Michigan's All Time List - #11 to #20

20. Max Dean (Lowell)

Dean was a 2x state champ for Lowell High School, winning titles as a Sophomore and Senior. Dean missed his Junior season due to injury, but he would go on to win the Grand Rapids Press Wrestler of the Year after his final season.

In college, Dean's career really took off. He went 32-6 overall and placed 8th at the NCAA championships as a Freshman. In his Sophomore season, Dean won an EIWA championship and would make a run to the NCAA finals, ultimately taking second. After having the 2020-21 season cancelled due to Covid, Dean transferred to Penn State for his final two seasons. In his first year as a Nittany Lion, Dean won a Big Ten title before capping off his season with gold at the NCAA championships. Dean beat Iowa's Jacob Warner in the finals with a 3-2 decision. Dean would once again make the podium at NCAAs in 2023, becoming one of Michigan's rare 4x All Americans with his 7th place finish.

19. Paul Donahoe (Davison)

Donahoe was one of the top lightweights in the nation as a high schooler, winning two state championships for Davison and placing 2nd and 3rd as well.  He won double titles at the FILA Cadet Nationals in 2001, following that up with double AA honors in Fargo that summer, where he was 2nd in freestyle and 3rd in greco.  The next year he won Junior Freestyle and added two more FILA Cadet AA honors.  As a senior, Donahoe won another Junior Freestyle title, was 2nd in Junior Greco, and won Senior Nationals.

WrestlingUSA named Donahoe Wrestler of the Year in 2004, and he was also named to the Asics/Tiger All-American team as a 1st Team selection.  He was an Honorable Mention pick as a sophomore in 2002.  Also in 2004, he represented TeamUSA at the Dream Team Classic, scoring a fall over his opponent from California.

His college career began at Nebraska, where he advanced to the bloodround at NCAA's during his freshman year.  As a sophomore, he entered the NCAA's as the six-seed and ended up knocking the #3, #2, and #1 seeds in order to win the NCAA championship at the Palace of Auburn Hills.  Donahoe would place 3rd for the Huskers as a junior, and closed out his career with an NCAA runner-up finish for Edinboro as a senior.

Following college, Donahoe competed on the Senior level for one year, placing 4th at the World Team Trials in 2010.  He returned to Michigan where he now coaches his club, Team Donahoe, which has become one of the top clubs in the nation.

18. Casey Cunningham (Fulton-Middleton)

Cunningham won two Class C-D high school state championships for Fulton-Middleton and was fifth as a sophomore.  He was a double Cadet All-American in 1992, placing 3rd in freestyle and 8th in Greco.  In 1994, he was 6th in Junior freestyle.  He was a WrestlingUSA All-American and an Asics/Tiger Honorable Mention All-American.

His career continued at Central Michigan where he became perhaps the greatest Chippewa of all time.  A four-time NCAA qualifier, he was the 2nd-ever CMU wrestler to make the national finals as a junior, when he finished second at NCAA's.  A year later, he would make history and become the first NCAA Champion in program history.  He also helped lead the '98 and '99 teams to the two best NCAA finishes in school history (5th in '98, 7th in '99).

Cunningham was named Team MVP all four years for the Chips, and won three MAC titles.  He was MAC Freshman of the Year in 1996, OW at the MAC Championships in 1999, and was twice named MAC Wrestler of the Year.  With a career slate of 134-19, his 134 wins are the most in school history.  Cunningham was inducted into the CMU Hall of Fame in 2009 and the MAC Hall of Fame in 2015.

He was a mainstay on the Senior level following college, twice finishing runner-up at the US Nationals, and adding a pair of runner-up finishes at the World Team Trials.  Additionally, he was 5th at the University Worlds in 2000 and a 2008 Pan-Am Championships silver medalist.  

On the coaching side, Cunningham spent ten seasons with Central Michigan after graduation, and then was an Assistant at Iowa State for Cael Sanderson for two seasons before Sanderson wisely hired him at Penn State as well.  He is now entering his 17th seasons with the Nittany Lions, helping to lead them to 12 national titles in that time.

