Austin Gomez officially joins Michigan Wolverines wrestling
Former Iowa State and Wisconsin wrestling star Austin Gomez officially joined the Michigan Wolverines program. Gomez initially decided against his final year of eligibility, but changed his tune.
The former NCAA All-American signed with the Cliff Keen Wrestling Club in the summer, Michigan’s RTC. But now, he’ll don the maize and blue and compete one last time for an NCAA title.
Gomez began his career with Iowa State in 2017-18 and went 8-0 during his redshirt year and was inserted into the starting lineup the following year.
Gomez went 24-7 at 133 pounds en route to a Round of 12 finish at the 2019 NCAA Tournament. But concussions derailed his wrestling career over the next two years.
Originally, Gomez thought he was going to retire from the sport but he opted to return and ended up transferring to Wisconsin.
In his first year, Gomez wrestled at 149 pounds and was a showman. He went 23-4, won a Big Ten title over Ohio State’s Sammy Sasso and took fourth in at NCAAs to become an All-American for the first time in 2022.
Gomez went 0-2 at the Big Ten Tournament in March of 2023, but finished in the Round of 16 at NCAAs while dealing with injury. A 12-6 season didn’t live up to his magical 2022 run, but Gomez was electric.
Michigan pulled in Northwestern transfers Michael DeAugustino (125), Chris Cannon (133) and Lucas Davison (285) as well as former Stanford national champion Shane Griffith (174) to bolster the lineup this offseason.
As it stands, Dylan Gilcher, a freshman, is the 149 pound starter. Should Gomez return to that weight, it’d be an easy plug and wrestle.
Safe to say, Gomez was thrilled to be in Ann Arbor regardless when he signed with the RTC in the summer.
“I am super grateful to be a part of a great wrestling club to pursue my World and Olympic dreams,” Gomez said in the release. “I am excited to get to work with all of the coaches, who I know will get me to where I need to be to accomplish my goals.”
Michigan head coach Sean Bormet also released a statement after adding Gomez to a loaded training center and wrestling room.
“We’re all thrilled to have Austin join our Cliff Keen Wrestling Club,” Bormet said. “I’ve known Austin since he was a young kid in my Overtime programs, and obviously Kevin [Jackson] has a great relationship with him as well, so we really know we’re getting a high-character individual and a great competitor.
“Austin has great fundamentals, and he is explosive and dangerous from all three positions — great upper body, leg attacks and par terre. He’s a lot of fun to watch and will be a lot of fun to coach.”