Ranked teams next for wrestling


The CMU wrestling team will attempt to show its depth and individual skills this weekend at the Northeast Duals.

The No. 11 Chippewas will wrestle American, No. 19 Virginia, No. 10 Maryland and Bloomsburg in four consecutive matches Saturday at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, NY.

CMU has fared well in the Northeast Duals in the past three years, going 10-2, with both losses coming to a team ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time of the dual.

American

Central will start the day with American, a team that dropped out of the top 25 after going 0-3 at the ACC Challenge on Nov. 15.

Still, American has four wrestlers ranked in the top 20 in the nation, with No. 4 junior Kyle Borschoff at 149 pounds and No. 4 senior Mike Cannon at 184 leading the way.

Borschoff and Cannon earned All-America honors last year, placing seventh and eighth respectively, with Cannon also placing sixth two years ago. No. 18 125-pound Jason Borshoff went undefeated at the ACC Challenge and No. 17 157-pound Steve Fittery is 2-1 in his first season competing for American after placing runner-up in Div. II twice.

Virginia

Following American, Central will face a Cavaliers team that defeated American 20-19 at the ACC Challenge and is led by No. 5 174-pounder Chris Henrich.

Henrich went 40-3 last year and placed seventh at NCAA’s, but has already lost once this year, falling to No. 13 Shane Riccio of Bucknell, 10-9, in overtime Nov. 15.

Whoever wrestles at 125 pounds for the Chippewas will face another challenge with No. 20 senior Ross Gitomer who, two years ago, won the ACC Championship.

The Cavaliers also have No. 17 Michael Chaires at 165 pounds and No. 14 Brent Jones at 197 pounds to give the team a boost throughout the lineup.

Maryland

The Terrapins’ lineup features four top-10 wrestlers, three in the top four. CMU’s Eric Simaz will most likely get the challenge of facing No. 3 Hudson Taylor at 197 pounds. Taylor has place third at the last two NCAA Tournaments, with 19 of his 38 wins last year coming via pin. And Taylor scored a pin with the Terrapins down 17-9 against No. 4 Cornell on Nov. 20 to bring Maryland within 2 points. It helped set the stage for the upset.

No. 9 133-pounder Scotti Sentes is likely to face No. 8 Steve Bell. Bell placed sixth at last year’s NCAAs and has already defeated one top-10 opponent, No. 6 Mike Grey, when the two squared off during the Cornell match.

Maryland also features two wrestlers ranked fourth in the nation, with senior Alex Krom at 141 pounds and junior Mike Letts at 174 pounds. Krom placed fourth in the nation last year.

Bloomsburg

The last matchup will feature a Bloomsburg team that placed third at the Navy Classic on Nov. 21. No. 7 Steve Brown could face his second ranked opponent of the day with Bloomsburg featuring No. 5 Matt Moley, who is 2-1 on the season with his lone loss coming to No. 4 Cyler Sanderson of Penn State.

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