It's the final week of September, and college wrestling continues to creep ever closer. Our tour of the nation's lineups makes a pit stop in Ann Arbor, MI, today, where the University of Michigan is making a hard push for a team trophy this season.

Not since 2005 have the Wolverines finished as a top four team at the NCAA tournament. It has been 12 long seasons for maize and blue fans, and there have of course been some individual bright spots, Kellen Russell in particular. But a lineup featuring six All-Americans and eight NCAA qualifiers has their hopes as high as ever.

Let's take a look at Michigan's projected lineup, which opens the season No. 3 as a team with eight ranked wrestlers.

Michigan 2017-18 Lineup

125: Austin Assad
133: No. 2 Stevan Micic
141: No.18 Sal Profaci
149: Malik Amine
157: No. 8 Alec Pantaleo
165: No. 3 Logan Massa
174: No. 4 Myles Amine
184: No. 5 Domenic Abounader
197: No. 6 Kevin Beazley
285: No. 2 Adam Coon

Injuries forced Austin Assad to miss most of last season and Connor Youtsey out of retirement. Assad will be one of four wrestlers from UM's recruiting class of 2015 to start this season. In his 33 college matches, the No. 57 recruit from the 2015 Big Board has tallied wins over NCAA qualifiers Shakur Laney, Brock Hudkins, Brent Fleetwood, Drew Templeman, and Noah Gonser.

One of two Wolverines ranked second to start the year, Stevan Micic is part of the bridge between the new group, which includes Logan Massa and Myles Amine and the three upperclassmen senior upperweights. Micic enters just his second year of eligibility despite being in college for four years and represents the best shot Michigan has at an individual champ this year.



Entering his second year in the starting lineup is Sal Profaci, who starts the year ranked 18th. The New Jersey native was underwhelming in his freshman season, going 6-9 in duals on his way to a 13-17 overall record, though he did record wins over NCAA qualifiers Randy Cruz of Lehigh (2016 AA), No. 15 Mike Longo of Oklahoma, and No. 8 Jared Prince of Navy.

With Alec Pantaleo moving up to 157 and Zac Hall no longer on the roster, Malik Amine has emerged as the starter at 149. Amine was a spot starter in six duals last year, going 2-4 overall.

Four Teams Who Are Loaded At Middleweight

The last time we saw the eighth-ranked Pantaleo win a folkstyle match was in the NCAA quarterfinals in March 2016. Since then, he's made a junior world team and placed fifth at the U.S. Open in freestyle. There is little doubt Pantaleo is big or physical enough to compete at 157, but the memory of his semi slide to sixth and getting pinned three times in a row will be difficult to shake.

Logan Massa seems like the one guy who can prevent a repeat of last season's Isaiah Martinez/Vincenzo Joseph final. His 32-3 record included 22 bonus-point victories, posting big wins over guys like Isaac Jordan (see below) and Anthony Valencia. Massa is a buzz saw on his feet who will shoot from anywhere and has a pace that is nearly impossible to match for seven minutes.



Like Massa and Micic, Myles Amine broke into the top four in his freshman year. His ability to hold on to it seems a bit more tenuous though, with All-Americans Daniel Lewis and Brandon Womack bumping up and the return of Ryan Preisch, who beat Amine last year. The ability of Amine to roughly maintain his projected spot on the podium figures a long way into the Wolverines placing top four in Cleveland.

Michigan is very strong in its upperweights, and it's really a huge part of the difference between last year's team and this year's squad. Domenic Abounader returns after redshirting due to injury and is 5-6 lifetime at the national tournament. The difference this year? NCAAs is in his hometown of Cleveland and 184 appears to be more wide open than in seasons past.

Four Teams With Outstanding Upperweights

The ABC lineup at the top is Abounader, Kevin Beazley, and Adam Coon. Beazley transferred to Michigan after graduating from Old Dominion, where he was an NCAA qualifier in 2015 before placing eighth last year. It is the second year a in a row the Wolverines have a sixth-year senior at 197 (Max Huntley), and over half of Beazley's career wins are by bonus. If he can replicate or exceed his place from last year, maize and blue fans will be making some more room in the trophy case.

The big fella. The anchor. The face of the program. Future astronaut/NFL linemen/Greco world team member Adam Coon is in his final year of eligibility, one more reign of terror. His ability to move people around the mat with his size and underhook allowed him to place second as a sophomore and third as a junior, which is exactly the range he projects in this year.

Expectations can be dangerous, and wrestling is like any other sport. But wrestling is also immensely predictable and relatively easy to project on a macro scale. The gap between Michigan and teams like Missouri or Lehigh is only made up by injuries, and bonus points alone should keep the Wolverines above water. Joe McFarland has a loaded squad this season that should give the Silver Fox his second career team trophy.

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