2018-19 Depth Chart: Michigan Wolverines Well Suited For Bormet Era
2018-19 Depth Chart: Michigan Wolverines Well Suited For Bormet Era
The Michigan Wolverines have a strong foundation to build on as we review their 2018-19 depth chart, the first of the Sean Bormet era.
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Right as we're about to enter the hottest part of summer, the NCAA content is heating up as well. Today's piece fresh out of the oven: a depth chart for the Michigan Wolverines, with more depth charts for the top teams coming in the not too distant future.
We already did a lineup look for Michigan at the start of July, and we will continue to do lineup looks for the heavy hitters before the start of the season. However, these depth chart breakdowns will also focus on the long-term outlook for major programs, focusing on the young guys on roster and who they are bringing in via recruiting.
The Wolverines are coming off their first team trophy since 2005, and return 51 team points this season, putting them once again right in the mix for a trophy in the first year of the Sean Bormet era. Before we begin looking at each weight individually, let’s take a big picture look at their roster, broken down by weight and grade.
As you can see, this is a nice way to look at eligibility and depth at every weight. These are all taken directly from Michigan's roster on their athletic site. Guys in bold are starters, and those in red still have redshirts available. It also includes recruits who are already committed, even though they are just verbals and have not yet signed national letters of intent.
There aren't many questions about who will start for the Wolverines in the first year after Joe McFarland in Ann Arbor. The Silver Fox laid a clear line of succession, with Bormet taking over and Josh Churella and Kellen Russell staying on staff. Those three have a very strong foundation to build upon these next few years, as you will soon see below.
P.S. — Coming soon will be Willie's breakdown of potential recruiting targets for Michigan! We've got you covered both ways: what's already in the oven, and who they might add to the mix over the next several years.
Depth Charts: Iowa | Oklahoma State | Nebraska
125 Pounds
Weight | Spot | Name | Grade |
125 | 1 | Austin Assad | JR |
125 | 2 | Drew Mattin | SO |
125 | 3 | Jack Medley | FR |
This Season: For Michigan, 125 could maybe become a roster battle due to Stevan Micic being firmly entrenched at 133. Assad is clearly good enough to be the starter, but as always has to be mentioned with him, there are serious injury concerns. Mattin was ranked for most of his true freshman year and qualified for NCAAs, but he has a redshirt available and went 61kg at U23s, so could be working his way up to 133.
Long-Term Outlook: Two words - Kurt McHenry. A rising senior, he's the highest rated 125 prospect in the country and could go right away if need be for the Wolverines next season. However, with Assad having two years of eligibility left (if his body can take it), most would expect the coaching staff to want McHenry to redshirt so he can grow into a full-sized 125. Talent wise though, I expect McHenry to have a Darian Cruz-like career or better.
133 Pounds
Weight | Spot | Name | Grade |
133 | 1 | Stevan Micic | JR |
133 | 2 | Mike Volyanyuk | JR |
This Season: If you put a time capsule in the ground here in late August of 2019, and opened it on the Sunday morning of March 24th with a note predicting Micic to be the NCAA champ this year, no one would bat an eye. I mentioned a couple interesting facts in my 133 returning AAs article yesterday about Micic, one of which is that he's a 2014 high school graduate with two years left and the other is that he has lost the last match of the season both times so far.
Long-Term Outlook: To me, it seems pretty clear Mattin should move up to 133 and take a redshirt. However, that only gives him two years to start at that weight, especially because Micic going 57kg for Serbia on the senior level means 141 seems out of the question. That puts Bormet and his staff in the market for a 2020 or 2021 high school graduate at 133, so keep your eye out for Willie's assessment on their potential recruiting targets there.
141 Pounds
Weight | Spot | Name | Grade |
141 | 1 | Kanen Storr | SO |
141 | 2 | Sal Profaci | JR |
141 | 3 | Ben Freeman | FR |
141 | 4 | Ben Lamantia | JR |
141 | 5 | Nick Lombard | FR |
141 | 6 | KJ Suitor | SO |
141 | 7 | Joey Silva | FR |
This Season: A crowded looking room based on the number of guys on the roster, but Kanen Storr likely didn't transfer to sit on the bench. Profaci qualified for NCAAs in 2017, and could very possibly push Storr for the job. Also having Ben Freeman means that even a rash of injuries here for the Wolverines means they wouldn't have a terrible dropoff in performance.
Long-Term Outlook: Storr could hold down the spot for three years, or more likely be their 141 this year and then move up to 149 after Malik Amine graduates. That allows Joey Silva to slot in at 141 as a redshirt freshman with four years to start. It should be noted that any freshman who I anticipate redshirting is automatically at the bottom of the depth chart, under the assumption there is no plan to wrestle them in duals this season.
149 Pounds
Weight | Spot | Name | Grade |
149 | 1 | Malik Amine | SR |
149 | 2 | Tyler Meisinger | SO |
149 | 3 | Ameen Hamdan | FR |
149 | 4 | Nick Freeman | FR |
This Season: Amine was an NCAA qualifier last season, which makes the Maize and Blue look very solid in these first four weights. It's not necessarily enough to knock off Penn State or even catch Iowa this season, but as a program looking to solidify themselves as a perennial trophy contender, the minimum bar for a starter has to be qualifier level.
Long-Term Outlook: Storr probably moves up for his junior and senior seasons, which ends his career after the 2021 season. He has yet to wrestle in the conference championships, was fifth at at Junior Open and lost to Nick Lee and Sammy Sasso at JR Trials. One of the Freemans could take over after that, or they might be in the market for a 2020 high school graduate. The Michigan staff has a much better idea of what's going on in the room, but me as an outsider thinks they need to straighten out a plan for this weight moving forward.
