DEKALB, Ill. _” Sophomore 174-pounder Brandon Sinnott had never seen coach Tom Borrelli so excited before Saturday.

Borrelli was jumping in jubilation as Sinnott won the Mid-American Conference title at 174 pounds. The reason for the excitement was CMU had solidified its fifth consecutive MAC Tournament championship with Sinnott’s win. It finished with 102.5 points. Second-place finisher Kent State finished well back with 75.5 points.

“That was a huge win for us,” coach Tom Borrelli said. “I knew that win sewed up the tournament for us.”

Sinnott captured the title with a 7-5 win against Kent State’s Aaron Miller.

The Chippewas captured four MAC championships.

CMU will send seven qualifiers to the NCAA Tournament.

The match at 197 pounds between sophomore Wynn Michalak and Buffalo’s Kyle Cerminara, the top two ranked wrestlers in the nation, was eerily similar to the first bout. It was close, it had drama and again it was controversial.

Michalak was ahead 7-5 in the third period. Cerminara shot on the side of the mat and took Michalak down to his mat, but was not awarded a takedown. Michalak still had the head of Cerminara, which stopped the referees from awarding the takedown and gave Michalak his second consecutive title.

“The ref has to give me time to scramble and some reaction time, so I think he made the right call on that,” Michalak said. “I never really questioned whether or not it was a takedown.”

Senior 133-pounder Jason Borrelli finished third with a 5-2 win against KSU’s Drew Opfer.

Jason Borrelli got an at-large bid to advance to the NCAA tournament.

Sophomore 184-pounder Christian Sinnott couldn’t overcome an aggressive Alex Camargo of Kent State. Camargo had two takedowns in the first and another in the second in an 8-2 decision. Sinnott still had enough credentials to get an at-large bid.

Freshman Trevor Stewart couldn’t overcome a takedown that was negated in the second period in his championship match against Northern Illinois’ Johnny Galloway at 165 pounds. The referees called it off because they didn’t think Stewart had complete control.

“Galloway is an experienced guy,” Borrelli said. “It’s hard to take that experience away, especially when you are a true freshman.”
Senior 149-pounder No. 5 Mark DiSalvo repeated his title at 149-pounds with a 5-3 decision against Kent State’s Jason Bake.

DiSalvo controlled the match throughout with takedowns in the second and third periods.

He was awarded the Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament for his efforts.

Senior 141-pounder Brandon Carter lost to No. 1 seed Josh Wooton of NIU. The match was tied at one in the third period when Wooton showed why he had a 19-1 career record in MAC duals. Wooton scored a takedown and a two-point nearfall in one move to go on to win 4-2.

It is his second consecutive title.

Carter won the match for a true second against KSU’s Drew Lashaway. Carter also advances to NCAA’s.

Sophomore Luke Smith won 6-1 in overtime against NIU’s Pat Castillo at 125 pounds. The entertaining match concluded when Smith scored a takedown and a three-point nearfall in one move to claim his second consecutive title.

There was more controversy when a Castillo takedown was negated by the referees.

“I don’t think it was a takedown at all,” Smith said. “I was mad when they called it a takedown to begin with because I had his head trapped between my legs.”

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