After 10 consecutive Mid-American Conference titles, Tom Borrelli graduated seven of his best wrestlers. Conventional wisdom would say that its time for the program to rebuild. Instead, Borrelli has reloaded.

Central Michigan’s class of incoming recruits has been ranked second in the country by W.I.N. Magazine.

“It’s kind of a big deal,” Borrelli said. “There are two Big Ten schools in our area, and for a MAC team to be ranked as high as we are considering the power of the Big Ten and Big 12, is pretty special.”

CMU signed five athletes to National Letters of Intent: 125-pounder Scotti Sentes (Fort Myers, Fla.), 125-pounder Ben Sergent (Troy, Ohio), 157-pounder Eric Cubberly (Pemberville, Ohio), 174-pounder Ben Bennett (Rockford) and 197-pounder Marcel Dubose (Sterling Heights).

Sentes, Bennett and Dubose all came away with national titles at the high school national championships in March. Bennett was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the tournament.

“I think the three guys that won the high school senior nationals should know that they can compete with anybody,” Borrelli said. “If they continue to improve, they should be at the top of the game in college.”

CMU beat both Michigan and Michigan State at home last season, something that helped Borrelli on the recruiting trail.

“I think people are starting to see that Central Michigan can be as good as anyone,” Borrelli said. “You don’t have to be in the Big Ten to be successful.”

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