Midseason D1 College Roundup

We are roughly halfway through the college season with just over two months remaining. Michigan and Michigan State started the Big Ten dual season this past weekend, while CMU just finished the National Duals and is onto the MAC portion of their schedule. We give a few big highlights from the first half of the season, as well as a reordered Best Bets for Michigan Grapplers. Lastly, check out all of the Michigan Grapplers currently in the D1 national rankings.

Early-Season Highlights

• Two top ten transfers for Michigan in Jacob Cardenas and Josh Heindselman. Cardenas, a 2x All American for Cornell, is ranked third in the country at 197lbs. Josh Heindselman was an NCAA qualifier at Oklahoma before taking over the starting spot at heavyweight for Michigan
• Redshirt Freshman Remy Cotton has stepped up for the Spartans at 197lbs and is showing that he will be a threat in the Big Ten for the next few years
• Alex Cramer has been extremely impressive for a young Chippewa squad this year. Cramer now has two wins over All American Garrett Thompson of Ohio, which is propelled Cramer into the top-10 of national rankings.

Team Updates

• University of Michigan - 3-1 in duals (0-1 in the Big Ten). After a recent 19-18 loss to Maryland (on criteria), Michigan has dropped to 20th in the individual scoring rankings and 21st in the dual rankings. The loss of All American Dylan Ragusin has really hurt the Wolverines in the individual tournament rankings, but they still have some firepower with Jacob Cardenas at 197lbs, as well as potential All Americans in Sergio Lemley, Chase Saldate, and Beau Mantanona. Michigan's biggest competition to date was a 7th place finish at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (out of 30 teams), which shows some promise for how the Wolverines could finish the season.
• Michigan State University - 2-3 in duals (0-2 in the Big Ten). MSU had a tough Big Ten opener against national champions Penn State, but they do have out-of-conference dual wins over Ohio and American this season. The Spartans took 3rd at the Army Invite, and they had two placers at the prestigious Midlands tournament (Larkin and Vanadia). Freshman Remy Cotton has been the bright spot of the squad, currently ranked top-25 in the country at 197lbs and a serious candidate to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
• Central Michigan University - CMU is 2-5 in duals after a brutal dual schedule to start the season, including matches against ranked teams like Indiana, Oklahoma, and Little Rock. CMU also competed at Midlands, where they had a fantastic tournament. Senior Johnny Lovett won a Midlands championship at 157lbs, beating McGee of George Mason in the finals. Alex Cramer, Swiderski, Spidle, Shrader, and Adrien Cramer all also placed to lead CMU to a 6th place finish at the tournament.

