while returning NCAA finalist Mike MIller of Central Michigan earned the highest ranking at 174lbs. Click more to see the full rankings and all theMichiganders who made the cut.
Churella joins Michigan coaching staff
9/26 - This week University of Michigan Head Coach Joe McFarland announced that former Wolverine All-American Ryan Churella would be joining the staff as a Volunteer Assistant Coach. Churella, who was a 3x All-American for Michigan, continues to train and compete internationally as he was a World Team alternate at 74kg this year after finishing 3rd at the World Trials last summer. Click more to read the full release.
Eifert talks about the Cornell "grey-shirt" experience
9/20 - The latest addition to our Welcome to College blog series comes from Cornell recruit and 3x State Champ Craig Eifert. The Mason native is deferring his enrollment to Cornell until next fall, the Ivy-League equivalent of a redshirt. In his humorous blog he talks about his unique situation and the experiences that go along with it. Click more to read the full entry.
Osterman already starting to feel like a Spartan
Michigan Grappler Welcome to College Blog Series
9/16 - 3x state champ Dan Osterman is the latest entry in our Welcome to College Blog series. In his blog the St. Johns grad talks about everything he has encountered in his first three weeks at Michigan State, from Pre-Season workouts,
to managing his time, to his experiences in the wrestling room. Click more to read Osterman's full blog and see what he has been up to in East Lansing.
Eastern Michigan adds new coach to staff
9/17 - The Eastern Michigan wrestling team added another member to their coaching staff this week with the hiring of former NCAA Division III National Champ Joe Pflug. Pflug, who graduated last spring from Heidelburg College, was a 2x Division III All-American, finishing 1st in 2006 and 3rd in 2007. He will serve as an assistant coach alongside Head Coach Derek Delporto and current assistant David Bolyard. Click more to read the full release from EMU.
Spartans land Indiana standout McMurray
9/7 - Michigan State received another big commitment this weekend as 2x Indiana State Champ Sean McMurray committed to the Spartans. McMurray, who was an NHSCA Junior National Runner-Up last year at 152lbs, is ranked by InterMat as the #76 recruit in
the country. It is the 4th commitment for the Spartans this fall and their 1st Top 100 Recruit.
Grappler Video:
Waldo kicks off Welcome to College Blogs
9/4 - The MI Grappler Welcome to College blog series kicks off this year with an entry from former 4x state champ Kyle Waldo. The Rockford native is currently a true freshman on the Nebraska Wrestling Team.
Recruiting Roundup 2009
Michigan Grappler has broken down the incoming recruiting classes of all the Michigan College programs, click more to see who is coming in and what impact they might have.
Michigan Grappler Team of the Decade
As 2009 nears an end, so does the first decade of the 21st century. Michigan Grappler has gone back in time to put together the best college wrestlers in the state of Michigan over the past 10 years, click more to see who we came up with.
CMU announces 2009 recruiting class
Kamron Jackson coming back to Michigan as a Spartan
Simaz & Trice fall in University Nationals Finals
4/26 -The University Nationals attracted some of the best collegiate wrestlers in the country to Akron, Ohio this weekend and 8 Michigan Grapplers came away with all-american honors, including two 2007 graduates who made the finals. CMU freshman Jarod Trice finished runner-up at 120kg while former Allegan state champ Cam Simaz of Cornell finished 3rd at 96kg. Simaz lost in the finals and then defaulted his true second match to finish 3rd. Click more for a full recap of the University Nationals.
Olivet names Brissette new Head Wrestling Coach
4/24 - Olivet College has found their new wrestling coach. The Comet Athletic Department has named Bay City native Brandon Brissette as the new man to take over for coach Todd Hibbs at the OC. Brissette has been an assistant coach at Heidelberg College for the past four years and was a 2005 graduate of Wartburg College where he was a 4 year letter winner on the wrestling team. Click more to view the full release from Olivet.
Oakland University lands fleet of Michigan recruits
4/16 - The young Oakland University Wrestling Team should receive a big boost next fall in the form of a star-studded group of Michigan recruits. The Grizzlies
have already received commitments for next year from 19 wrestlers, including three of Michigan's Top 100 Recruits. Don Gorman and Jake Hyde, the #43 and #45 ranked recruits from Michigan Grappler's recent Top 100 Senior Recruit Rankings, headline Oakland's recent additions. Hyde was a Division 1 state champion this year at 160lbs while Gorman was a 3x Division 3 state placer. Goto our Recruiting Central to stay up to speed with all the recruiting news.
