CMU wrestling's winning streak hits five after 25-6 win over Old Dominion
The No. 11 Chippewas defeated the Monarchs of Old Dominion University 25-6 to stretch their winning streak to five matches Sunday afternoon at McGuirk Arena.
The team hasn’t suffered a defeat in a dual meet since Jan. 12, when it lost to Virginia, 20-13. The Chippewas haven’t lost a dual meet at home this season.
There was much more scoring early in the match than there was last week when the Chippewas defeated Kent State. The match was also much closer early.
“Early on, guys were pushing the pace more and that’s what I wanted to see,” said head coach Tom Borrelli. “We had a couple of close matches, but, overall, I’m happy with the way we wrestled today.”
No. 2 senior Ben Bennett clinched the win for the Chippewas with a 9-0 win over freshman Austin Coburn to give the Chippewas a 19-6 lead.
“I was focused on scoring,” Bennett said. “So, I was a little frustrated when I wasn’t getting points immediately.”
No. 5 senior heavyweight Jarod Trice finished the Monarchs off after defeating heavyweight sophomore Matt Tourdot, 2-1.
The match began with an upset as CMU junior Joe Roth won 5-2 over No. 14 Jerome Robinson at 125 pounds, making the team score 3-0. Roth never gave the lead to the sophomore Robinson during his match.
“Roth is a very capable backup,” Borrelli said. “ So, I figured, why not use him? Then he got the job done against a pretty good wrestler.”
No. 7 senior Scotti Sentes would increase the lead to 6-0 by winning 7-3 against junior Scott Festejo at 133 pounds.
After redshirt freshman Luke Smith lost 6-3 to senior Brennan Brumley at 157 pounds, making the score 9-6, sophomore Mike Ottinger put the match in his hands. Ottinger won 10-4 over senior 165-pounder Brett Miller in the match that could have tied up the team score.
“I knew my team was doing well,” Ottinger said. “But I knew I had to keep that momentum going.”
“Ottinger came out and was focused on attacking, which is what we want," Borelli said. "He pushed the pace, wrestled well on his feet and got a lot of takedowns.”
The Chippewas didn’t lose any momentum after that and won the rest of the matches, making the final score 25-6.
The team is back for senior night Friday when it takes on conference rival Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m. at McGuirk Arena.
