Wrestling goes 2-1 in New York, loses to Stanford at home in weekday dual
[wzslider autoplay="true" interval="5000" height="600" transition="'slide'" info="true" lightbox="true"]The wrestling team improved to 4-3 on the season after recording two wins at the Northeast Duals in Troy, N.Y. over the weekend against North Carolina and Sacred Heart.
CMU: 9, Lehigh: 24
The first dual on Saturday was against Lehigh. The lost 24-9, only winning three of the 10 matches.
Head Coach Tom Borrelli said the dual could of easily went in their favor if a few close matches were won.
"We just didn’t seal the deal," Borrelli said. "We lost real close matches at 133, 149, 165, and 174 pounds. If we improve and flip those matches the dual meet could of easily gone in our favor."
Redshirt freshman Corey Keener won his match at 125 pounds by decision, 7-3, giving CMU an early 3-0 lead.
Sophomore Zach Horan recorded a win by decision, 3-1, at 141 pounds, giving the Chippewas a 6-3 lead after three matches.
Sophomore Jackson Lewis won his match at 197 pounds by decision 3-1 but it wasn’t enough. Lehigh would win six of the final seven matches, including one fall at 157 pounds.
Four matches won by Lehigh were by two points or less, with three by a margin of three or more.
CMU: 18, North Carolina: 16
In the second dual of the day, CMU matched up with North Carolina.
The Chippewas won six of the 10 matches with losses at 141 pounds, 149 pounds and 184 pounds.
Borrelli said he liked how the some guys wrestling at the upper weights were able to win some matches and how the team persevered after falling behind with two matches left.
"Luke didn’t have a real good day," Borrelli said. "For Nick Becker to come back was big and then Jackson really picked us up. Adam had a really big win. We persevered a little bit and that’s the first time we’ve done that this year."
Horan lost his first match of the season at 141 pounds by decision 7-4.
Keener won his match at 125 pounds by decision, 8-7, over No. 7 Anthony Kraisser, giving CMU a 3-0 lead over UNC.
Senior Joe Roth would give CMU a 6-0 lead winning by decision 5-4 at 133 pounds.
A major decision at 184 pounds for UNC would give the Tar Heels a 16-12 lead with two matches to go.
The Chippewas won the final two matches to record the victory. Lewis won by decision 9-2 at 197 and sophomore Adam Robinson won by decision 4-0.
CMU: 33, Sacred Heart: 6
CMU followed up that victory with a dominating win over Sacred Heart 33-6 by winning eight of the 10 matches.
Borrelli said he was pleased with the opportunity to bring in some guys that don't usually start in that it helped them to gain confidence.
"The good thing about that is we got some second teamers into that match," Borrelli said. "Tyler Keselring and Chad Deno both had a nice wins. We got some of the guys who aren’t starting some competition. Anytime you can do that it helps the moral of the team because those guys feel like their important and a part of the program."
A couple of key wrestlers sat out the final dual against Sacred Heart, including Keener at 125 pounds, Roth at 133 pounds and Robinson at 284 pounds.
This gave a few other guys who haven't seen much action this season a chance to show off their skills.
Senior Mike Murray had his first dual match of the season at 284 pounds, while senior Chad Deno competed in a dual for the first time this season at 125 pounds.
CMU got out to a 15-0 lead with wins at 125, 133, 141 and 149.
Deno recorded a technical fall 17-2, giving CMU the early 5-0 lead.
A major decision, 11-1, was recorded at 141 pounds by Horan, pushing the lead to 12-0.
CMU would lose matches at 157 and 184 pounds.
CMU will face its first Mid-American Conference opponent in Buffalo at 2 p.m. Monday in McGuirk Arena.
CMU: 13, Stanford: 18
Central Michigan started slow last Monday, dropping the first three matches of the night to decision and wrestling without a takedown until the 125-pound match.
From the 125-pound to 149-pound weight classes, the Chippewas scored 14 takedowns and 10 team points to Stanford's three, but it would not be enough to stop Stanford, which finished strong in the mid-weights. The Cardinals held on to the lead with wins at 157 and 165 to beat CMU, 18-13.