Jones wins final bout to finish 3rd at FILA Juniors
4/11 - Michigan State sophomore Anthony Jones won his final bout at 154lbs today via 2nd period fall over Anthony Vinson, Jr. to finish 3rd at the FILA Junior Freestyle National Championships today. Jones was one of 7 college grapplers with Michigan ties to place today, click more for a full recap.
Cam Simaz named EIWA Freshman of the Year
3/27 - The EIWA announced their post-season awards monday and Allegan, Michigan native Cam Simaz was named the conference freshman of the year. Simaz, a 3x Division 2 state champion from Allegan, earned all-american honors at the NCAA Championships by finishing 8th at 197lbs. Click more to read the full release from Cornell.
Gomez, Luke win NCAA Titles; Metcalf dethroned
3/21 - The 2009 NCAA wrestling season concluded tonight and there will be a Spartan and a Wolverine coming home with some major hardware. MSU junior Franklin Gomez (pictured) won the 133lb title with a win over Reece Humphrey of Ohio State and Michigan's Steve Luke downed Mike Miller of CMU at 174lbs to end his senior season undefeated as a national champion. Davison natives Paul Donahoe and Brent Metcalf were both upset in the finals. Metcalf, a returning champ and Hodge Trophy winner, was knocked off by Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State in what many are calling the upset of the decade.Click more for a full recap.
Hibbs stepping down as coach at Olivet College
3/11 - Olivet College announced today that coach Todd HIbbs will be stepping down as the leader of the Comets wrestling program. Hibbs has been an instrumental part of the resurgence of Olivet as national contenders in NCAA Division III and in his five years at the helm he has ammased a record of 54-26-2 while racking up three Mid-States Conference Championships. Click more for full release from Olivet.
Brew finishes runner up at NCAA DIII Championships
3/11 - Former Sparta state champ Jason Brew capped off his illustrius career at Olivet College last weekend by finishing runner up at the NCAA Division III National Championships. Brew fell 2-1 in the final to Aaron Wernimont of Wartburg. Wernimont is widely considered one of the top wrestlers in all of DIII. Click more for a recap.
CMU wins 8th straight MAC title
3/10 - Central Michigan University rebounded from a late season loss to Kent State to win their 8th straight MAC Championship last weekend in dominant fashion. The Chipps were led by 4 individual champions in true freshman Scotti Sentes (125), Steve Brown (149), Trevor Stewart (165), and Mike Miller (174). EMU finished 4th win one champion - John McClure at 184lbs. CMU nabbed 4 other automatic NCAA tournament bids as Connor Beebe (133), Anthony Dalie (141), Vice Didona (184), and Jarod Trice (285) finished runner up to earn at large bids. Therefore, at least 8 Chipps will be wrestling at the NCAA Tournament. The rest of the qualifers will be announced later this week.
Russell, Luke, Todd win Big 10 Titles to lead Michigan
3/8 - The Big Ten Championships wrapped up today in Pennsyvlania. The University of Michigan finished the weekend strong with three individual champions. Sophomore Kellen Russell won his 2nd title in as many years at 141lbs while seniors Steve Luke and Tyrel Todd finished their careers on top with Conference crowns as well. Michigan finished 3rd overall behind Iowa and Illinois. Michigan State's Franklin Gomez repeated as champ at 133lbs with an overtime win over Reece Humphrey of Ohio State and Davison native Brent Metcalf continued his dominance with a 2nd period fall in the finals over Bubba Jenkins of Penn State. Click more for full brackets.
MCC advances 9 to NJCAA National Tournament
2/16 The Muskegon Community College wrestling team finished second last weekend at the Central District Championships hled at Triton College in Illinois. 9 Jayhawks advanced to the NJCAA National Championships, including returning national runner up Chad Friend (pictured) who won the 197lb championship with a 10-4 win over former Kearsley state champ Travis Pettengill, wrestling for Meramec CC. Click more to see all the MCC national qualifiers.
Bell, Jackson, Bommarito lead North Idaho to Regional title
2/16 - Three former Michigan standouts won Western Regional Titles last weekend as freshmen. Former 2x D1 state champ Jeremy Bommarito of Hartland, along with 2x D3 champ Kamron Jackson and state finalist Celic Bell of South Haven all won tournament titles to lead North Idaho to the championship. With their tournament titles, Bell, Jackson, and Bommarito will now advance to the NJCAA National Championships in Rochester, MN on February 27-28.
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