4x NCAA All-American Myles Amine (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com; Graphic/Anna-Lee Marie)
Welcome to a new recurring feature from InterMat as we lead into the 2021-22 collegiate season. We are about 50 days away from the start of the new season, so what better way to ring in the new year than to use that time to count down the top-50 current collegiate wrestlers. Each day a new wrestler will be released.
These rankings have been compiled by members of the InterMat staff and used a combination of collegiate achievements, with 2021 accomplishments carrying more weight than past years, along with win-loss records and notable wins. While we are counting down the top-50 wrestlers based primarily on collegiate accomplishments, it is impossible to totally ignore achievements in the international settings, so they did factor in slightly, too.
Before getting to the next wrestler on the list, look at the wrestlers previously profiled:
#50 - Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)
#49 - Ben Darmstadt (Cornell)
#48 - Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State)
#47 - Kaleb Young (Iowa)
#46 - Rocky Elam (Missouri)
#45 - Chad Red Jr. (Nebraska)
#44 - Brandon Courtney (Arizona State)
#43 - Brock Mauller (Missouri)
#42 - Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State)
#41 - John Poznanski (Rutgers)
#40 - Brayton Lee (Minnesota)
#39 - Travis Wittlake (Oklahoma State)
#38 - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
#37 - Tariq Wilson (NC State)
#36 - Jacob Warner (Iowa)
#35 - Jacori Teemer (Arizona State)
#34 - Tony Cassioppi (Iowa)
#33 - Vito Arujau (Cornell)
#32 - Patrick Glory (Princeton)
#31 - Max Dean (Penn State)
#30 - Keegan O'Toole (Missouri)
#29 - Mike Labriola (Nebraska)
#28 - Nino Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh)
#27 - Austin DeSanto (Iowa)
#26 - Jake Wentzel (Pittsburgh)
#25 - Evan Wick (Cal Poly)
#24 - Alex Marinelli (Iowa)
#23 - Ryan Deakin (Northwestern)
#22 - Sebastian Rivera (Rutgers)
#21 - Sammy Sasso (Ohio State)
#20 - Trent Hidlay (NC State)
#19 - Stevan Micic (Michigan)
#18 - Hayden Hidlay (NC State)
#17 - Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)
#16 - Michael Kemerer (Iowa)
#15 - Mason Parris (Michigan)
#14 - Shane Griffith (Stanford)
#13 - AJ Ferrari (Oklahoma State)
#12 - Carter Starocci (Penn State)
#11 - Jaydin Eierman (Iowa)
Next up is…
#10 Myles Amine (Michigan)
Weight: 184 lbs
Year: Senior
Career Record: 91-19
Hometown: Brighton, Michigan
College Accomplishments: 2021 NCAA 3rd Place, 2021 Big Ten Champ, 2019 NCAA 3rd Place, 2018 NCAA 3rd, 2017 NCAA 4th
2021-22 Preseason Ranking: #2 at 184 lbs
It's not a surprise that two-time Michigan state champion Myles Amine ended up at Michigan, considering his father, Mike, was a runner-up for the school in the late 1980's and his older brother Malik was already on the team. His uncle and cousin also wrestled for the Wolverines.
Amine showed he was ready to compete as a redshirt freshman when he finished third at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, losing only to Zahid Valencia (Arizona State) along the way. While Amine fought through some of the normal growing pains associated with competing in the Big Ten as a freshman upperweight, he still managed to place third in the conference tournament.
At his first NCAA Tournament, it was Valencia who handed Amine a pair of losses on his way to a fourth-place finish. In order to secure his place on the NCAA podium, Amine got by Ryan Preisch (Lehigh), who defeated Amine during dual meet competition.
It didn't take long for Valencia and Amine to renew acquaintances during his sophomore season. In the second week of the year, Valencia got by the Wolverine, 4-2. For the second consecutive year, Amine went out to Vegas and left with third place. This time his lone loss came to Bo Jordan (Ohio State).
One of Amine's two losses in the dual season came to Mark Hall (Penn State), the same opponent who defeated him in the Big Ten finals that year. In both the dual meet season and at the Big Ten Championships, Amine downed the returning, multiple-time All-American Jordan.