157 Pounds
Weight | Spot | Name | Grade |
157 | 1 | Alec Pantaleo | SR |
157 | 2 | Layne Van Anrooy | FR |
157 | 3 | Reece Hughes | SO |
157 | 4 | Will Lewan | FR |
This Season: Pantaleo can finish out his career as a three-time All-American. He stayed in-state, redshirted after his sophomore year and moved up in weight last season. No one in the country gave Jason Nolf a tougher match last year than Pantaleo, but he also finished fifth at NCAAs. Of the two guys he lost to in Cleveland, he fell again to Hayden Hidlay in freestyle this spring and Michael Kemerer is moving up to 174, putting him as potentially the #3 or #4 guy heading into his final year.
Long-Term Outlook: One of Van Anrooy or Lewan probably grows out of the weight. I think Lewan projects as the better prospect at either weight, so one of 157 or 165 will need to see a jump in production from Van Anrooy, because otherwise they'd be looking at maybe a true freshman starting next year.
165 Pounds
Weight | Spot | Name | Grade |
165 | 1 | Logan Massa | JR |
165 | 2 | Max Maylor | FR |
This Season: Massa is my preseason pick for comeback wrestler of the year. My criteria for this mythical award centers on the fact that Massa clearly was not himself last year after his injury at CKLV. Yes, he had moments like beating Alex Marinelli at Big Tens, but otherwise it seemed like the dropoff from his third place, 32-3 season as a freshman had more to do with injuries than getting worse. I fully expect Massa to be in the realm of guys trying to knock off Vincenzo Joseph.
Long-Term Outlook: I don't think Maylor is the solution for the 2021 season after Massa graduates, but I could be wrong. As I mentioned above, one of Lewan or Van Anrooy will probably bump up to 165. This weight probably has more question marks than most of the Wolverine lineup, but the cupboard isn't exactly bare in Ann Arbor here.
174 Pounds
Weight | Spot | Name | Grade |
174 | 1 | Myles Amine | JR |
This Season: Myles Amine is SALTY, one of the toughest outs in the country. Right now, he's the Devin Carter or Mitchell Port of this weight as long as Mark Hall and Zahid Valencia are 174s. However, he did get the first two takedowns and led Valencia 4-1 in the first period of this year's semifinals. I look for Amine to be right there once again and up his bonus output this year, which was actually higher as a freshman than as a sophomore.
Long-Term Outlook: The staff has to be looking at 2019 targets who will redshirt or 2020 prospects who can go right away. Amine is a junior right now, and for the next two years, you feel great. Amine will win most duals and score big team points in Pittsburgh this coming March and the following March in Minneapolis. But he's the only 174 listed on the roster, so this is unquestionably their top priority in recruiting.
184 Pounds
Weight | Spot | Name | Grade |
184 | 1 | Jelani Embree | FR |
This Season: Jelani Embree seems to have all the qualities of a "Michigan Man." He stayed in-state for school, he works hard, gets excellent grades, and represents the school well, very deserving of donning the Block M singlet. Always one of the most fun upperweights to watch as he was coming through high school, it will be interesting to see how his dynamic offensive repertoire looks in a full-time Division 1 season.
Long-Term Outlook: Being a Michigan Man alone does not guarantee you success at this level, but they're clearly invested in Embree. He's the only 184 on the roster, meaning they won't be looking at his weight for a few years. Two AA honors seems within reach for his career.
197 Pounds
Weight | Spot | Name | Grade |
197 | 1 | Jackson Striggow | JR |
197 | 2 | Andrew Davison | FR |
197 | 3 | JT Correll | FR |
197 | 4 | Bobby Striggow | FR |
This Season: The elder Striggow was Michigan's Big Ten rep in 2017, and actually won a wrestle-off over last year's starter Kevin Beazley. He had a win over Kyle Conel last year, and placed at Midlands, so the outlook is not bad here. I would put Striggow, Assad, and Malik Amine as major X-factors for the Wolverines' ability to win another trophy and be a consistent Top-5 team this year.
Long-Term Outlook: It doesn't blow the doors off you, but a few years of the Striggows and Davison is not exactly bleak. However, the staff should certainly be open to high level recruits who want to come to Ann Arbor, but I wouldn't go as far as saying this weight is a hole or an area of immediate need.
285 Pounds
Weight | Spot | Name | Grade |
285 | 1 | Luke Ready | FR |
285 | 2 | Sena Nemec | FR |
285 | 3 | Mason Parris | FR |
This Season: Look, it's one thing to lose Kevin Beazley and Dom Abounader, both of whom are excellent wrestlers. But Adam Coon is a whole 'nother animal. The only thing he didn't do during his five years at Michigan was win a national title. Lucky for the heavyweights on the roster, Coon appears to be staying around for a few years with the Cliff Keen WC, until he can design that spaceship big enough to send him to Mars. Ready or Nemec is a coin flip at this point, and their battle could go deep into the season. Parris could certainly start, but I think the gameplan remains to redshirt and bulk him up.
Long-Term Outlook: Parris will be the guy for the next four years. Considering how little tape we have on him, he makes for a fascinating prospect. A couple FloNats titles, a win over Cohlton Schultz and a third-place finish in Fargo certainly bode well for his future. Not to mention the fact that his scholarship offers indicate FBS level athleticism, and he gets to work with Coon. He's entering college at a time that will likely be brutal for heavyweights, but Parris certainly has a couple podium spots in him.