17. Cam Simaz (Allegan)

Simaz was a three-time state champion for Allegan, also helping the Tigers win the team title in 2007.  Prior to his senior year, he placed 5th at FILA Cadets and was 5th at Super 32.  Following that year, Simaz was 6th at Fargo in Junior freestyle and also was named to the Academic Team by WrestlingUSA.  

He then began his career at Cornell, where he'd go on to have one of the best careers in program history.  Simaz racked up four NCAA All-American honors and closed it out with an NCAA title as a senior.  He was not seeded during his freshman year, and placed 8th. The next two years, he advanced to the semis before wrestling back to 3rd place.  As a senior, he was 31-1 (losing only by injury default) en route to the championship.

He was the 2009 EIWA Freshman of the Year, 2x Ivy Wrestler of the Year, 4x EIWA Champ, and OW at the 2012 EIWA Championships.  Over his career, Simaz put together a 145-21 record, including an incredible 93 victories by bonus points.  He currently is an Assistant Coach at South Dakota State, where he has been since 2018.

16. Dan Severn (Montrose)

"The Beast" attended Montrose HS where he won two state championships for the Rams in 1975 and 1976.  He won his final 100 bouts as a prep and racked up 112 career falls, which was the national record until 1992.  Severn was runner-up at the Junior Nationals in Greco in 1974 and went on to win both styles in 1976.  

A Junior World Champ in 1977, Severn was 26-0 at Arizona State as a freshman before being sidelined with an ACL tear.  After qualifying for NCAAs in 1978, he would go on to make the NCAA finals in 1980 and placed 4th in 1981.  He ended his Sun Devil career with a record of 127-11-1, the most wins in school history at the time and currently 5th all-time.  His 73 falls still are tops for ASU, 31 ahead of the next closest mark.  Severn won three conference titles, in the WAC and PAC-10 conferences - one of two Sun Devils to win titles in both.

Post-collegiately, Severn narrowly missed making the Olympic team in 1984, dropping a controversial three-match set to Lou Banach, who'd go on to win gold in Los Angeles.  A year later, he did make the World team, placing 6th at the World Championships. In 1986, Severn was a gold medalist at both the World Cup and Pan-Ams.  

Following coaching stints at his alma mater and Michigan State, Severn went on to become pioneer in Mixed Martial Arts and eventually landed himself in the UFC Hall of Fame.  He won over 100(!) bouts as professional fighter and was the first person ever to be awarded a UFC belt, at UFC 5.

15. Jon Reader (Davison)

Reader put together one of the most impressive careers in state history, from the time he was a youth until he retired from competition.  At Davison, he went 231-6 on his way to winning three state titles, after finishing 3rd as a freshman.  Additionally, Reader had a streak of 54 consecutive falls as a senior.

On the national scene, Reader was equally dominant.  He was twice a finalist in Cadet freestyle, and also placed 4th in greco.  In 2004 and 2005, he won double titles at FILA Cadets and went on to place 3rd in both styles in Fargo at the Junior level.   A year later he capped off his senior year with a Super 32 belt, double Junior titles, and was 2nd at Senior Nationals.

A three-time All-American at Iowa State, Reader had an unblemished 39-0 record as a senior, winning the NCAA title at 174lbs.  He was 7th as a freshman and 4th as a sophomore as well.  With 124 career wins, he ranks 9th all time on the Cyclone wins list.  

Reader made University World Teams in 2010 and 2012, placing 8th at the University Worlds both times.  He was a top-five guy on the Senior level for pretty much the duration of his career, finishing 3rd at the World Team Trials in 2011.  Reader is currently an assistant at Wisconsin, having had prior stints at South Dakota State and Iowa State.

14. Gabe Dean (Lowell)

Dean won one state title for Lowell as a junior and was a runner-up as both a sophomore and a senior, compiling a prep record of 128-16.  He finished 3rd at the 2010 Flonationals and was a runner-up in 2011.  

