Cullen Match-by-Match
Honors and Accolades
2019-20: Through five matches, he only gave up two points... in his final season with the Badgers, Cullen defeated Robert Garcia of Fresno State with a 14-2 major decision
2018-19: Finished his junior season with a 6-6 recor d… took third place at the Cyclone Open … started three duals with a 1-2 record … defeated SIUE’s Lucas Bernal by major decision … recorded one pin and one major decision
2017-18: Completed his sophomore season with a 3-6 record ... started in UW's duals against Pittsburgh and CSU Bakersfield ... defeated Pitt's Jake Cherry by a 6-5 decision ... competed in the Michigan State Open, Roadrunner Open and Midlands Championships
2016-17: Tallied an 8-8 record … started at 133 pounds against Ohio State and at 125 pounds against Indiana …
recorded one fall, two tech falls and one major decision … went 2-1 at the Journeymen Classic, 2-2 at the Wolfpack Open and 4-1 at the DuHawk Open
2015-16: Wrestled unattached in open meets at 133 lbs. ... finished with a 9-8 record ... went 3-3 at UNI Open ... ended the Duhawk Open with three victories and two losses
High School: 3A state champion at 120 lbs. ... finished his high school career with a 160-12 record ... three-time Illinois Freestyle State Champion ... Dvorak finalist as a senior ... r
anked the No.7 wrestler in the country by WIN Magazine and Intermat ... three-time place winner in Illinois Folkstyle and two-time All-American in Junior and Cadet Freestyle ... the 2014 Class 3A champion at 120 lbs. ... 42-1 record as a senior ... compiled more than 70 pins by his junior season and was taken down only three times in his high school career ... took second place at sectionals as a junior ... ranked No. 12 by FloWrestling and No. 10 by WIN Magazine as a junior ... earned all-conference and all-state honors as a sophomore and junior ... 2013 conference, regional and sectional champion ... upset Kyle Atkins, the 2A state champion giving him his only loss of the year as a sophomore ... finished his sophomore campaign with a 45-3 record ... only one of his losses was by more than one point ... trained at the Overtime School of Wrestling as well as with Mike Poeta at Poeta Training
Personal: Parents are Barbara and Michael Cullen Sr. ... nominated by the Rotary Club for the Youth Leadership Award in 2014 ... competed on Team Illinois for the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation from 2005-11 ... competed for Team Illinois in both the Scholastic NHSCA Indiana Freestlye Duals (8-1) and the Virginia NHSCA Folkstyle Duals (11-1)
Off the Mat with Michael
Where is your favorite place on campus? Terrace
Where is your favorite place to eat on campus? Tornadoe Room Steakhouse
Why did you choose Wisconsin? Simple, great academic and athletic reputation
How did you spend your summer? Training and getting Bonofied
Where is your go-to study spot? Wrestling lounge
What is your major? Personal Finance
What are your post-college plans? Cash checks, snap necks
Who is your favorite school to wrestle against? Minnesota
Where is your favorite place to wrestle? Field House
When did you begin wrestling? Four years old
What is your favorite thing about Wisconsin wrestling? Culture
What is something you do before every match? Listen to John Mayer to calm me down
What is one word that describes this team? Family
My teammates say that I am the meme lord
My favorite thing to do off the mat with my teammates is eat
What is your most memorable wrestling achievement? State Champion
Favorite Coach Bono saying: Hustle, effort, attitude
What is your dream as a collegiate wrestler? Team national champions
Does the team have a nickname for you? Meme Lord
If you would switch places with anyone on the team for a day, who would you pick and why? Trent Hillger, that dude is a viking
What is your favorite song to sing in the car? Slow Dancing in a Burning Room by John Mayer
If you had a completely free day, how would you choose to spend it? With my brothers
If you could have dinner with any three people, dead or alive, who would you choose? Joe Rogan, Jordan Burroughs, Jennifer Anniston
Who is your favorite athlete in any sport? Khalil Mack
What is your favorite sports team? Chicago Bears/Cubs/Blackhawks
What other sports did you play growing up? Hockey, Football, Baseball
