The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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58 THE WOLVERINE ❱ FEBRUARY 2026 BY ANTHONY BROOME Men's Gymnastics The top-ranked U-M squad grabbed a score of 308.400 in its season-opening sweep of No. 13 Greenville (305.200) and No. 15 Simp- son (292.500) at Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Ar- bor. Michigan led for the whole meet and earned six event titles in its victory. Three of those wins came courtesy of sophomore Solem Chiodi in floor exercise, the all-around and the vault (tie). Sophomore Aaronson Mansberger (pommel horse), junior Akshay Puri (rings) and freshman Eli Osuna (high bar) grabbed the other three titles. Osuna also finished second in the all-around in his first collegiate event. Women's Gymnastics Michigan opened the year with a 197.225 to win its second consecutive Sprouts Colle- giate Quad event in Salt Lake City on Jan. 10. The Wolverines set a program record on the beam with a 49.650, besting their previous program mark of 49.625 in 2023. Freshman Quincy Walters, sophomore Ava Jordan and junior Kayli Boozer shared the team title with career-high 9.950 scores, while graduate stu- dent Carly Baumann had a 9.925 to tie for fourth overall. Cal finished second, Michigan State was third and Kentucky placed fourth in the event behind U-M. Men's Swimming & Diving The 11th-ranked Wolverines suffered a set- back against third-ranked Indiana on Feb. 9 at Canham Natatorium, losing 187-113 in their first defeat of the 2025-26 campaign (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten). Michigan started the event with the 200- yard medley relay, in which the team of senior Jack Wilkening, freshman Luka Mlad- enovic, senior Tyler Ray and sophomore Ole Eidan combined for a winning time of 1:23.63. Mladenovic also picked up wins in the 100- (51.69) and 200-yard (1:52.22) breaststroke, and finished second in the 200-yard IM. Ray won the 100-yard butterfly (45.54) and placed second in the 50-yard free (19.24). Women's Swimming & Diving U-M's fourth-ranked women grabbed a 154-146 victory over No. 10 Indiana on Jan. 9 to keep its undefeated season alive at 7-0 (4-0 Big Ten). The event started out with a team of junior Bella Sims, senior Letitia Sim, senior Brady Kendall and junior Stepha- nie Balduccini combining for a victory in the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:34.57. Sim had three individual wins in the meet, placing first in the 100- (59.41) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:09.32) along with the 200- yard individual relay (1:56.40). Junior Hannah Bellard had two individual wins with a victory in the 500 free and set a U-M record with a 1:50.72 time in the 200 butterfly. Sims finished first in the 100 back- stroke (50.35), while sophomore Rebecca Diaconescu won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a 9:42.96. Tennis Seniors Bjorn Swenson and Nicholas Steiglehner won both of their doubles and singles matches for the U-M men's squad to close out the Florida Hidden Duals at the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, Fla., on Jan. 11. The pair grabbed a 6-3 win over Clemson's Viktor Markov and Man- uel Plunger. The victory moved the No. 22-ranked pair to 5-0 on the season and 7-2 during their time together in Ann Arbor. Swenson would later grab a three-set vic- tory in singles play over Markov. The Wolver- ines also debuted two new doubles pairings — redshirt freshman Max Dahlin and fresh- man Arnav Bhandari, and senior Mert Oral and freshman Pierce Shaya — but neither duo was able to grab a victory. The U-M women will start their season at the Michigan Invitational on Jan. 17-18 be- fore the ITA Kick-Off against Penn on Jan. 24 and either Vanderbilt or Notre Dame on Jan. 25. Both events are in Ann Arbor. Track And Field Both the men's and women's teams opened the indoor portions of their seasons on Jan. 10 in Ann Arbor at the Wolverine Invitational. The event was headlined on the men's side by junior John O'Reilly setting the U23 Cana- dian national record in the 600-meter dash. Grad student Miles Brown finished first with a 1:16.27 time, while O'Reilly clocked in at 1:16.52. Junior Camden Law finished first in the 800-meter run, while freshman Quincy Isaac had a first-place win in the long jump at 7.85 meters (25 feet, 9.25 inches), a mark just 0.04 meters shy of the program record. On the women's side, a trio of perform- ers posted top-10 program marks. Gradu- ate transfer Chyle Turner won the 60-meter hurdles (8.41 seconds) after an 8.38 time in the preliminaries, which ranked No. 9 on the program performers list. Freshman Emmry Ross finished second in the 600-meter dash with a 1:29.26, ranking fourth in program history. Sophomore Kourtney Rathke posted a personal-best 4.15 meters (13 feet, 7.25 inches) in the pole vault, the fifth-best mark in program history. Wrestling No. 12 Michigan dominated Michigan State on Jan. 9 in Ann Arbor, winning 9 of 10 matches with 7 bonus wins en route to a 43-3 drubbing of its rival in the Big Ten opener. Redshirt senior Christian Tanefeu (125 pounds) and redshirt freshman Cameron Catrabone (157) earned falls, while redshirt sophomore Beau Mantanona (174) and red- shirt freshman Brock Mantanona (184) and graduate Taye Ghadiali (heavyweight) scored technical falls. Graduate Dylan Ragusun had a win in his first appearance at 141 pounds, while redshirt freshman Justin Gates won his varsity debut at 165 pounds. ❑ ❱ OLYMPIC SPORTS UPDATE Winter Sports Roundup Eighth-ranked redshirt freshman 184-pounder Brock Mantanona posted a technical fall (19-3 in 3:21) against Michigan State's Ryan Boucher to help No. 12 Michigan overwhelm the Spartans 43-3 on Jan. 9. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY