Wrestling finishes 2-2 at NWCA Duals against ranked opponents
Facing four ranked opponents in 24 hours was a tall task but the challenge was met with a strong effort and quality wrestling.
Central Michigan wrapped up its matches Monday at the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals with a 19-18 win against No. 16 Iowa State followed by a 22-15 loss against No. 13 Virginia Tech.
Head coach Tom Borrelli said despite the challenges against some very good teams, he was pleased with the way his team wrestled throughout the tournament.
“I think we competed hard the whole weekend,” Borrelli said. “We had some very, very good competition that will help us as we get ready for the MAC tournament. We had some good wins this weekend beating Illinois and Iowa State. We were really competitive in the two dual meets – we lost against two highly-ranked teams. I was pretty pleased with our effort this weekend.”
CMU won three of the first five duals against ISU including wins at 133, 141 and 157 pounds.
No. 10 sophomore Zach Horan, No. 14 senior Joe Roth, No. 20 sophomore Lucas Smith and No. 9 junior Mike Ottinger each won all of their matches on Monday.
Borrelli said part of the reason why he thinks the team had so much success this weekend was because of the teams they faced.
“I just feel like we kind of rebounded pretty well," Borrelli said. “We wrestled hard and wrestled with more of a purpose. I think part of it was who we were wrestling. The teams we wrestled were good so they put us in situations where we had to wrestle. Sometimes in the conference, we don’t get that and we get tentative, which makes for some boring wrestling.”
Ottinger won a 4-3 decision over No. 8 Tanner Weatherman, while senior Craig Kelliher gave a big lift with a 14-3 major decision win, putting CMU ahead 19-9 with just two matches remaining.
ISU dominated in the upper weights with a 10-3 decision win at 197 pounds by No. 1 Kyven Gadsen and a pin at heavyweight.
MATCH TWO
In the afternoon dual with No. 13 Virginia Tech, the Chippewas held strong until the final matches.
CMU held a 15-9 advantage with four matches left, but were unable to hold onto the lead due in part to the Hokies getting a pin at 184 pounds and a major decision victory at heavyweight.
Horan, Roth, Smith and Ottinger continued their successful day with wins.
No. 16 freshman Corey Keener continued to struggle with a loss. He finished 0-4 in the tournament and is winless in his last five matches.
Smith recorded a pin at 157, giving CMU the 12-6 lead.
Ottinger won the last match of the tournament by a 10-5 decision at 174-pounds. He finished at 3-1 in the tournament.
Borrelli said Horan, Roth, Ottinger and Smith were the most consistent wrestlers throughout the two-day tournament.
“They had a lot to do with our success this weekend,” Borrelli said. “All of them wrestled really good. Joe, Zach, Luke and Mike were kind of the glue that held us together the whole weekend.”
Wins by two ranked opponents at 184 and 197 pounds that included a pin and a major decision sealed the win for Virginia Tech.
CMU will travel back home to finish out the regular season at 2 p.m. Saturday, hosting Michigan State.
