A little more than a month ago, Sergio Lemley was planning on spending his first season at Michigan as a redshirt. 

After all, shoulder surgery soon after capturing his third Illinois state championship in March prevented Lemley from participating in any live wrestling drills until October. 

"Initially, redshirting is what I wanted to do this season because of the things my surgery kept me from doing in the offseason," said Lemley, who was also an Indiana state champion in 2021. "I just thought redshirting might be the best thing for me." 

Sean Bormet and the Wolverines' coaching staff, however, had other plans for the prized recruit, who was #16 on the final Class of 2023 Big Board and #2 at 132 pounds in the final high school rankings.

The graduation of NCAA qualifier Cole Mattin left a vacancy at 141 pounds and Lemley was a prime candidate to fill it. 

Following a 3-1 showing at the season-opening Michigan State Open, Lemley found himself in the starting lineup over the weekend as Michigan opened the duals portion of its schedule by knocking off Columbia (33-6) and Rider (27-14).

"The chance to become a starter kind of fell into my hands, and given an opportunity like that, I'm going to take full advantage of it," he said. "I've always been about what's best for the team, not myself. I feel good about my results so far and it's just been great to see things coming together again on the mat for me after only being back to live wrestling for about a month. It's also clear what I need to work on."

Lemley, a 2022 Super 32 champion, dropped his first match at the MSU Open before storming back to win his next three and finish third. 

Those results set the stage for last weekend as Lemley edged Columbia's Kai Owen, a returning starter, 3-1, before dominating third-year starter and two-time NCAA qualifier McKenzie Bell of Rider with a 19-4 technical fall. 

Lemley trailed Owen, 1-0, after two periods, but had accumulated 1:06 in riding time. In the final period, he seized the lead for good with a reversal and rideout, finishing the bout with a 2:42 riding time advantage. 

McKenzie came into the match ranked #30, but his true freshman opponent wasted little time in building a lead. Lemley scored takedowns in all three periods before ending the match with a single-shot, double-leg finish at the 5:35 mark. 

As a result, Lemley has entered the rankings at #31, 10th among Big Ten wrestlers. He is also the lone true freshman in the 141-pound rankings.

Offensively, Lemley has shined, racking up 80 points in six matches while allowing only 20. 

“I’ve always been somebody who likes to be offensive on the mat,” he said. “I like putting on a show, not low-scoring matches like the one I had against Owen. Overall, I feel like I’ve improved with each match. I just go out and compete and then diagnose things on film, find want to refine and improve and apply that to the practice or competition. Win or lose, I’m going to learn.”

The Chesterton, Indiana native’s journey to Michigan began with a text message that was not sent entirely by choice.

Lemley won Illinois state championships at Mount Carmel High School his freshman, junior and senior seasons and captured an Indiana state title at Chesterton High School as a sophomore. 

During that season at Chesterton, Lemley walked into practice one day wearing University of Michigan shorts, which caught the attention of then-Chesterton assistant coach Keith Davison, a two-time All-American at Wisconsin and the father of current Michigan heavyweight Lucas Davison and former Michigan and Northwestern wrestler Andrew Davison. 

“Coach Davison asked me if I ever thought about wrestling at Michigan and strongly encouraged me to text to coach Bormet,” Lemley said. “Well, he kind of forced me to, because I was not sure at first about just texting Michigan’s coach, but I’m so glad I did. I mean, the Davisons live about a block from my house (in Chesterton) and I’ve known them almost my whole life, so I trust what they have to say.”

Just over a year later, Lemley committed to Michigan in April of 2022.

“First and foremost, I was looking for a school where I could fulfill my personal and professional goals and become who I want to be as a person and wrestle along with that,” he said. “I feel Michigan is perfect fit to accomplish all of that. It’s a great academic and athletic school. Besides the Davisons, I knew some of the Michigan guys who went to (Chicago) Montini Catholic like Will Lewan, Dylan Ragusin and Fidel Mayora, and they all said great things about program.”

Lemley began bonding with teammates the minute he arrived on campus in late August, even though his participation in preseason workouts was limited at first. 

Once cleared to wrestle, he immediately became immersed in the atmosphere of the Wolverines’ practice room which sometimes includes Olympic and World medalists from the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club. 

“I appreciated the team bonding stuff like backyard gatherings and it was great to get to know all the guys on a greater level,” Lemley said. “Of course, I love the wrestling room and the fact that there are so many really talented guys around my weight I can work with like (All-Americans) Mike DeAugustino and Chris Cannon and (three-time NCAA qualifier) Dylan Ragusin. It’s awesome to pick the brains of those older guys about not only wrestling techniques, but mental preparation and everything else.”

Striggow, Bullock Return 

Lemley was one of seven Wolverines who went 2-0 in last weekend’s duals.

It was hardly a surprise that multi-time All-Americans Will Lewan, Cam Amine, Shane Griffith and Lucas Davison went unbeaten, but so did Bobby Striggow (197 pounds) and Jaden Bullock (184) in their first dual action since last November. 

In his first matches of the season, Striggow edged Columbia’s Jack Wehmeyer, who came in ranked #26, 5-4. He then blanked Rider Brock Zurawski, 5-0. As a result, Striggow entered the rankings at #32, 10th among Big Ten wrestlers.

The senior was 1-1 in duals to begin last season but was injured the rest of the season. Striggow entered this season with an 18-23 career record, 4-6 in duals. 

Bullock, a junior, also began with a win over a ranked wrestler, besting Columbia’s Aaron Ayzerov, who came in ranked #28, 9-5. He then shut out Rider’s Isaac Dean, 12-0. 

Bullock was second at the MSU Open, going 3-1, including a win over Wisconsin’s Shane Liegel, who was a three-time Division 2 All-American at Loras University before transferring last spring. Bullock is 5-1 this season, including two technical falls and a major decision. 

The junior wrestled in one dual last season (at 197) before being sidelined with injuries. He came into this season with a 7-8 career mark, 1-2 in duals, but owns a win over NCAA qualifier Tate Picklo (Oklahoma), who currently #19 at 174.