The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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66 THE WOLVERINE SEPTEMBER 2018 TOP TEN OLYMPIC SPORTS FRESHMEN the MaxPreps National Player of the Year in 2017 and was listed on the 2017-18 Under Armor squad as a first-team All-American. "She was a great high school and club player, and we liked what we saw from her last spring," Rosen recalled. "She can compete at an inside position and will give us depth there this sea- son. She has also made our setting po- sition better, just because we're deeper there with her. Erin and Mac [junior setter MacKenzi Welsh] as a tandem will really help us in that spot." 10. WILL LEWAN Chicago • Wrestling Lewan's 147-23 career high school record is just one of his many impressive feats. He also reeled in an Illinois state title at 145 pounds as a junior in 2017, and was a four-time state placewinner for Montini Catholic High School, taking second as a senior in 2018, third as a sophomore in 2016 and fourth as a freshman in 2015. Lewan is classified No. 5 nationally at 152 pounds and as the No. 28 overall prospect by FloWrestling, and No. 23 overall in the senior class by InterMat. The Illinois native also pulled in a 2017 Cadet freestyle world title at 152 pounds, and swiped a junior freestyle title at the same weight in Fargo, N.D., at the 2017 national championships. "I'm excited to see Will make the transition to college," Bormet noted. "He's a physical and tough wrestler, and I'm anxious to see how the tran- sition to the college lifestyle benefits him. He's a hard-nosed kid, and the longer periods will really help his style." ❏ 1. Wrestling — First-year head coach Sean Bormet — who took over for former head man Joe McFarland after he retired in March — brought in class that was ranked No. 4 in the country by FloWrestling, No. 5 by The Open Mat and No. 6 by InterMat. The eight-man haul includes Nick Freeman (Walled Lake, Mich.), Will Lewan (Chicago), Michael Mars (Westland, Mich.), Max Maylor (Highland, Wis.), Mason Parris (Lawrenceburg, Ind.), Sebastian Rawls (West Orange, N.J.), Bobby Striggow (Orono, Minn.) and Joey Silva (Orlando, Fla.). The group as a whole combined to win 16 state titles in their high school careers, and it is Michigan's sixth top-10 recruiting class in the last seven years. In FloWrestling's rankings, Parris is the No. 3 recruit in America, Silva is No. 7 and Lewan is No. 28. In addition, Par- ris (220 pounds) and Silva (138 pounds) are No. 1 in their respective weight classes. Michigan and Ohio State were the only two schools to land multiple top-10 prospects accord- ing to the website. "Our staff is excited about this extraordinary class," Bormet noted. "It is balanced across weight classes, covers a lot of our needs and will have an incredible impact on our program. It's a class full of very driven and talented wrestlers, who love to compete. The future of Michigan wrestling is very bright." 2. Men's Tennis — Head coach Adam Steinberg signed a dynamite four-man assembly that is comprised of Andrew Fenty (Washington D.C.), Steven Forman (Troy, Mich.), Ryan Fu (Andover, Mass.) and Patrick Maloney (Oyster Bay, N.Y.). Tennis Recruiting Network had high praise for all the ad- ditions, including all but Fu on their March "Top Prospects of 2018" list. On its Aug. 7 recruiting rankings, the outlet referred to Forman as the No. 2 player in the country, Fenty No. 4 and Maloney No. 6. Even though Fu didn't make the top-100 list, the publica- tion still recognized him as a five-star prospect. "We lost four seniors last year, and I feel like these guys can step in immediately and do a really good job for us," Steinberg said. "Having all four make an immediate impact is really all you can ask for from a recruiting class. It's one of the best classes I've ever had in my 29 years of coaching. It always takes a while for these kids to get acclimated, because college tennis is so different than anything they've ever been in before. "I have all the confidence in the world in them, though, because they're all great people who love Michigan." 3. Men's Cross Country And Track — MileSplit ranked the 22-person faction (including a pair of transfers) as the No. 6 cluster in the U.S. (taking into account both men and women), while the distance section of it was pegged by Stride Report at No. 8. FloTrack, meanwhile, flattered the distance group with an honorable mention accolade, just missing the website's top 10. The 22 men combined to win 19 high school state titles in track and field and/or cross country during their prep days. Sixteen of the athletes were categorized as distance run- ners, with John Tatter of Winston-Salem, N.C., and Cole Johnson of Rockford, Mich., arriving as the most heralded. The latter was a Michigan cross country state championship runner-up in 2017 and listed by Flo as the No. 22 distance recruit nationally, while Tatter ranked No. 2 among North Carolina high schoolers in the 3,200 meters outdoors and checked in at No. 14 among Flo's distance recruits. "It's a big group, but it's also a high-quality one, because there's a ton of depth in it," head coach Kevin Sullivan said. "What's cool about it is that over the next three to five years, we'll have a lot of interchangeable parts. That will allow a lot of these guys to step up and be contributors." Michigan's Top Three Incoming Men's Olympic Sports Classes Former cadet world champion Will Lewan, a projected 157-pounder, gave Michigan a trio of signees ranked among the class of 2018's top 28 nationally according to FloWrestling, which listed Michigan's incoming class No. 4 in the country. PHOTO BY RICHARD IMMEL