The Chippewas are in first place with 50 points, while Buffalo and Kent State are tied for second with 43.5 points.
Six Chippewas have advanced to the finals and will wrestle for individual conference championships on Sunday afternoon: Scotti Sentes (133 pounds), Scott Mattingly (141), Donnie Corby (149), Mike Miller (165), Ben Bennett (174) and Jarod Trice (285). CMU's six finalists are the most of any team in the tournament.
"For the most part, today was pretty good," said CMU head coach Tom Borrelli . "You always feel like you can do a little bit better, but I think our guys competed hard. We're happy that we put six guys through to the finals. That's probably more than we expected."
Sentes, who began the tournament with a 16-1 technical fall against Eastern Michigan's Filiberto Colon, earned his third consecutive trip to the finals by pinning Northern Illinois' Kevin Fanta in just 1:16 in the semifinals. Sentes will face Kent State's Tyler Small in the championship match on Sunday.
Mattingly took the mat immediately following Sentes and scored an 8-6 upset of No. 2 seed Tristen DeShazer (Northern Illinois). Mattingly, the No. 3 seed, took DeShazer to the mat in each period and led start to finish in earning a spot in the finals in his first appearance at the conference tournament.
Mattingly and Buffalo's Andrew Schutt will square off for the MAC title on Sunday.
In the semifinals at 149 pounds, Corby scored a pair of first-period takedowns and built a riding time advantage of 4:02 en route to an 8-2 decision over Ohio's Bradley Squire. Corby, who defeated Eastern Michigan's Corey Phillips in the first round, will face defending conference champion Desi Green (Buffalo) in the finals.
Miller will wrestle for his third career conference title on Sunday after earning a 6-1 decision over Northern Illinois' Matt Mougin in the semifinals. Miller, who won the 165-pound title in 2007 and the 174-pound title in 2009, will meet Buffalo's John-Martin Cannon in the championship match on Sunday.
Bennett advanced to the 174-pound finals with a 4-1 decision over Kent State's Brandonn Johnson. He will wrestle for his second straight MAC title against Ohio's Nick Purdue on Sunday.
Trice also claimed a 4-1 decision over Northern Illinois' Dakota Greenhaw in the heavyweight semifinals. Trice and Kent State's Brendan Barlow will meet for the conference title on Sunday.
Three other Chippewas remain in contention in the consolation bracket and will wrestle for third place on Sunday: Christian Cullinan (125), Ryan Cubberly (157) and Craig Kelliher (184).
The championship and consolation finals begin Sunday at noon Central Time.
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