March is the time when Lachlan McNeil thrives. 

Like clockwork, he has always shaken off any lingering frustration from the regular season and shined when it matters most. 

During McNeil's final three seasons at North Carolina, he never finished lower than sixth at the NCAA Championships or third at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, building a 21-13 postseason record. 

After transferring to Michigan for the final season of his collegiate career, McNeil is eager to work his March magic one more time and stand higher than ever on the conference and NCAA podiums. 

McNeil, ranked #13 at 149 pounds and fifth among Big Ten wrestlers, takes a 13-5 record into the postseason, including four bonus-point wins. 

With a 95-30 career mark, including 53 bonus-point victories, he will likely surpass 100 wins during the NCAA Championships. 

"My record is not what I wanted it to be and I was not expecting things like losing back-to-back matches at the Cliff Keen (Las Vegas Invitational), but I feel alright with how the season has gone," McNeil said. "I guess early-season losses were expected a bit because I was adjusting to a new coaching staff and program and the North Carolina coaches knew me so well. Now, I strongly feel my best wrestling and the team's best wrestling, by far, is ahead of us."

McNeil has gone 6-2 since suffering those losses to #6 Collin Gaj (Virginia Tech) and #23 Eligh Rivera (Princeton) and not placing at Cliff Keen. His biggest win during that stretch was an 8-3 decision over #14 Ryder Block (Iowa). McNeil has also knocked off #19 Josh Edmond (Missouri), a three-time NCAA qualifier, this season. 

He enters this weekend's Big Ten Championships seeded fourth behind Penn State's Shayne Van Ness (Penn State), Ethan Stiles (Ohio State) and Joseph Zargo (Wisconsin). 

McNeil has gone 6-2 against Big Ten opponents, but did not always face the other team's best wrestler at his weight during conference duals. He has dropped two career meetings against the top-ranked Van Ness, a two-time All-American, including a 9-1 decision this season. 

McNeil defeated #9 Stiles, a 2025 All-American, during last season's NCAA Championships. He dropped a 4-1 decision to #12 Zargo, a three-time NCAA qualifier, last month. 

"I feel like I'm peaking well going into the Big Ten tournament after working on ways to master key positions and adjusting some other things, so I'm very grateful to the Michigan coaching staff for preparing to wrestle at my best when it really counts," McNeil said. "It's exciting because I feel I can beat anybody when I'm wrestling at my best. For a time, I had to step back and examine some things that were not working before taking more steps forward."

McNeil racked up an impressive resume of victories with the Tar Heels on the way to finishing fifth, sixth and fourth at the past three NCAA Championships. He was also second at last season's ACC Championships, falling to three-time All-American and 2024 national champion Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) in sudden victory in the title match.

While in Chapel Hill, he knocked off three-time All-Americans Real Woods (Iowa) and Brock Hardy (Nebraska) and two-time All-Americans Dylan D'Emilio (Ohio State), Vince Vombaur (Minnesota) and C.J. Composto (Penn). 

After entering the transfer portal on March 25, McNeil committed to Michigan on April 15 after also considering two other Big Ten programs. 

"I was looking for a place that offered great training partners and the coaching to make me a better wrestler and Michigan certainly has those things," he said. "The biggest factor was how Michigan could offer both a great program to wrestle for in my final year of college, but also a place to work toward my goal of hopefully competing in the 2028 Olympics after training with the Cliff Keen club."

McNeil, who grew up mostly in Toronto, represented Canada in freestyle at the 2022 and 2023 Senior World Championships at the ages of 21 and 22. He also won a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and took third at the 2022 Grand Prix of Spain. 

His freestyle career has also included one junior and two cadet Pan American Championships. 

Choosing Michigan has also allowed McNeil's family, who still reside in Toronto, to attend more of his matches. That includes his father Calum, who was McNeil's first coach and wrestled for Great Britain at the 1992 Olympics. 

Brother Gregor wrestles for McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario as did older brother, Alec. 

"My family did not hardly see me compete at all when I was in North Carolina, so seeing them so much more has made this season really special," he said. "My dad is still a part-time coach for me because we are always talking about my matches and how training is going. He did so much to help me develop and grow as a wrestler, but he has always put our father-son relationship ahead of our coach-wrestler relationship."

McNeil put himself on the radar of the NCAA Division 1 programs by making frequent trips south of the border with his father to seek out the best competition they could find. McNeil spent his final two high school seasons wrestling for Wyoming Seminary Academy in Kingston, Penn.

"There were just not nearly as many wrestlers in my age group in Canada and I was wrestling the same opponents at just about every tournament," he said. "Dad and I knew we would need to take advantage of our neighbor to the south for me to really get better. It was kind of baptism by fire at first, but that competition put me where I am today."

Following the Big Ten Championships, McNeil turns his attention to concluding his career as a four-time All-American. He would be the first Canadian this century, and possibly ever, to become four-time NCAA Division I All-American. 

Former Oregon State heavyweight Amar Dhesi of Surrey, British Columbia, reached the NCAA podium three times (2016, 2018-19), but fell short as a freshman. 

"I didn't compete in any summer freestyle events to really focus on competing at my best during my last season in folkstyle," McNeil said. "I feel peaked and primed and excited to chase my dream of being a national champion, but I've already had a great college career. Because of that, I feel like I'll be playing with house money at the NCAA Championships and we'll see what happens."

McNeil then plans to join the Cliff Keen club and pursue a berth in this year's World Championships. 

Dual Improvement

With a resounding 34-6 win over Central Michigan on Feb. 22, Michigan finished with a 9-6 record in duals, an improvement from 7-5 a year ago. The Wolverines went 4-4 in the Big Ten compared to 3-5 last season, losing three conference duals by a combined 14 points and two by a combined six points. 

Michigan has finished .500 or better in duals for 16 straight seasons. 

Collectively, Michigan wrestlers went 92-58 in dual matches for a .613 winning percentage, a significant improvement from last season's .517 mark (62-58). 

The Wolverines did so with a completely revamped lineup featuring a new starter at every weight class. In all, eight wrestlers made their dual debuts in a Michigan uniform. 

Heavyweight Taye Ghadiali posted the Wolverines best dual mark at 14-1 and racked up a team-leading 59 dual points, the most by a Michigan wrestler since Mason Parris recorded 70 in 2022-23. 

Cam Catrabone (157), Beau Mantanona (174) and Brock Mantanona (184) all went 11-4 in duals. Catrabone and Beau Mantanona finished tied for second in dual points with 49 while Brock Mantanona (48) was fourth. 

Beau Mantanona, who wrestled at 165 last season, is only the current Michigan wrestler who also started a majority of last season's duals. He has gone 18-6 in duals the past two seasons. 

McNeil (149) was 11-3 in duals this season while Dylan Ragusin (141) returned to the lineup in time to go 6-2 and finished his career with a 36-10 dual mark. McNeil ends his career with a 44-12 dual record. 

Michigan wrestlers boast a 227-134 (.629) overall record heading into the Big Ten Championships, up from 265-208 (.560) last season. 

Lemley Bags Another Open Title

Michigan’s Sergio Lemley, a two-time NCAA qualifier who is redshirting this season while adjusting to a new weight, concluded his campaign with a stellar 22-1 record at 149 pounds, including seven technical falls, seven major decisions and a pair of pins.

He won four of the five tournaments he entered, including the Michigan State Open, Kent State Holiday Classic, Edinboro Open and the John Carroll University Open on Feb. 14 where former Wolverine and four-time NCAA qualifier Matt Finesilver served as coach.

Finesilver joined the University of Michigan-based Cliff Keen Wrestling Club after graduating from Michigan in 2023 and competes internationally for Israel. 

Lemley started at 141 pounds his first two seasons in Ann Arbor, going 42-20 with 21 bonus-point wins and reached the round of 12 at last year’s NCAA Championships. One of his major decision wins came against three-time All-American Real Woods (Iowa).

Lemley will return to the lineup at his new weight next season following the graduation current of 149-pounder Lachlan McNeil.