Michigan overwhelms Northwestern 38-4 with pins, major decisions and a technical fall
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Wolverines collected six bonus-point victories and nine match wins to beat Northwestern 38-4 at the Bahna Wrestling Center on Jan. 30, 2026.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan beat Northwestern 38-4 at the Bahna Wrestling Center on Jan. 30, 2026, turning a close opening sequence into a lopsided dual through multiple pins, major decisions and a technical fall.
The dual opened with a tight 125-pound bout in which No. 29 Diego Sotelo edged No. 25 Dedrick Navarro 2-0. Sotelo scored an escape in the third period and was credited with riding time to secure the decision, a result that produced three team points for Michigan.
Northwestern answered at 133 when No. 25 Sean Spidle blanked Gauge Botero 8-0 by major decision, the Wildcats’ only bonus-point result on the evening.
Michigan’s depth took over thereafter. No. 11 Dylan Ragusin provided a major decision at 141 with an 11-3 victory that added to the Wolverines’ bonus tally. Cooper Hilton, wrestling in his collegiate dual debut at 149, supplied an 11-5 decision that featured a late takedown and a riding-time point to close the bout.
Justin Gates kept Northwestern off the board at 165 with a 6-0 decision in which all scoring came in the third period: two escapes, a takedown and a riding-time point.
At 174, No. 11 Beau Mantanona recorded a major decision, and the Wolverines produced back-to-back pins in the upper weights. No. 9 Brock Mantanona pinned J.D. Perez at 184, finishing his bout in the first period after a multi-point exchange. Hayden Walters followed with a pin at 197, giving Michigan consecutive falls.
Michigan closed the dual with No. 5 Taye Ghadiali at heavyweight, who posted a 21-5 technical fall. Ghadiali accumulated repeated takedowns and a first-period nearfall en route to the technical fall, a result that supplied one of Michigan’s highest-margin bonus scores.
The Wolverines finished with nine match victories and six bouts that produced bonus points, a run of results that pushed Michigan to a 38-4 final. The home program entered the dual ranked and improved its Big Ten dual standing that night; Michigan’s freshmen also factored prominently in the scoring against Northwestern.
Northwestern’s scoring was concentrated in a few strong individual performances, most notably Spidle’s major decision at 133. Otherwise the Wildcats were unable to match Michigan’s string of bonus outcomes.
The meet served as a decisive home win for Michigan, with bonus-point results in multiple weight classes creating the margin that decided the dual.