The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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56 THE WOLVERINE OCTOBER 2021 OLYMPIC SPORTS to make 11 while helping the team post three shutouts, but that is sure to change once Big Ten action begins. The sport's toughest conference features four of the nation's top six teams, including the top three, per the Sept. 21 rankings. The rest of the top seven is filled out by the ACC, including No. 7 North Carolina. "We're not really thinking about what our rankings are," Pankratz noted. "It's a long season. The Big Ten is an amazing conference this year. It's going to be a very, very competitive conference; it's going to be tight. "So we're just trying to get better every day, learn and keep playing at a high level." The Wolverines look forward to show- ing off their depth and experience once Big Ten play commences Sept. 24 against Michigan State. The squad returned 22 letterwinners from last year, and all but two starters. The coach even struggled to single out one or two players who have been key components to the fast start and historic rise to No. 1. "We've got about 16 players that could start and play, and be the star, of any Di- vision I team in the country," she said. "We've got a lot of talent at every single position. "We're really able to substitute and run lines, almost like an ice hockey team. We can run players in, get them to play at a really high tempo, and then they can sub- stitute out and someone else can come in and the level stays the same. "… I think certainly experience mat- ters, and a lot of our players — really, the whole team — have played in tough, tight games over the last year and a half. They don't shy away from it. I think we play our best when we play against other great teams, and I think that's what makes it fun. "It's fun to play in those high-energy games. We look forward to it, and we'll be ready." ❑ Myles Amine made Michigan wrestling history when he won a bronze medal this summer at the Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first in the program's storied 99 years to earn a medal in freestyle wrestling. But he's not done yet. Amine announced in a tweet Sept. 9 that he'd return to compete one final year with the Wolverines, which will be his seventh on the team. In his first six years, Amine became the school's eighth four-time All-American in the sport, after redshirting as a true freshman and taking an Olympic redshirt in 2019-20. He now takes advantage of the free year of eligibility that all winter athletes received last season from the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last season, Amine placed third nationally at 197 pounds, his third time coming away from the NCAA Championships with a bronze medal, after he placed fourth as a redshirt freshman at 174 pounds. Amine will drop a weight class to 184 pounds this winter, after trying to stay as big as possible for the Olympics, where he competed at 86 kg, roughly 189.6 pounds. That clears the way for All-American Princeton transfer Patrick Brucki, who placed fourth at NCAAs in 2019 as a sophomore, to take over at 197. "To have Myles for another year is really special for our program, for a lot of reasons," head coach Sean Bormet said. "He's just been an incredible leader, a fierce competitor, and he provides a lot of overall leadership. "I think it says a lot about his passion for Michigan wres- tling. There are so many things to be excited about, and 184 is the right collegiate weight for him." Amine noted this summer in an interview with The Wolver- ine that he wasn't satisfied with his historic Olympic medal, and "my best achievement is the next one." He won't be going for more history by simply becoming the program's first-ever five-time All-American, something many won't get the opportunity to accomplish … he wants to win the team's 23rd individual NCAA Championship. And the sport's grand finale tournament this season, Michi- gan's 100th in the sport, will be happening in Amine's home- town of Detroit. It's almost as if the story wrote itself too perfectly to not return for one more season in maize and blue, and build off his standout performance in Tokyo. "That's an incredible honor for me. We're a program with a rich tradition, and we've had a lot of international success in the past," he said of becoming Michigan's first Olympic freestyle medalist. "… That's pretty dang cool to be amongst a lot of the Michigan greats. To write my name in the history books, that's the reason why I continue to strive to be the best I can and work so hard, for moments like that. "[The goal is to] just continue to write my name in the his- tory books." One more year at Michigan will give Amine plenty of op- portunities to do just that. — Ryan Tice Olympic Bronze Medalist Myles Amine Will Wrestle One More Year At Michigan This summer, Amine became the first in program history to win an Olympic medal in freestyle wrestling. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY