Scotti Sentes opened the season at his new position with a pin.

The sophomore 133-pounder, in his first regular-season match since moving up from the 125-pound class during the offseason, dominated the entire match, putting junior Josh Statum on his back, fighting to keep his shoulders from the mat.

With 11 seconds remaining in the second period, Sentes finished the job with his first pin of the season, leading the Chippewas to a 32-6 victory against the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga on Sunday at Rose Arena.

“I came out with a pin, but I wish I could have got my offense going in the first period,” Sentes said. “I felt really strong and I really didn’t get tired at all. The advantage of not having to cut weight really worked out for me, and I hope it continues to work out for the rest of the year.”

Senior 157-pounder Steve Brown earned a 6-5 decision in the only match that featured two wrestlers in the top 20 nationally.

Brown entered the match ranked eighth in the nation and defeated No. 16 senior Joey Knox despite Knox earning a takedown with two seconds remaining.

“I wasn’t to happy with my performance. I came away with the win, but my performance was not a good reflection of how I’ve trained,” Brown said. “I was happy with the result, but I should have finished better.”

Other notables

Earning major decisions for the Chippewas included senior 149-pounder Tony D’Alie and sophomore heavyweight Jarod Trice.

“Tony D’Alie most impressed me. He had some weight-management issues this week and he showed some real guts,” said coach Tom Borrelli. “He was one of the few guys who really went out and pushed hard against his opponent.”

The only six points CMU allowed in the match was due to a forfeit at the 141-pound weight class. Junior Ryan Cubberly was scheduled to get the start, but he failed the pre-match skin inspection with a staph infection on his shoulder.

“Everyone went out there and stepped it up,” said junior 174-pounder Mike Miller. “I’m confident that if we would have been able to wrestle someone at 141, it would have been a complete shutout.”

CMU competes next at the Northeast Duals at the end of November.

“We know Tennessee-Chattanooga was going to come out and wrestle us hard,” Borrelli said. “They almost stole a couple of matches against us, but it was good to get the first dual match out of the way.”

E-mail the author: D.J. Palomares