ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan wrestling team (7-5) will kick off the postseason this weekend, traveling to Evanston, Ill., to participate in the 2025 Big Ten Conference Championships. The event is taking place at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Saturday and Sunday (March 8-9), hosted by Northwestern University.

The Big Ten Championships will take place in four sessions over the course of two days. Wrestling will begin on Saturday (March 8) with the first session slated to start at 10 a.m. CST, featuring the first and quarterfinal rounds of all weights. Consolation action and semifinal matches will take place Saturday evening at 5 p.m. CST. The Sunday (March 9) session will feature consolation finals at noon CST and championship finals at 4:30 p.m. CST. The Big Ten Network and B1G+ will provide live linear and streaming coverage of all four sessions.

Notes

• Michigan is seeking its 13th conference title in program history after ending a nearly 50-year drought with the 2022 Big Ten team championship. U-M owns the fourth-most conference team titles in Big Ten history with 12 (1929, ’38, ’44, ’53, ’55, ’56, ’60, ’63, ’64, ’65, ’73, 2022).

• The Wolverines have produced 131 individual Big Ten champions, the second most in conference history behind Iowa’s 210. U-M has had at least one champion in 13 of the last 20 seasons, including four over the last four years. In the 2024 Big Ten Championships, four Wolverines reached the finals, though none secured a title.

• Seven Wolverines will make their Big Ten Championships debut this weekend. Chase Saldate (157 pounds) will make his fifth appearance after placing in each of the last four seasons while wrestling at Michigan State; his career-best finish is fourth place as a freshman in 2021. Jaden Bullock and Sergio Lemley return for their second and third conference appearances, respectively, after both earned fourth place at 184 and 141 pounds last year. Josh Heindselman was a four-time Big 12 placewinner at Oklahoma, while Jacob Cardenas was a three-time EIWA placewinner, including a 2023 champion at Cornell.

• Michigan finished second at the 2024 Big Ten Championships with 123.5 points, its second-highest point total in program history. Nine Wolverines placed, including eight in the top four. Dylan Ragusin (133), Austin Gomez (149), Will Lewan (157), and Shane Griffith (174) all reached the championship finals.

• The Wolverines went 7-5 in dual meets this season, including a 3-5 record in Big Ten action, finishing in a tie for eighth in the conference standings. Key wins included victories over Northwestern (26-10), No. 24 Indiana (22-13), and in-state rival Michigan State (27-12). Michigan has posted a 38-18 Big Ten dual record under sixth-year head coach Sean Bormet.

• Heindselman, a heavyweight graduate student, closed the dual season with back-to-back technical falls, including his 100th career win at Michigan State (21-5, Feb. 16). He ranks sixth nationally with 10 tech falls this season and holds a 19-2 record in his first year at Michigan.

• Heindselman secured his biggest win of the season on Feb. 1, defeating No. 7 Nick Feldman (Ohio State) 4-2 with a late third-period takedown. His only losses this year have come against Minnesota’s No. 1 Gable Steveson and Penn State’s No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet.

• Cardenas (197 pounds), a graduate student, enters the Big Ten Championships with a 16-1 record, including an 11-1 mark in duals. He has collected 13 bonus-point wins, including seven technical falls, and boasts nine wins over ranked opponents.

• Saldate, a graduate student, is approaching the 100-win milestone, currently sitting at 96-39. He has a 9-6 record this season with five bonus-point wins but missed the final three duals due to injury.

• Sophomore/freshman Beau Mantanona is 11-3 this season since returning from injury and went 6-2 in Big Ten duals at 165 pounds. He earned three ranked wins, including a 7-4 victory over No. 9 Andrew Sparks (Minnesota). Mantanona originally suffered a knee injury before the season but avoided surgery and returned to competition mid-year.

• Freshman Brock Mantanona held down the 165-pound spot early in the season, posting two ranked wins and placing seventh at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. He capped his rookie campaign with a 9-8 win over No. 7 Alex Cramer (Central Michigan) at 174 pounds.

• Eleven different wrestlers made their Michigan starting lineup debuts this season, including six who earned their first varsity win in a U-M singlet: grad transfers Cardenas, Saldate, and Heindselman, along with Dzhabrail Khurshidov, Codei Khawaja, and Catrabone.

• Ragusin, a fifth-year senior, will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season after suffering a knee injury at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 6-7). A 2024 All-American and four-time NCAA qualifier, Ragusin was ranked No. 4 at 133 pounds before his injury. He will have one more year of eligibility after receiving a medical hardship waiver.