Current Best Bets

1. #6 Cameron Amine (Oklahoma State, Detroit CC HS) - Cam Amine, a 3x All American for the University of Michigan, transferred to Oklahoma State for his final year of eligibility. After a few close losses early in the season, Amine has really come on late, highlighted by a finals appearance at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. He will be looking for his first finals appearance and championship after finishing 7-4-4-Q the last four seasons.
2. #4 Josh Barr (Penn State, Davison HS) - With 4x NCAA champ Carter Starocci moving up to 184lbs this season, Barr made the somewhat unexpected move up to 197lbs. He absolutely has made the most of it so far. A 4x MHSAA state champ, Junior Nationals champ, and one of the most touted recruits in recent Michigan history, Barr has not slowed down so far in his early college career. He has skyrocketed to the top-5 in national rankings, and he is a threat to win it all come March.‍
3. #6 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell, Warren Fitzgerald HS) - Ghadiali was the other of two Michigan Grapplers to reach the podium at the NCAA tournament a year ago. The nation's wins leader from a season ago has put himself in position to build on his 8th-place finish from the 2024 NCAA tournament. His only two losses on the season are to NCAA and Olympic champ Gable Steveson and All American Isaac Trumble.
4. #5 Braeden Davis (Penn State, Dundee HS) - Braeden Davis was one of the standout freshmen in the nation last year, winning the Big Ten tournament and entering the NCAA tournament as the #1 seed. This season, Davis is up at 133lbs, and is the definitive starter after teammate and All-American Aaron Nagao went down with a season ending injury. Davis only has one loss on the year, and it was to Crookham of Lehigh, who was ranked #1 in the country before a season ending injury. Like teammate Barr, he will be a threat to win it all this postseason.
5. #12 Caleb Fish (Oklahoma State, Eaton Rapids HS) - Fish qualified for the NCAA tournament multiple times for the Spartans, but after transferring to Oklahoma State this past season, Fish has set himself up nicely to All American for the first time in his career. Fish has a win over former MSU teammate Saldate, as well a recent massive win over All American Ed Scott of NCST. Fish can beat anyone in the country on any given day, and we like his odds to reach the podium in Philly.‍
6. #16 Josh Edmond (Missouri, Detroit CC HS) - Edmond was seconds away from an All American finish a year ago in Kansas City. This year, Edmond has picked up where he left off, putting together a solid campaign. All of Edmond's losses so far have come to All Americans or highly ranked wrestlers. He will be a tough out come March. ‍
7. #33 Stoney Buell (Purdue, Dundee HS) - Buell had 7 ranked wins last season for the Boilermakers en route to his first NCAA tournament appearance. This season has been a bit of a roller coaster for the former Dundee Viking, but he has made the tournament once, and he is talented enough to qualify and make some noise on the national scene again this year.
8. #25 Mason Shrader (Central Michigan, Brighton HS) - The former state champ for the Bulldogs is now in his fourth season at CMU and has stepped up as an upperclassman leader of the squad. Shrader has multiple wins over nationally ranked wrestlers, including his latest win over top-20 Willochell of Wyoming. That win has him into the top-25 in Intermat rankings at the halfway point of the season. ‍
9. #31 Dylan Gilcher (Michigan, Detroit CC HS) - A 4x MHSAA state champ for Detroit Catholic Central, Gilcher redshirted for Michigan last year. This year as a redshirt freshman, Gilcher got off to a hot start. He finished 3rd at the Clarion Open, with his only loss coming to #11 D'Emilio (Ohio State). Gilcher had a big win in the quarterfinals, beating NCAA qualifier Jack Crook (Harvard). Gilcher then missed some time due to injury, but he appears to be healthy and back in the lineup for the B1G season. ‍
10. Derek Gilcher (Indiana, Detroit CC HS) - Following an NCAA qualifying season in 2023, Derek Gilcher was off to a great start last year before an injury derailed his season. The Hoosier was ranked as high as #9 in the country before his injury at the Sheridan Open. This year, Gilcher has struggled to find consistency and has had to medically forfeit a few matches. But one thing we know about the older Gilcher brother is that he's a gamer and will be ready to go come postseason.‍

Michigan Grappler in the Rankings

133 - #5 Braeden Davis (Penn State, Dundee HS)
133 - #32 Sean Spidle (CMU, Flint Powers HS)
141 - #11 Sergio Lemley (Michigan)
141 - #16 Josh Edmond (Missouri, Detroit CC HS)
149 - #25 Mason Shrader (CMU, Brighton HS)
149 - #28 Dylan Gilcher (Michigan, Detroit CC HS)
157 - #12 Caleb Fish (Oklahoma State, Eaton Rapids HS)
157 - #15 Chase Saldate (Michigan)
157 - #24 Johnny Lovett (CMU)
165 - #6 Cameron Amine (Oklahoma State, Detroit CC HS)
165 - #11 Brock Mantanona (Michigan)
165 - #33 Stoney Buell (Purdue, Dundee HS)
174 - #9 Alex Cramer (CMU)
174 - #28 Joe Walker (Michigan)
184 - #20 Jaden Bullock (Michigan)
197 - #3 Jacob Cardenas (Michigan)
197 - #4 Josh Barr (Penn State, Davison HS)
197 - #25 Remy Cotton (Michigan State, Davison HS)
285 - #6 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell, Warren Fitzgerald HS)
285 - #10 Josh Heindselman (Michigan)
285 - #32 Bryan Caves (CMU)