Detroit – It’s an impressive feat to end a championship drought in one season, but Michigan managed to fight two in two weeks.

Michigan won its first Big Ten championship since 1973 on March 6, but Nick Suriano made sure it didn’t end there.

Suriano defeated Pat Glory of Princeton in the NCAA Division 1 Championship 125-pound championship at Little Caesars Arena to give Michigan its first individual champion since 2012. Now a two-time NCAA champion (he won the title of 133 pounds at Rutgers in 2019), Suriano remained in control the entire game, earning a takedown and a knockdown for a 4-0 lead.

Glory bounced back with dropout points to make it 4-3, but an escape from Suriano would be a declaration point to win his second title and first with Michigan. Suriano pointed the finger at his family after the game, including his mother, Denise, who received one of the best birthday gifts a mother could ask for.

Suriano ends a college trip which is one for the books. His two championships come three years apart after Suriano spent two years working to qualify for the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, but a positive COVID just before the Olympic trials ended his run.

Now Suriano says this tournament has improved not just his wrestling, but himself.

“I feel like tonight I really learned about myself and a bit of a lull at the end, but it’s a flash,” Suriano said. “It’s seven minutes of who you become in your life, and I think that struck me a lot more than when I last experienced it in 2019.”

Will Lewan, Cameron Amine, Logan Massa and Mason Parris all earned All-American honors for Michigan.

Lewan, Parris and Massa finished fifth in their respective weight classes winning their match for fifth place. Parris beat Northwestern’s Lucas Davison in an 8-5 decision, while Massa responded with his own 5-1 decision win over Oklahoma State’s Dustin Plott. Lewan picked up a hard-fought win over Arizona State’s Jacori Teemer to place fifth.

Amine fell to Cal Poly’s Evan Wick in the third-place game by 3-2 decision.

Michigan (95) was unable to keep up with Penn State’s impressive collection of championships and team score of 131.5 as Penn State won its ninth title since 2011 and 10th in the school history. Penn State has won five individual championships behind Roman Bravo-Young (133, two-time champion), Nick Lee (141, two-time champion), Carter Starocci (174, two-time champion), Aaron Brooks (184, two-time champion) and Max Dean (197 ).

“We’re a team, but we’re made up of individuals,” Penn State coach Cael Sanderson said. “We want them to be happy and achieve their goals when they come to Penn State.”

Brooks defeated Michigan’s Myles Amine to win the 184-pound championship in a 5-3 decision.

The two-time champion opened the first period with a quick takedown that would stand as the only points until midway through the third period. Brooks scored two on a knockdown to take a 4-0 lead en route to victory. Amine took second place (personal best) and earned his fifth American honor.

Bravo-Young defeated Oklahoma State’s Daton Fix in a hard-fought 3-2 decision victory for his second straight championship in the 133-pound class. Lee immediately followed Bravo-Young with a dominating 10-3 win over North Carolina’s Kizhan Clarke. Clarke, a 15th seed, got an early out for a 2-0 lead, but Lee cleaned house from there with three outs en route to his second straight NCAA title.

Both Starocci and Dean took first place with one-point wins in their respective weight classes. Starocci defeated 2019 champion Mekhi Lewis of Virginia Tech 6-5 in third overtime.

Lewis and Starocci traded takedowns en route to a 4-4 stalemate before extra time. Both earned escapes to extend it to third overtime, but Starocci took the victory via driving time for his second consecutive championship.

Dean won his first NCAA championship in a 3-2 decision win over Iowa’s Jacob Warner. Warner escaped for a 1-0 lead early on, but a consecutive escape and takedown for Dean would be the deciding factor of the game.

Minnesota’s Gable Steveson (52) and Cornell’s Yianni Diakomihalis (75) extended their winning streak en route to an NCAA title. Olympic gold medalist Steveson (285) won his second straight title over Arizona State’s Cohlton Schultz by a 6-2 decision. Diakomihalis (149) recorded his third loss against Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett. Diakomihalis, a junior, became the 50th wrestler in NCAA history to win three national titles.

Northwestern’s Ryan Deakin edged Princeton’s Quincy Monday in the 157-pound championship in a 9-2 win. Keegan O’Toole of Missouri defeated Shane Griffith of Stanford in the 165-pound championship in a 6-5 win. O’Toole escaped late in the third period to claim the victory over the defending champion.

Jonathan Szczepaniak is a freelance writer.

Final ranking (top 10)

1. Penn State, 131.5

2. Michigan, 95

3. Iowa, 74

4. Arizona State, 66.5

5. Nebraska, 59.5

6. Northwest, 57.5

7.Cornell, 54.5

8. Virginia Tech, 52.5

9. Missouri, 49.5

10. NC Status, 49