Wrestling drops meet to No. 10 Northern Iowa despite late push
A late scoring surge by the wrestling team was not enough to defeat No. 10 Northern Iowa on Saturday.
Central Michigan lost 25-14 in Iowa, dropping to 2-1 in Mid-American Conference play.
"We just have to be better at staying off our back and getting in those situations where we give up pins," said head coach Tom Borrelli.
Freshman Corey Keener lost by 9-6 decision at 125-pounds, giving UNI the early 3-0 advantage.
Borrelli said Keener battled through injuries recently, but hopes he will return to his early season form in which he had a lot of success.
"He wrestled a quality opponent," Borrelli said. "The guy is ranked top-seven in the country. I really think Corey has improved. He has battled through some injuries along with some weight management issues. He is starting to feel better health-wise and hopefully will start improving and wrestle how he started the year. "
A 6-2 decision loss by senior Joe Roth at 133-pounds increased the UNI lead 6-0.
The next three matches were all won by UNI, including Tyler Keselring getting pinned at 141-pounds.
Senior Scott Mattingly lost by a 9-4 decision at 149-pounds, giving Northern Iowa a 15-0 lead.
Sophomore Lucas Smith ended the points streak NIU had accumulated by winning the first match of the night for CMU with a 4-0 decision at 157-pounds.
UNI recorded a fall at 165-pounds, giving them a commanding 21-3 lead with only four matches left.
Junior Mike Ottinger and Craig Kelliher responded for the Chippewas. The pair scores bonus points by major decision at 174 and 184-pounds, respectively.
Borrelli said he was very happy with the confidence Kelliher and Ottinger wrestled with.
"Craig and Mike both wrestled well," Borrelli said. "Mike especially, he wrestled a good quality opponent. He was ranked and Mike got a major decision against him. It's nice to see Craig start to gain some confidence. When he has confidence, he wrestles better. Tonight, he was able to continue to score points and score a major also."
Sophomore Jackson Lewis recorded the third consecutive match win for CMU with a 5-4 decision at 197-pounds, cutting the score to 21-14 in UNI's favor.
The Panthers recorded their second fall of the night at heavyweight to close out the dual.
CMU will now head back home for their next two matches against conference opponents. The team will host Ohio at 7 p.m. on Friday before taking on Missouri at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
