Each year, up-and-coming athletes spend time out of their starting lineups in a bid to better prepare for the following season. We’ll release articles on these athletes by weight categories over the next week or so. In addition to athletes exiting true freshman or redshirt seasons, these lists will also include non-starters and individuals taking an Olympic redshirt year.

Stevan Micic -- Michigan | 2016-2017 Eligibility Year: Redshirt Freshman

Redshirt Record: 22-3 (2014-2015)
I’m pretty sure I included Micic in this list last year. During his redshirt season at Northwestern, he notched folkstyle wins over All-Americans Conor Youtsey and David Terao. He also knocked off NCAA qualifier and round-of-12-er Kory Mines -- twice. 

Now at the University of Michigan, Micic elected to take an Olympic redshirt year after he earned bronze at the junior world championship, which gave him the option. Focusing on freestyle, Micic has done quite well by defeating the likes of former All-Americans Zach Sanders, Dan Mitcheff and Frank Perrelli.

In the lightweights, Michigan is going to have quite the log jam. Youtsey is coming off of his second straight All-American finish, but Micic has shown he can beat him. Austin Assad also had a fine showing in his redshirt season. One of these three may be on the outside looking in, but it's possible we see one of them move up as well. Due to his length and frame, I believe Micic has the most potential to move up. He's a tremendous tactician with great work from elbow control and a wide variety of attacks and finishes. It's very possible that we will see him become an All-American freshman. I believe he has the goods to contend with the best of the best at 125 or 133 pounds.

Micic did everything but beat Tyler Graff in this 11-10 loss at the Bill Farrell International. Graff went on to technical fall senior national champ Daniel Dennis later this tournament.
Micic takes out four-time All-American Sanders here:

Austin Assad -- Michigan | 2016-2017 Eligibility Year: Redshirt Freshman

Redshirt Record: 17-3
Brecksville, Ohio, native Assad followed his second Fargo Nationals victory with a successful redshirt campaign that included wins over Drew Templeman and Shakur Laney.

Assad is fundamentally sound and betrays very few holes in his game. His reputation as a freestyle specialist is somewhat accurate since he’s not all that prolific in folkstyle, but his results were rock-solid this year. If he gets the nod at any point from Michigan, I don’t think he’ll disappoint. Unfortunately for Assad, he’s not as mega-talented as Micic, and I don’t believe he’s quite on Youtsey’s level at this point, so he could be on the outside looking in this season.

Kris Williams -- Nebraska | 2016-2017 Eligibility Year: Redshirt Freshman

Redshirt Record: 16-2
The three-time Illinois state champion more than looked the part this year while redshirting for the Cornhuskers. In his first crack at Division-I competition, Williams downed North Dakota State's very tough Josh Rodriguez. He followed that up with titles at two other open matches and a fifth place finish at the Ken Kraft Midlands Championship.

This year, Williams will compete against three-time NCAA qualifier Tim Lambert for the starting job as Nebraska’s 125-pounder. Williams is outstanding on his feet and has already shown real improvement in the Nebraska room. My gut tells me that he’ll be the guy for the Huskers next year.

Williams' blinding quickness coupled with motion and fakes get his opponents very off balance. He also is outstanding with elbow control attacks.

Nick Piccininni -- Oklahoma State | 2016-2017 Eligibility Year: Redshirt Freshman

Redshirt Record: 16-4
Piccininni turned in a very strong redshirt year with a style that seemed tailor-made for the Cowboys. His big win this year was over All-American Ryan Millhof of Oklahoma in an 8-0 major decision. He also beat Chasen Tolbert and Kegan Calkins.

Piccininni has great motion from space and a tremendous ability to get to legs consistently. His misdirection attacks have always been strong, but he is also excellent with elbow control and attacking both sides. Plus, his strong tilt game will likely only improve from here. He is a solid finisher, though the volume in which he attacks the legs makes his finishing percentage a bit lower. Due to his combination of athleticism and skill, Nick will be a tough out next year.

This match highlights a lot of Nick's skills:

Ethan Lizak -- Minnesota | 2016-2017 Eligibility Year: Redshirt Sophomore

Redshirt Record: 17-4
The Gophers redshirted everyone they could to prepare for the 2016-2017 season. Among those key redshirts was Lizak. A year ago, he qualified for the NCAA championship and won two matches as a true freshman.

Between the last two seasons, Lizak has notched some very encouraging wins. He defeated Barlow McGhee, Josh Rodriguez, Josh Martinez and Skyler Petry. Lizak looked a bit out-horsed last year for the Gophers, but I bet some of those issues have been remedied. He has some great top work and can scramble well. He could use a go-to leg attack, but other than that, he’s a very complete wrestler.

Kegan Calkins -- Oregon State | 2016-2017 Eligibility Year: Redshirt Sophomore

Redshirt Record: 14-6
Calkins may be behind the eight-ball next year since two-time NCAA qualifier Ronnie Bresser is returning for Oregon State and unlikely to change weights. Regardless, the results don’t lie with Calkins -- he has knocked off Bresser, Rutgers' Sean McCabe and Iowa State’s Nathan Boston.

Despite wrestling a fairly busy schedule, Calkins only lost to legit dudes. That is encouraging for the Beaver freshman. Catkins could move up to 133 pounds, but even there, the Beavers have Joey Palmer. We'll just have to wait and see!