FACTORYVILLE — On March 25, Lackawanna Trail student Michael Bluhm signed a letter of intent to join the wrestling team of Western New England University in Springfield, Mass. He likes the academic program and believed to be a great fit for him. He will major in finance and accounting. He will start attending this coming fall.

“I’m really excited for it,” he said. “I really like the coach and the campus and everything. It’s perfect for what I want to do.”

Michael has been wrestling at Lackawanna Trail Jr./Sr. High School for all four years. His weight division is 145. He was a three-time District II champion. He also once won the Lackawanna League Championship. He was a two-time regional place winner. He has two brothers Max and Hayden. Max is also a wrestler at Trail. Hayden plays basketball. Michael grew up with wrestling. His father Michael Bluhm, Sr. wrestled in high school and later became a coach for 25 years at Lackawanna Trail. He was an assistant coach, head coach, and assistant varsity coach. He also ran the youth wrestling club.

“For 25 years, I’ve been on the staff or in the community on some capacity,” he said. Michael Sr. is proud of his son Michael for not just wrestling but also his academic accomplishments.

“It seems that he decided he wants to continue his wrestling career and Western New England seems to be the perfect balance between academics and athletics for him.”

Michael Sr. said that Western New England put together a solid package and kept the price at a reasonable level.

“We all seem to be looking forward to this next step,” he said.