Whatever the motivation, the Central Michigan wrestling team rebounded on Saturday with a 34-6 victory over Northern Illinois in the Chippewas' Mid-American Conference-opening dual at the Huskies' Convocation Center.
The victory, during which the Chippewas won eight matches and scored bonus points in five of those wins, came a week after CMU dropped two duals, the first to 17th-ranked South Dakota State and the second to North Dakota State.
“It was more about just wrestling harder, wrestling with more energy and trying to score more points, all those things we've been emphasizing,†CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. “That's really been our emphasis, just to continue to keep the pace high and try to score points and really focus on breaking the matches open in the third period. I think we did that tonight. We'll see if we continue to do it on Monday.â€
The 23rd-ranked Chippewas, who are 2-3 in duals, go to Purdue on Monday where they will face the Boilermakers and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in a pair of nonconference duals.
CMU will then wrestle in the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill., on Dec. 29-30, closing a rugged month of December that began with the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. The Midlands and the Keen are considered two of the very best regular-season tournaments.
“This month has been a really tough month for us,†Borrelli said. “We went to Vegas and then to the Dakotas and this weekend. In between we've had exams and then the Midlands. We're kind of grinding right now. Any time your guys respond the way they responded tonight it's a good sign.â€
The Chippewas got pins from Mason Smith (141 pounds) and from Matt Stencel (285), a technical fall from Justin Oliver (149), and major-decision victories from CJ Brucki (174) and Jordan Ellingwood (184).
CMU's Dresden Simon (133), Logan Parks (165) and Jordan Atienza (197) each won by decision.
• It was the first dual-meet win for Simon, a redshirt freshman who defeated junior Alijah Jeffery, 2-1.
“That's a big win for Dresden,†Borrelli said. “Anytime our freshman are gaining confidence in themselves it's real important.â€
• Smith's pin, which came at 1:27, was his second consecutive and his fourth of the year. He improved to 16-3, and 10 of his wins have come either by fall or technical fall. Smith is ranked 19th nationally.
• Stencel's pin came in 36 seconds. It was his team-leading ninth of the season, and it marked the eighth time he has pinned his opponent in the first period.
• Oliver, who is ranked third, upped his win streak to nine consecutive matches, improving to 14-1. It was his third technical fall of the year.
• It marked the third major of the season for Ellingwood and the second for Brucki. Ellingwood is ranked 14th, Brucki is ranked 15th.
Results:
125: Brock Hudkins (NIU) dec. Drew Hildebrandt, 4-2
133: Dresden Simon (CMU) dec. Alijah Jeffery, 2-1
141: Mason Smith (CMU) pinned Anthony Rubino, 1:27
149: Justin Oliver (CMU) technical fall Zack Velasquez, 5:00, 20-4
157: Caden McWhirter (NIU) dec. Blake Montrie, 7-2
165: Logan Parks (CMU) dec. Andrew Scott, 11-4
174: CJ Brucki (CMU) major dec. Quinton Rosser, 12-4
184: Jordan Ellingwood (CMU) major dec. Michael Aldrich, 14-3
197: Jordan Atienza (CMU) dec. Max Ihry, 9-3
285: Matt Stencel (CMU) pinned Caleb Gossett, 36 seconds
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now