Collegiately, Dean put together one of the greatest careers of any Michigander.  As a freshman he made waves winning the Southern Scuffle and snapping Ed Ruth's 84-match winning streak in the process.  He'd go on to place 3rd at NCAA's that season.  The next two seasons saw him win NCAA titles in each, putting up a 77-3 record over those two years.  Dean would finish 2nd as a senior, capping off a 4x All-American career for the Big Red.

He set Cornell records for career wins (152) and career wins by bonus points (101) among other categories.  A 2x EIWA Wrestler of the Year, Dean also became the 3rd-ever 4x Southern Scuffle champ as well as the 6th-ever 3x Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite champ.  

In Freestyle, Dean qualified for the 2014 UWW Junior Worlds and would ultimately earn a bronze medal at the World Championships.  He was 2nd at the 2015 Pan-Am Championships in Greco, and 3rd at the 2017 Pan-Ams in freestyle.  He served as an Assistant Coach at Cornell for a few years post-competing and has since retired from coaching.

13. Jimmy Jackson (Ottawa Hills)

One of the great heavyweights of all-time, Jackson was a one-time Class A state champion for Grand Rapids Ottawa Hills in 1974.  After high school, he found his way to Oklahoma State where he would go on to become a 3x NCAA Champion, 3x Big 8 Champion, and amassed a record of 88-9-2.  

He competed at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, as a 19-year old college sophomore, going 1-2 in competition.  Jackson won gold at the Pan-Ams in 1979 and was an Olympic alternate in 1980, though the US boycotted the Moscow Games that summer.  

12. Adam Coon (Fowlerville)

Coon won four state championships for Fowlerville and went 212-3 in his high school career.  He had an incredible amount of success nationally in all three styles.  In 2010, he was a double Cadet finalist, winning greco at Fargo.  The next year, he won double FILA Cadet titles and was a Junior greco champ, finishing 3rd in Junior freestyle.  He would close out his Fargo career by winning back-to-back double Junior titles, which put him in a group of just seven wrestlers to ever win six Fargo titles.

During his high school career he also made the Cadet World team in both styles in 2011, winning a Cadet World title in freestyle and placing 11th in Greco.  Three years later, in college, he'd make the Junior World team in both styles and would bring home a bronze medal in each style.  

At Michigan, Coon picked up three All-American trophies, including a pair of runner-up finishes as a sophomore and a senior.  He compiled a record of 116-15 for the Wolverines and turned in a dominant career from the time he defeated 2x NCAA champ Tony Nelson as a freshman, to the the time he knocked off Olympic champ Kyle Snyder as a senior.

Coon continues to compete on the Senior level and has made numerous Greco World teams. In 2018, he became a silver medalist at the World Championships in Greco.  That year, he also advanced to Final X and was one series away from making the Freestyle team. Most recently, Coon won the spot for the 2024 Olympic team at 130kgs in Greco.

11. Chris Taylor (Dowagiac)

Dubbed "The Gentle Giant," Taylor is one of the most recognizable figures in college wrestling history, standing 6'5" and over 400 lbs, during a time in which there was no weight limit for heavyweight.  

He began wrestling as a junior in high school, winning the Class B state title for Dowagiac that year and finishing runner-up the next season.  Taylor would then continue wrestling at Muskegon Community College, and won a national title for the Jayhawks as a freshman before placing 3rd as a sophomore.  

Legendary coach Harold Nichols recruited Taylor to Iowa State for his final two seasons and Taylor would win a pair of NCAA titles for the Cyclones.  He pinned his way through the 1973 NCAA tournament and finished his two-year career with a record of 87-0-1 with 70 falls.

In 1972, Taylor became the only American to make the Olympic team in both styles, a feat that is still unmatched today.  He went on to win Bronze at the Munich Olympics and famously was defeated in his first match in Greco.  Taylor was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.