U-M first opponent for wrestling team in new Events Center
The Central Michigan wrestling team will have to wait until 2011 to wrestle in the new Events Center.
In its 2010-11 schedule released last week, CMU will break in the new arena on Jan. 16 against in-state rival Michigan.
While the Chippewas are 5-18 all-time against U-M, prior to last season, they beat the Wolverines in three consecutive meetings. The schools did face each other in the 2009-10 season.
“We’re going to be excited to wrestle for the first time in the new events center,” said head coach Tom Borrelli. “To have a quality opponent like the University of Michigan, who is a tremendous in-state rival, I think it’ll have a lot of excitement and just positive vibe to the whole event.”
CMU, which went a perfect 5-0 last season at Rose Arena, continues the home schedule against Old Dominion on Jan. 30.
Of their five Mid-American Conference meets, the Chippewas host Buffalo (Feb. 13), Eastern Michigan (Feb. 17) and MAC runner up Kent State (Feb. 20) at the Events Center.
But before the home schedule begins, the team will spend first 10 weeks on the road.
CMU opens the season in the state of Michigan with pair of open meets in Ypsilanti (Nov. 6) and East Lansing (Nov. 14) before traveling to Cornell on Nov. 19.
The Chippewas will remain in Ithaca, N.Y., to compete in the Cornell-hosted Body Bar Invitational the next day.
The Big Red finished runner up in the NCAA tournament and returns 10 seniors from last season.
“It’ll give us a good indication of some things we need to work on and where we stand,” Borrelli said. “I think they’ll probably be the preseason No. 1 team ranked nationally, so it’ll give us a real good measuring stick.”
Other non-conference away meets include Big Ten opponents Minnesota (Nov. 27) and Michigan State (Jan. 21). CMU will also compete at the Cliff Keen Invitational on Dec. 3-4 in Las Vegas, Nev., Midlands Dec. 28-29 in Evanston, Ill., and National Duals Jan. 8-9 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
“During the non-conference part of the year, we see as many top teams as possible and also go to the toughest tournaments in the country just to get our guys prepared for the NCAA Championships,” Borrelli said. “It will give them the opportunity to see guys that they might not see in our conference schedule.”
MAC Championships are March 5-6 in DeKalb, Ill.
2010-11 CMU wrestling schedule Nov. 6 Eastern Michigan Open (Ypsilanti) Nov. 14 Michigan State Open (East Lansing) Nov. 19 at Cornell Nov. 20 Body Bar Invitational (Ithaca, N.Y.) Nov. 27 North Dakota State/Appalachian State/Minneosta (Rochester, Minn.) Dec. 3-4 Cliff Keen Invitational (Las Vegas) Dec. 12 at Lehigh Dec. 28-29 Midlands (Evanston, Ill.) Jan. 6 at Northern Illinois Jan. 8-9 National Duals (Cedar Falls, Iowa) Jan. 16 Michigan Jan. 21 at Michigan State Jan. 30 Old Dominion Feb. 4 at Ohio Feb. 13 Buffalo Feb. 17 Eastern Michigan Feb. 20 Kent State March 5-6 MAC Championships (DeKalb, Ill.) March 17-19 NCAA Championships (Philadelphia)
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