At last, Michigan's Beau Mantanona is enjoying a full season of college wrestling. 

The Cadet World Team member, Super 32 champion and two-time Fargo All-American redshirted his first season in Ann Arbor, which ended on Feb. 2. 

Mantanona did not wrestle his first match of last season until Jan. 4 after suffering a medial collateral ligament tear during team wrestle-offs in October. 

Still, he finished 17-6, took third at the Big Ten Championships and reached the round of 12 at the NCAA Championships at 165 pounds. Despite the late start, Mantanona tied for the team lead in pins (five), was third in bonus-point wins (eight) and fourth in wins.

No longer hampered by injuries or bound by redshirt rules, Mantanona began this season on time and in fine form. 

Now at 174, the redshirt sophomore has bolted to a 13-3 start with four pins, three technical falls and a major decision. Mantanona is second on the team in pins and third in dual points (32) and bonus point wins. 

He moved up a notch to #11 in the latest national rankings (fifth among Big Ten wrestlers) after knocking off then-#10 Lenny Pinto (Rutgers), a three-time NCAA qualifier, 11-3, on Friday. 

Pinto pounced for a takedown 15 seconds into the match, but did not score again as Mantanona responded with a reversal and four-point near-fall before the first period ended. He tacked on an escape, another takedown and accumulated 2:27 in riding time. 

"I'm feeling really good about how the season has gone for me so far, and of course, I was excited to finally wrestle an entire season," he said. "I really like how I've been progressing after taking a couple of tough losses at the National Duals (Invitational) early on. I feel like I've made a lot of improvements since."

Mantanona has won 11 of 12 matches since falling to 2025 All-Americans Christopher Minto (Nebraska) and Cam Steed (Missouri) by a combined five points at National Duals. 

His only loss during that time has been a 5-4 decision at the hands of #17 Moses Espinoza-Owens (South Dakota State) at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, but Mantanona evened the score with a 6-3 decision over Espinoza-Owens later in the tournament. 

He has also knocked off #12 M.J. Gaitan (Iowa State), a two-time NCAA qualifier, and #18 Brody Baumann (Purdue). 

"Wrestling a full season has also helped in that I've been operating with a full gas tank the entire time and I'm feeling stronger after moving up in weight," Mantanona said. "I feel I've become technically better in certain areas and have just built on what I accomplished last season. I'm more refined in every aspect of my game." 

Mantanona honed his game with offseason competition, including capturing a U23 national freestyle championship at 79 kilograms, beating Arizona State's Nicco Ruiz, now ranked #12 at 165, in the best-of-three finals. Mantanona won the first and third matches by technical fall. 

He bested Oklahoma's Carter Schubert, now #8 at 174, in the quarterfinals and Minnesota's Ethan Riddle (#23 at 174) in the semifinals. 

"Wrestling really good competition during the offseason really helps me push toward my overall goals," Mantanona said. "I was able to work on improving in different areas while preparing for the U23 tournament. Winning that really boosted my confidence for this season."

Mantanona and his teammates then settled into Michigan's often grueling offseason training regimen, which includes running the stairs at 108,000-seat Michigan Stadium. 

"Just about everybody was in town for summer conditioning this year, and everybody really bought into doing that together," he said. "We really built a good culture within the program and developed team camaraderie for this season through the offseason work. It's been paying off for us."

At 7-2 overall and 3-0 in the Big Ten, Michigan has already matched last season's number of conference and overall wins. The Wolverines were also second at Cliff Keen, their highest finish in eight years. 

As a team, the Wolverines are 61-29 (.678) in individual dual matches compared to 60-58 (.517) last season. That's despite having a new starter at every weight class. 

Transfers Taye Ghadiali (Heavyweight) and Lachlan McNeil (149) are both 8-1 in duals. In addition to Beau, Brock Mantanona (184) and Cam Catrabone (157) are both 7-2, and Hayden Walters (197) is 6-3. 

Dylan Ragusin (141), a 2024 All-American and four-time NCAA qualifier, has won all three of his dual starts since returning to the lineup. 

"Things like having Brock, Cam and Hayden with us for the whole season have really helped us improve, along with how the new guys being really on board with everything we are trying to accomplish here," he said. "We all feel our best wrestling is still in front of us and we intend to peak at the right time. Together, our team will be even tougher to deal with later in the season."

Mantanona made some noise while redshirting as a true freshman, pinning All-American Caleb Fish (Oklahoma State) and beating three-time NCAA qualifier Maxx Mayfield (Missouri) at the Midlands Championships.  

He started three duals, decisioning NCAA qualifier Tanner Cook in Michigan's win over South Dakota State. Mantanona finished 15-6, including five pins and a pair of major decisions. 

Last season, he beat four-time NCAA qualifier Andrew Sparks (Minnesota) in the third-place match at the Big Ten Tournament before taking care of Braeden Scoles, now ranked #8 at 165, during the NCAA Championships. Sparks is #15 at 174. 

Mantanona was within a win of the NCAA podium, but fell to Steed in sudden victory. 

"This game is brutal. Went to war and came up just short," he posted to Instagram soon afterward. "Taking this one on the chin. Still super proud of my efforts and beyond thankful for the people in my corner. Got a couple more years to make the dream happen."

Plenty of challenging competition awaits Mantanona as the Big Ten duals portion of the season grinds on, including potential matches against top-ranked Levi Haines, a three-time All-American and 2024 national champion, #3 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) and #4 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State), both All-Americans. 

He could meet Minto again during the Big Ten Championships.

"Getting better with every match and with every day in the wrestling room is my focus," he said. "This time, I want to be standing on top of the podium at the Big Ten and national championships."

Wild WIn

Michigan's 18-14 win over Illinois Sunday was the Wolverines' closest margin of victory in a dual since an 18-16 victory against Ohio State on Feb. 12, 2021. 

Unlike that win, however, Michigan was able to defeat the Illini without the benefit of bonus points. Illinois earned a pair of major decisions, but the Wolverines took six of 10 matches in the first meeting between the programs since 2020. 

In a dual featuring five lead changes, strong finishes by Catrabone and Walters proved crucial as they outscored their opponents by a combined 10-1 margin during the final minute of their matches.

The 14th-ranked Catrabone, who began the day with a 10-4 record, found himself trailing Ryan Bennett, who entered the match with a 4-6 mark, 6-2 with a minute remaining before scoring a reversal off a restart.

Catrabone followed with a four-point nearfall with 35 seconds left for an 8-6 advantage before Bennett earned a riding-time point. 

The #26 Walters and #31 Dylan Connell were deadlocked at 1-1 with only 11 seconds remaining when, following a restart, Connell tried to end the match with a single-leg takedown.

Walters was ready for the move, deftly countering it by immediately spinning behind Connell for a takedown of his own, which also extended his riding time advantage to 1:03 for a 5-1 win.

Walters' decision put Michigan in the lead for good at 15-14 before the fifth-ranked Ghadiali sealed the deal with a 7-4 decision. 

Ragusin, #17 McNeil and Beau Mantanona won their bouts by a combined 21-8 score. 

Gauge Botero, who entered the match with a 4-8 record, saved valuable points at 133 pounds by hanging tough with defending NCAA champion and top-ranked Lucas Byrd, holding him to a 7-2 decision win. Botero kept Byrd scoreless in the third period. 

The true freshman is 0-7 against All-Americans or NCAA qualifiers this season, but has given up bonus points in just one of those matches. 

The Wolverines are off until hosting Northwestern on Jan. 30 and traveling to Ohio State on Feb. 1.