2026-27 Season Preview · #9 of 15

#9 Michigan

MatScouts Crystal Ball projected 2027 NCAA top 15 (Willie Saylor), mid-summer update

Michigan has the third best development score in the country, behind only Ohio State and Penn State. Wrestlers get to Ann Arbor and outrun what their recruiting rank said they would do. Brock Mantanona placed fifth and his brother Beau placed seventh, both of them underclassmen, both of them back.

Then there is the other half. Taye Ghadiali and Lachlan McNeil both finished third and both are gone, and with them 34 of last season's 66 points. Four of the top forty recruits in the 2026 class signed here to replace that. Ninth is a bet on how fast a young room grows up.

Returning NCAA tournament points

Of the 66 team points Michigan scored at the 2026 NCAA Championships, wrestlers accounting for 32 points (48%) are back in the room this season. 34 points walked out the door. Hover over the bar for the breakdown.

2026 NCAA team points: returning vs. leaving

066 pts scored in 2026
Returning Departing

NCAA finish by year

Where Michigan actually finished at the NCAA Championships each year (solid green line), next to where our development model expected a roster with these ratings to finish (dashed gray line). Hover over a point for the score.

Team finish at the NCAA Championships, 2021 to 2026

202120222023202420252026
Actual finish Model-expected finish

Impact Score

Impact score is our model’s one-number rating of a wrestler’s season, earned in the conference tournament and the NCAA bracket: the deeper the March run, the higher the score. Cameron Catrabone’s 74 was the best returning score on this roster last season.

Add up every season this roster wrestled in 2025-26 and it comes to 509 impact. 228 of it (45%) is already back in the room, 281 walked out the door through the portal.

Career impact score entering 2026-27

  1. Beau Mantanona174 lbs 83
  2. Brock Mantanona184 lbs 50

Roster

Projected 2026-27 lineup

Every weight, who is projected to hold it, what they did in the 2025-26 postseason, and who held the spot last March. All numbers are conference-tournament and NCAA matches only. Impact score is our model’s rating of a season: the 2025-26 number is what they earned, the 2026-27 number is what the model expects next.

125

Henry Aslikyan

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
Diego Sotelo (5th year)DNP at NCAAs (20 seed) Graduated
2026-27 (expected)5Impact Score
2025-26–Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats

No postseason data yet.

133

Moses Mendoza

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
Gauge Botero (Fr)No NCAA bracket Back in 2026-27
2026-27 (expected)25Impact Score
2025-26–Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats

No postseason data yet.

141

Kellen Wolbert

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
Dylan Ragusin (6th year)No NCAA bracket Graduated
2026-27 (expected)11Impact Score
2025-26–Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats

No postseason data yet.

149

Sergio Lemley

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
Lachlan McNeil (6th year)3rd at NCAAs Graduated
2026-27 (expected)11Impact Score
2025-26–Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats

No postseason data yet.

157

Daniel Zepeda

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
Cameron Catrabone (So)7th at NCAAs Back in 2026-27
2026-27 (expected)25Impact Score
2025-26–Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats

No postseason data yet.

165

Cam Catrabone

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
Justin Gates (So)No NCAA bracket Back in 2026-27
2026-27 (expected)5Impact Score
2025-26–Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats

No postseason data yet.

174

Beau Mantanona

Junior
5th2026 NCAA Tournament
5th2026 Conference Tournament
2025-26 Postseason Starter
Beau Mantanona (Jr)5th at NCAAs Back in 2026-27
2026-27 (expected)72Impact Score
2025-2671Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats
Bonus Rate25%
Takedowns / Match1.2
Nearfall Pts / Match0
Riding Time Points3
Escape Pts / Match1.3
Reversals / Match0.3
184

Brock Mantanona

Sophomore
DNP2026 NCAA Tournament
3rd2026 Conference Tournament
2025-26 Postseason Starter
Brock Mantanona (So)DNP at NCAAs (5 seed) Back in 2026-27
2026-27 (expected)37Impact Score
2025-2674Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats
Bonus Rate50%
Takedowns / Match1.7
Nearfall Pts / Match0.5
Riding Time Points1
Escape Pts / Match1.3
Reversals / Match0
197

Hayden Walters

Junior

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
Hayden Walters (Jr)No NCAA bracket Back in 2026-27
2026-27 (expected)16Impact Score
2025-263Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats
Bonus Rate–
Takedowns / Match0.3
Nearfall Pts / Match0
Riding Time Points0
Escape Pts / Match1.3
Reversals / Match0
285

Nicholas Sahakian

No 2025-26 postseason matches. Stats begin when they reach a bracket.

2025-26 Postseason Starter
Taye Ghadiali (6th year)3rd at NCAAs Graduated
2026-27 (expected)–Impact Score
2025-26–Impact Score
2025-26 Postseason Stats

No postseason data yet.

Incoming recruits

The 2026 signing class, ranked by final big-board position. Expected entry score is the impact our model projects for a recruit’s first college season, set by where they finished on the board.

  • Moses Mendozaprojected at 133 · expected entry score 25#10 board
  • Kellen Wolbertprojected at 141 · expected entry score 11#13 board
  • Haakon Petersonexpected entry score 11#16 board
  • Henry Aslikyanprojected at 125 · expected entry score 5#37 board
  • Blake Cosbyexpected entry score 3#65 board
  • Bodie Abbeyexpected entry score 1#97 board
  • Jay Den Williamsexpected entry score 1#155 board

Transfer portal

The 2026 cycle, in and out: no moves yet. Nobody has entered or left this roster through the portal since the season ended.

The full portal history, cycle by cycle, is in the Development section below.

2026 NCAA team stats

What this roster did in the 2026 bracket, and where that ranks among every team that scored at the tournament.

35 Takedowns #12 of 67
8 Bonus-rate wins #8 of 45
31 Nearfall points #4 of 47
43 Escapes #10 of 70
6 Reversals #4 of 45
7 Riding-time points #15 of 57

How this team compares to all of D1

Bonus rate

Michigan35%
All D131%

Takedowns per match

Michigan1.1
All D11.0

Team points per qualifier

Michigan11.0
All D11.5

Medians across the 70 programs that scored at the 2026 NCAA Championships.

Takedowns per match

2026 postseason pace, projected lineup only.

  1. Brock Mantanona184 lbs 1.7
  2. Beau Mantanona174 lbs 1.2
  3. Hayden Walters197 lbs 0.3

Nearfall points per match

2026 postseason pace, projected lineup only.

  1. Brock Mantanona184 lbs 0.5

Development

Recruiting and the portal, 2020 → today

Every signee and every portal move this program has made since 2020, and what came of them. Expected is the rating our model projects: a first college season is measured against the wrestler’s big-board entry score, later seasons against the development model. Actual is the rating they earned. Click a wrestler to open their score card: the season-by-season receipt behind those career totals.