Amine's runner-up finish at the Big Ten meet led to the fifth-seed at the 2018 NCAA Championships. He would have little trouble with his first two opponents, then edged the fourth seed Jordan Kutler (Lehigh), 3-2 in the quarterfinals. Once again, he turned the tables on a Lehigh opponent that had beaten him during the regular season. But like his freshman year, Amine's run on the championship side was spoiled by Valencia. Amine would dust himself off and earned wins over a pair of four-time All-Americans Jordan and Daniel Lewis (Missouri), to claim third place.
The 2018-19 season started off on a high note as Amine was tested by Lehigh All-American, Kutler, but was victorious, 6-4. In his next outing, Amine captured a CKLV Invitational title by downing tough-freshman Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) and Lewis.
Right after the new year, it was Valencia who spoiled Amine's perfect record. At the tail end of the dual season, Hall narrowly defeated him, as well. The score was 3-2, which mirrored their eventual bout at the 2019 Big Ten Championships. Another runner-up finish at the conference meet was good enough for the fourth seed at nationals in Pittsburgh.
Though their seeds were flipped, Amine met Kutler in the quarterfinals again and prevailed in sudden victory, 4-2. That set the stage for a bout with Hall in the semifinals. The Nittany Lion would come out on top, again, this time by a point in the tiebreakers, 2-1. Amine rebounded to take third after defeating Lewis in the consolation final for a second consecutive year.
After three years of competition, Amine had 17 career losses. Six came to Zahid Valencia and five were to Mark Hall!
As Amine grew older, he found more success on the freestyle circuit. Later in 2019, Amine finished fifth at the World Championships, representing San Marino, which locked up a berth in the 2020 Olympics.
With the Olympics looming in 2020, Amine sat out the 2019-20 campaign taking an Olympic redshirt. That proved to be a wise decision as the 2020 NCAA Championships did not happen due to Covid-19 and the Olympics were pushed back to 2021.
Heading into the 2021 season, there was some uncertainty around whether or not Amine would compete or just focus on the Olympic Games. Nursing a hand injury, Amine returned in February and wrestled in three duals up at 197 lbs, picking up wins against Michael Beard (Penn State) and Cam Caffey (Michigan State).
At the Big Ten Championships, Amine had to run quite the gauntlet to capture his first-ever Big Ten title. He posted wins over Eric Schultz (Nebraska) and Beard, before pulling out a sudden victory win over Jacob Warner (Iowa) in the title bout.
A Big Ten title helped Amine earn the top seed at the 2021 NCAA Championships. For the third consecutive NCAA Tournament, Amine advanced to the semifinals. Despite holding the top seed, Amine had to gut out hard-fought wins in the Round of 16 and the quarterfinals.
In the semis, Amine was shocked by freshman phenom AJ Ferarri (Oklahoma State), who knocked off the veteran in a 5-1 decision. Once again, Amine got the next best thing after defeating Rocky Elam (Missouri) and Warner.
A bronze medal at the European Championships and the Poland Open gave Amine the third seed at the Olympics. Amine won a bout and found himself in the quarterfinals opposite former Penn State star David Taylor. Unphased, Amine notched the first takedown of bout, before falling 12-2. Like he's done throughout his collegiate career, Amine came back strong and earned Olympic bronze after defeating his next two opponents, both former world medalists. He also had to pull out a dramatic takedown late in the bronze medal bout versus Deepak Punia (India).
Amine's bronze medal made him the first Olympic medalist in wrestling for San Marino.
Strengths: Amine is well-rounded on his feet. He can score from a variety of different leg attacks, sweeps, high C's and low singles. He does well at finishing out the back door on his low attacks and limiting scrambling opportunities from his opponents. Defensively, he's positionally sound and can be difficult to penetrate. If a foe gets to his legs, Amine is adept at sitting the corner and scoring or forcing a stalemate. On the mat, Amine can amass riding time, but generally isn't a threat to turn against upper-echelon competition.
2021-22 Outlook: We'll see Amine back at a more ideal weight class, as he's slated to compete at 184 lbs in the upcoming season. Amine is capable of standing on the top step in his home state Saturday night at the NCAA tournament. His 184 lb weight class featured an undefeated, returning national champion in Aaron Brooks (Penn State), along with a deep group of contenders.
4x NCAA All-American Myles Amine (Photo/Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com)
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