DETROIT — With the runner-up trophy boxed up and leaning against his leg, Michigan coach Sean Bormet smiled softly, chuckled and nodded his head when asked about whether the Wolverines have a bad taste in their mouths from the NCAA Tournament outcome, before responding.

“It’s incredibly special,” Bormet said. “Team 100, these guys and our program and the trajectory we’ve been on and the way our guys compete and the way they represent the program and even beyond that, the kind of student-athletes they are and the way they’re performing in the classroom, they’re just first-class, and I’m really proud of them.”

With 95 points on the board at the end of Saturday night’s final session, the Michigan wrestling team took home second place in the NCAA Tournament, surpassed only by Penn State’s 131.5 points. The Wolverines also left Detroit with six All-Americans and graduate student Nick Suriano’s individual title at 125 lbs.

With a 5-3 decision victory over Princeton’s No. 3 seed Pat Glory, top-seeded Suriano won his second NCAA championship in his college wrestling career. In unsurprising fashion, Suriano was in control for most of the match, securing a takedown and reversal to put him up 4-0 going into the third period. But Suriano didn’t look like his usual dominant self towards the end of the bout, giving up three points with three stalling warnings and three cautions.

“I wrestled a great match in terms of the sport, but I just didn’t finish it strong,” Suriano said in his post-match press conference. “I could have got turned. I could have packed it in. I said no way, no way, he can’t beat me. I’ve come too far. But the challenge was there.”

Michigan’s other No. 1 seed, 165-lb graduate student Myles Amine, also reached the championship match after narrowly winning his semifinal bout in sudden victory. But he was unable to secure a title, losing by a score of 5-3 to Penn State’s No. 2 seed Aaron Brooks in their third matchup of the season. 

After Brooks handed Amine his only regular season defeat in January, Amine retaliated with an overtime victory in the Big Ten Championships a few weeks ago, but he was unable to come out on top again in Detroit. Despite the loss, Amine has cemented himself in Michigan wrestling history, both with his personal accolades and his contributions to the team throughout his time in Ann Arbor.

“Myles is definitely the greatest leader and competitor that I’ve had the privilege to coach,” Bormet said. “(He’s a) really special competitor, really special person. I know it was a tough finals match (but) I couldn’t be prouder of him and everything he’s done for us and our program.”

Three other Michigan wrestlers competed in semifinal bouts on Friday night, but all were knocked into the consolation brackets to fight for third place on Saturday.

At 157 lbs, redshirt junior and No. 8 seed Will Lewan dropped his first wrestleback match to Iowa State’s No. 1 seed David Carr, but he bounced back to defeat Arizona State’s No. 3 seed Jacori Teemer by a score of 4-2. He won in overtime for the third time in Detroit to secure fifth place on the podium.

Graduate student and No. 3 seed Logan Massa also emerged victorious in the fifth place match after falling to Virginia Tech’s No. 2 seed Mekhi Lewis in his first consolation bout. The 174-pounder defeated Oklahoma State’s No. 6 seed Dustin Plott for the second time in the tournament, controlling the entire third period en route to a 5-1 victory.

“I firmly believe that I had the capability to beat anybody in this bracket,” Massa said. “However, it didn’t fall into my favor, and that’s alright. I’ll live, I’ll move on, I’ll find out what’s next for me and my family.”

Redshirt sophomore Cam Amine won his first bout in the consolation bracket against Wisconsin’s No. 4 seed Dean Hamiti to advance to the third place match. However, the 165-lb No. 6 seed was unable to overpower Cal Poly’s No. 1 seed Evan Wick, losing by a score of 3-2 to take fourth place.

Senior heavyweight Mason Parris didn’t make it to the semifinals after a quarterfinal loss, but he ended up taking fifth place with an 8-5 victory over Northwestern’s No. 9 seed Lucas Davison. Graduate students Stevan Micic at 141 lbs and Patrick Brucki at 197 lbs, in addition to redshirt freshman Dylan Ragusin at 133 lbs, did not place after dropping two early bouts.

Ultimately, Michigan was unable to accomplish everything it wanted to in its NCAA Tournament campaign this year, bringing back silver instead of gold. However, the second place finish marks the first time since 2005 that the Wolverines have secured runner-up honors, and Suriano’s individual title makes him the first Michigan wrestler since 2012 to win an NCAA championship.

So despite a twinge of disappointment, the Wolverines have a lot to celebrate.

And when asked about it, Bormet confirmed that celebrating is exactly what they’ll do.