Keener upsets No. 12 125-pounder, shows aggressive style


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Morgan Taylor | Staff Photographer Pensilvania freshman Corey Keener wins his match against Utah Valley University's freshman Jade Rauser on Friday night in McGuirk Arena. Central won the meet 27 to 9.

Wrestling had quite a few highlights during its 27-9 win against Utah Valley on Friday, but one freshman's win stood out above the rest.

Redshirt freshman Corey Keener stepped up with an upset 125-pound match against No. 12 ranked Jade Rauser in an explosive match that showcased the aggressive style of wrestling head coach Tom Borrelli.

"We had worked a lot this past week on some things that I had done wrong at Michigan State," Keener said. "I needed to hand-fight a lot better and just go out and wrestle my style. I just needed to wrestle the whole match, get to my ties and my shots and not worry that he's ranked number 12 in the country."

Keener quickly set the pace with a first period takedown, holding Rauser for a majority of the period before escaping. Moving into the second, Keener lost the advantage when Rauser escaped again to tie it at two, but successfully earned another takedown, putting the score 4-3 in the third.

Keener started on bottom, swiftly earning an escape before fighting for a third takedown. Rauser was able to escape one last time, but the win came by an 8-4 decision.

"I like to wrestle a lot on my feet, more so than on the mat, so I wanted to get to my offense," Keener said. "I like to take high percentage shots so I don't get worn out. I was sprawled out on that first one, but the other three shots were pretty clean and I was able to get to his legs and get takedowns, which I was pretty pleased with."

His match was a good example of the style of wrestling Borrelli has been looking for this season. The Chippewas delivered, beating Utah Valley on takedowns 15-4 as well as being the first to record a takedown in four of the nine matches.

"I thought our conditioning was good – I thought their guys got tired quicker in the third period, and that's something that you're always trying to evaluate," Borrelli said. "I was pretty happy with emphasizing being more aggressive, trying to open up. I didn't see it as much in the first period (of matches), but as the matches went on, they got a little more tired and we started to open them up a little bit"

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