Most Michigan athletes are accustomed to the concept of Maize and Blue. But for the Michigan wrestling team, Maize versus Blue is the only way to determine which wrestlers get to represent Michigan as a starter.

On Friday, the wrestling team did just that, competing in their annual Maize and Blue Intrasquad meet. The meet gave the top-two wrestlers from each weight class the chance to battle each other for a starting position - one sporting maize and the other suited in blue. The preliminary matches for each weight class were wrestled during practice earlier in the week.

The team competition ended in a lopsided victory for the Maize team, 21-10, but more importantly, the starting rotation was all but solidified.

The two newest Wolverines to crack the starting lineup are both redshirt freshmen - Steve Luke at 157 pounds and Tyrel Todd at 184 pounds.

Luke had to overcome a difficult match to earn his starting position, narrowly defeating Jeff Marsh of the Maize team, 3-2.

"I didn't wrestle as well as I usually do," Luke said. "It was the first match situation in a while in front of a crowd. But overall, I will get better as the season goes on."

Luke and Marsh were locked up at 2-2 after two periods, with Luke scoring a two-point takedown early in the first and Marsh scoring an escape in each of the first two periods. Luke started the third period from the bottom position, where he escaped Marsh's grasp. His single escape point ended up being the only point of the third period, and the deciding point of the match.

Todd won his starting position by defeating the Blue team's Omar Maktabi, 6-2.

"It is always hard wrestling someone that you wrestle in the room," Todd said. "He knows all your shots and everything, but I feel I wrestled OK."

Todd grabbed hold of the match in the first period when he notched two points for a takedown, and he never looked back. Leading 2-1 to start the second period, Todd escaped from the bottom position, giving him a 3-1 advantage heading into the third period. After Maktabi scored one point for escaping, Todd took him down with 13 seconds left, adding two more points to his score. Todd also received one point for 2:15 riding time, giving him the 6-2 victory.

"I'm really looking forward to (being a starter)," Todd said. "I looked forward to it all of last year. I'm really happy to be there. Anything can happen. I'm a freshman, so all of the pressure is on the older guys."

Although wrestle-offs for six other weight classes took place on Friday, Luke and Todd will be the only new names inserted into the starting rotation this season.

"Both Steve and Ty are really going to add a lot to our team this year," coach Joe McFarland said. "They're young, but they're tough, and I really like the way they compete. They are both really committed to it. They have the desire and commitment to be national champions. We're really excited to have them both in our program, and I think they're really going to solidify a tough lineup for us."

The Maize and Blue will return four All-Americans to the starting lineup. Redshirt sophomores Josh Churella and Eric Tannenbaum won their wrestle-offs at 141 and 149 pounds, while fifth-year senior co-captains Ryan Churella and Greg Wagner will return at 165 pounds and heavyweight.

Three other starters were also determined at the intrasquad. Junior Jim Shutich had to defeat true freshman Michael Watts twice on Friday to garner the 125-pound starting position, while redshirt juniors Mark Moos and Nick Roy won their match by five and four points respectively to become starters at 133 and 174 pounds.

Only the 197-pound weight class was left undecided Friday, with redshirt freshman Casey White winning the wrestle-off at the intrasquad meet and fifth-year senior Willie Breyer claiming victory in the wrestle-off at practice. The tie-break match was slated to take place on Friday, but Breyer had to pull out due to injury. The rubber-match between the two will occur sometime during the next week.

The Wolverines will open the dual meet schedule at State College next Saturday, Nov. 26.