2x All-American Lucas Davison (photo courtesy of Sam Janicki; SJanickiPhoto.com)The first big domino in the transfer portal fell Thursday afternoon as two-time All-American Lucas Davison announced via social media that he will be wrestling for Michigan during the 2023-24 season. Davison is a graduate transfer from Northwestern University.
The Wolverines have an obvious hole at 285 lbs after the departure of 2023 Hodge Trophy winner Mason Parris who exhausted his eligibility in March.
Davison has improved incrementally over the first five years of his collegiate career. He was a national qualifier in each of his first two seasons competing for Northwestern at 197 lbs. In 2021-22, Davison moved up to heavyweight and got on the podium for the first time, taking sixth. This season, he finished fifth in the nation.
In 2022-23, Davison was a model of consistency in amassing his 27-6 record. All six of his losses came to eventual All-Americans and five came to the four wrestlers who finished above him in Tulsa. In order to secure All-American honors for the second year in a row, Davison had to defeat the #6 seed Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard) in the sudden victory period.
Slavikouski is an important name here as he has been long-rumored to be Parris’ replacement at Michigan. The pair are two of the most notable 285 lbers in the portal, but not the only ones. NCAA qualifier Boone McDermott and Seth Nevills are others. With Davison’s commitment, we could see the others fall into place.
Davison comes to Michigan after his older brother, Andrew left as a graduate transfer after the 2021 season. Andrew joined Lucas at Northwestern and qualified twice for nationals, as well. The younger Davison will have the opportunity to improve upon his Big Ten finishes while at Michigan. In his previous four Big Ten Tournaments, Lucas was fifth each time.
Moving to Michigan also could be a sign of Davison’s post-collegiate plans. He was a Junior World silver medalist in 2019 and would be a great addition to Michigan’s Cliff Keen Wrestling Club.
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