The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1520409
12 THE WOLVERINE ❱ JUNE/JULY 2024 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS MAX BREDESON EMBRACES TONE-SETTING ROLE Tight end Max Bredeson, who serves as the team's fullback and all-around Swiss Army knife, was one of Team 144's key tone-setters last year, and he figures to be once again in 2024. He will be tasked with doing the dirty work as a lead blocker that allows Donovan Edwards, Kalel Mullings and company to thrive. "Whatever Michigan needs me to do to help win," Bredeson said this spring. "I love doing the fullback stuff. It's what I see myself as. It's really what I picture myself as in a role, using it more and more as we have with the offense, whatever facet we use it in, I'm always there to do it. So, whatever they say, I'll do it." A transition has taken place from Jim Harbaugh to Sherrone Moore with the Michigan football program, but the mentality more or less stays the same. Moore's "smash" mantra remains intact, and Bredeson does not take his role in helping instill that lightly. "It's electric. It's awesome," Bredeson said with a smile. "We love doing it every day at practice. It's physical practices, especially with the position, especially with what I do. I love being the stereotypical fullback with a lot of the violent downhill plays that we go with. And I also love doing the outside perimeter blocking stuff. The 'smash' personality is a real thing and some- thing I love doing, and what this whole team revolves around." U-M's practices have remained physical under Moore with the famed "Beat Ohio" drill sticking around, in addition to a "Quest for Atlanta" drill, which references the site of the 2024 National Championship Game. "Michigan is always 'iron sharpens iron,'" Bredeson said. "Good guys go against good guys. We have the classic 'Beat Ohio' drill. That's the staple of Michigan football. The 'Quest to Atlanta' drill, same thing. It's just physical practices, ones-on-ones. You're practicing against guys who could be bet- ter than the guys you play during the season and it just helps everyone get better. "I'd say it's still as physical as it's ever been." U-M WRESTLING HAS FIVE OLYMPIANS, PARRIS, COON MAKE TEAM USA U-M will be represented by five wrestlers at the 2024 Paris Olympics with Mason Parris and Adam Coon earning spots on Team USA. In addition, Austin Gomez will compete for Team Mexico, and Stevan Micic and Myles Amine will represent Serbia and San Marino, respectively. Parris and Coon won at 125kg freestyle and 130kg Greco-Roman, respec- tively, during the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on April 20 at Bryce Jordan Center on Penn State's campus. Coon had won the U.S. trials in 2021 but did not qualify his weight for the Tokyo Games. Coon is a two-time NCAA finalist and three-time All-American in addition to a two-time U.S. world team member, capturing world silver in 2018. Parris, the 2023 NCAA heavyweight champion and Hodge Trophy winner, has medaled in all five of his senior-level tournaments since graduating from Michigan. The two are joined in their first Olympic Games by Gomez, who qualified in March for a spot on the Mexican team during the Pan American Olympic Qualifier. Gomez punched his ticket with a 6-3 win over Canada's Lachlan McNeill, who wrestles at North Carolina, in the semifinals. This past season, he posted a 13-3 mark in Ann Arbor after coming out of retirement twice at both Iowa State and Wisconsin and is a two-time NCAA All-American. He was a national runner up this season, falling to Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech in the NCAA individual final. Micic (57kg freestyle) won the gold medal at the 2023 World Wrestling Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, last summer. Amine (86kg freestyle) won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics and most recently took silver at the 2024 European Wrestling Championships. BIG TEN OPPONENTS SET FOR MEN'S BASKETBALL Michigan men's basketball's Big Ten opponents for the first season under Dusty May were recently revealed by the conference, giving us an idea of what the new-look program will take on in Year 1. The Big Ten has four new teams joining for the 2024-25 season in USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon, and it will stay with a 20-game conference schedule. For the Big Ten Tournament, 15 of the 18 teams in the conference will receive a spot in the event. Oregon brings a 3-2 advantage into the series with U-M. The Ducks have won the past three meetings, with the most recent being an 86-83 overtime victory in Eugene last December. UCLA holds a 7-5 lead in the series, with its most recent victory coming in the 2021 Elite Eight, a 51-49 win. U-M has never played USC or Washington on the hard court, marking series debuts for those two opponents. Michigan will have home-only games against Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Northwestern, Oregon, Penn State and Washington. It plays single road games with Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio State, UCLA, USC and Wisconsin. The three home-and-home series will take place against rival Michigan State, Purdue and Rutgers. Dates, game times and television designations will be announced by the conference at a later date. — Anthony Broome MAIZE AND BLUE NOTEBOOK Bredeson, a senior tight end/fullback, embodies Michigan's "smash" mentality under head coach Sherrone Moore. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN