Michigan was the story of the Big Ten tournament after winning the team title and defeating Penn State by less than 2 points. The Wolverines will attempt to keep things rolling in Detroit by winning the program’s first team title. Take a look below for a breakdown of how Michigan can defeat both Penn State and Iowa.

4 Finalists

It might sound obvious, but the first step in the Wolverines' team title hopes is to put as many wrestlers in the finals as possible. As the #1 seeds, Nick Suriano and Myles Amine are the most likely to make the finals for Michigan. However, Michigan will likely need another finalist or two to keep pace with Penn State’s heavy hitters. 

Of Michigan's remaining wrestlers, Logan Massa, Patrick Brucki, and Mason Parris appear to have the best draws to make a run for the finals. Massa will be the favorite to make the semi-finals where he will likely meet 2019 NCAA Champion Mekhi Lewis. Massa and Lewis have never wrestled in their college careers, but Massa does have 2 wins over Lewis in freestyle. This potential match should be close to the end and likely decided by who comes out on top of one scoring sequence. Michigan needs the savviness of Massa to prevail and for him to break through to the finals.

While Brucki is the 4 seed and Parris is the 7 seed, Parris seems to have the perfect draw to make the finals. First, Parris is on the opposite side of bracket of the only two wrestlers he's lost to this year - Gable Steveson and Greg Kerkvliet. Parris will also be a big favorite in his first two matches to set up a quarterfinal bout with Arizona State’s Cohlton Schultz. Parris and Schultz have never wrestled in their college careers but Parris made the NCAA finals last year while Schultz placed 4th. If Parris gets by Schultz, he will likely face Tony Cassioppi in the semifinals. This is great news for Michigan fans as Parris is 3-0 against Cassioppi (with 2 pins and 1 major). 

Brucki’s route to the finals is much tougher with a potential second-round match against Oklahoma’s Jake Woodley. Brucki notably lost to Woodley in the opening weekend of the year at the MSU Open. Should he get by Woodley, Brucki would likely face returning NCAA finalist Nino Bonaccorsi in the quarters for the right to take on the #1 seed Max Dean in the semis. Brucki is capable of defeating all three of those opponents but it is an absolutely brutal path to make the finals. So, for this scenario, all Michigan needs from Brucki is for him to wrestle to his seed and place 4th.

Logan Massa's win over Mekhi Lewis at the 2020 RTC Cup:

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8 All-Americans

On top of the four finalists and Brucki placing 4th, Michigan will likely need 3 All-Americans out of their 4 remaining wrestlers to keep pace with Penn State. Those wrestlers are - Dylan Ragusin, Stevan Micic, Will Lewan, and Cam Amine. For this scenario, we have Micic gaining .5 points (1 consolation win) for the Wolverines but Ragusin, Lewan, and Amine wrestling to their seeds. 

At the #6 seed, Dylan Ragusin placed third at Big 10s highlighted by an impressive 3-1 win over returning All-American Lucas Byrd. Ragusin should win his first two matches against Malyke Hines and Devan Turner to set up a quarterfinal match against Michael McGee. Ragusin and McGee met in early January with McGee winning a controlling, 10-0 victory. While Ragusin has been wrestling much better since then, McGee will still be a considerable favorite in that potential quarterfinal match. Should Ragusin lose, he’ll have to win in the round of 12 to earn All-American honors. If he wins that match and seeds hold true, Ragusin would then have a rematch of the Big 10 third-place match against Lucas Byrd. 

As the #8 seed, Will Lewan will open his tournament against Big 12 runner-up, Peyton Mocco. Lewan will then have an ultra-important match against Iowa’s Kaleb Young in the second round. The two last wrestled in February of 2020 where Young came out on top - 7-3. A win would be nice for Lewan, however, he would then be a huge underdog against defending national champion David Carr in the quarterfinals. If seeds hold, Lewan would be looking at a match against either Austin O’Connor or Jake Keating in the round of 12 for the chance to All-American. Michigan needs Will Lewan to break through and All-American - even if it is only to his seed at 8th place.

Like Ragusin and Lewan, Cam Amine performed his best at the Big 10 tournament by taking out Carson Kharcla and finishing second behind Alex Marinelli. For that performance, Amine earned the 6 seed and will take on Nebraska’s Bubba Wilson in the first round. Normally, a match against the 27 seed wouldn't be significant, however, Wilson defeated Amine just a month ago, 5-3. Amine still should get by Wilson and make the quarters where he will likely have a rematch with Alex Marinelli. Obviously, a win by Amine would be huge for Michigan, however, Amine will be an underdog and Michigan doesn’t need a big upset from Amine - just for him to wrestle to his 6 seed. That means Amine will need to win 2 matches in the consolation bracket to get to the 5/6th place match. 

Hear Dylan Ragusin after his 3rd place Big 10 tournament performance:

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2 Champs

If the above scenario plays out, Michigan will still need 2 NCAA champions to propel them to the team title. The most likely potential champ is obvious - Nick Suriano. He’s already proven he can win an NCAA title and displayed his best wrestling of the season at the Big 10s. Suriano’s biggest test should be in the finals against Cornell’s Vito Arujau. The two haven’t met in their college careers however they did meet in freestyle back at the 2019 Senior Nationals where Vito came out on top. However, Suriano has always been a little better at the collegiate style making him the slight favorite in their potential NCAA finals match. 

After Suriano, Myles Amine looks to be next in line to earn an NCAA title for Michigan. Amine took out defending national champion Aaron Brooks in the finals of the Big 10 tournament, 6-4 in overtime. Amine will likely need to repeat that performance on his home turf in Detroit to help propel Michigan to the program’s first team title.

Take a look below at how the team score plays out in this potential scenario with finishes from Michigan, Penn State, and Iowa.

This is obviously only one scenario of many where Michigan could score more team points than both Penn State and Iowa. It's worth noting, the above scenario has Roman Bravo-Young, Max Dean, and Greg Kerkvliet finishing below their projected seeds at 2nd, 3rd, and 5th respectively but Brady Berge finishing 9 spots above his seed at 7th. Like every NCAA Tournament, wild upsets are sure to happen so the chances of this scenario playing out are slim. However, Michigan is absolutely capable of winning the team title in front of their home crowd.

Team point breakdown - 1st-20, 2nd-16, 3rd-13.5, 4th-12.5, 5th-10, 6th-9, 7th-6.5, 8th-5.5 (not counting bonus points).