The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2026 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 33 2025-26 YEAR IN REVIEW percent of our people to start the new year. You're rebuilding, try- ing to convince freshmen and younger guys to have that fire burning. The soph- omores have never experienced the loss yet, and freshmen coming in don't have that feeling. It's a lot to build and rebuild that fire again. "That's what made it much harder, but hopefully you've started the build again to bring home a championship in the com- ing years. It just takes that building." Along the way, Richard built even more memories into his Michigan backpack. He continued to progress in his own devel- opment while storing highlights to carry forward. Those in his senior season included: • Senior Day at Michigan, always an emotional event. "The last competition I would be en- joying in a Michigan facility," Richard stressed. "My family there, my friends there, teammates who I grew up with for four years. There's just so much gratitude that comes, and so many memories you look back on when it's the last year." • The Big Ten Championships, and a scintillating sixth straight title for Michi- gan. "To win six in a row is a crazy feat," he said. "That's like the dynasty building. To say six Big Ten championships in a row is something powerful." • The NCAAs and another high place- ment. "Even though it didn't work out, I still think these NCAA experiences make everybody grow up, push everybody to their limits," Richard offered. "Even the days before, figuring out what matters to you, why you want it so badly. All of these things make us grow so much." His continued dominance in the all- around category once again revealed his versatility in his sport. It also demon- strates more, he pointed out. "It's a mark of sticking with the pro- cess long enough," Richard said. "When you're juggling six events, there are times when one event isn't as strong as another. You want to lean into your strengths. It's a testament to truly trying to be a well- balanced master of gymnastics and never giving up on mastering the process of gymnastics in the all-around. You have to have no weaknesses to be the best all- arounder. That's how I trained and lived." As a double-take point prover, the se- nior noted that he considers the high bar his best event. "And it was my lowest scoring at NCAAs," he noted, with a soft, rueful laugh. "That means two things. One, ob- viously, it wasn't the best performance that I've done. But two, I'm a very, very grounded all-arounder. Every meet, there's a different event that scores the highest score. It's funny to look back at different meets, and in every one, it's a different event that scored the highest. "It shows I'm very well-rounded, but I always want the high bar to be one that scores way higher than the others, all the time. That's a work in progress, but I think it will come together and be a very domi- nant event that can go for golds in Olym- pics and World Championships after." Now that his Michigan days are done, it's all about what lies ahead on even big- ger stages. In a few weeks, he'll be competing in the U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Phoenix, with an eye toward qualifying for the World Championships this Octo- ber in the Netherlands. "The goal is to take home World Cham- pionship medals and gold," Richard said. "Then it's the two-year sprint toward the Olympics." Like Michigan's national champion- ship last year, the 2028 Olympics are "at home" — in Los Angeles. Richard finds himself already gearing up, mentally and physically. "It's far enough away that you can't really call it a sprint, but close enough when you know it's in your home coun- try, it kind of feels like last year's national championship," he said. "You have to build up for years to get to this point and capitalize when it's in your home country. That's where my mind's at right now. It's close enough where I have to push." He's been to Los Angeles many times for various competitions, he noted. It feels different these days. "Now, whenever I set foot in there, I'm like, 'Wow, in two years, potentially my moment will come, where the whole world will be watching,'" he reflected. He won't forget the place that vaulted him into that spotlight, he assured. "Michigan clearly is the greatest uni- versity in the country, probably the world," Richard said. "It changed my life completely. It's given me fans and sup- porters in all areas. Every day, I've been happy here. There have been tough times, but when I look back, this place is amaz- ing. It's built me into what I hope is a pretty cool Michigan story." ❏ The Best Of The Rest Here are the runners-up for Michigan Male Athlete of the Year, in voting by the staff of The Wolverine. 2. Yaxel Lendeborg, basketball — The Big Ten Player of the Year and a consensus All-American, Lendeborg led Michigan in scoring (15.1) and tied for second on the team in rebounding (6.8). More importantly, the one-year (and forever) Wolverine used a combination of explosive- ness and unselfishness to lead the Wolverines to a national championship. The transfer from Pennsauken, N.J., played through injury in the Final Four, finished the job and went to the Golden State Warriors with the 11th pick of the 2026 NBA Draft. 3. Max Dahlin, tennis — Dahlin not only debuted as Big Ten Freshman of the Year, but he also skipped the waiting line and asserted himself as Big Ten Player of the Year in his redshirt frosh season. The second-year Wolverine from Karlstad, Sweden, earned All-America status in both singles and doubles, and rose as high as No. 6 in the ITA singles rankings. He went 29-3 this past year in singles matches, all at the No. 1 spot. He also reached the NCAA Singles Championship quarterfinals. 4. Taye Ghadiali, wrestling — Ghadiali earned All-America honors, the Big Ten heavyweight crown, and a bronze medal in the NCAA Championships for the Wolverines this year. The grad student out of Warren, Mich., paced Michigan with a 28-3 record, including 14-1 in dual meets and a team-leading 59 dual points. 5. Trent McFarland, track — McFarland earned Great Lakes Region Track Athlete of the Year this season. The distance runner from Utica, Mich., finished as the silver medalist in the 1,500-meter run at the NCAA Championships, while becoming a first-team All-American in three separate events, including the mile. He holds the Big Ten Indoor Championships meet record in the mile as well. — John Borton