Wrestling takes down No. 15 Illinois, falls to No. 11 Oklahoma in day one of NWCA Nationals
Wrestling met mixed success against ranked opponents in the first day of the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals.
Central Michigan earned its second win over a ranked opponent in a 19-13 upset victory against No. 15 Illinois before losing 25-16 against No. 11 Oklahoma.
"We were really competitive today in both matches," said head coach Tom Borrelli. "Our guys wrestled a little more crisp and with a little more purpose in both matches."
In the victory over Illinois, CMU won six of its 10 matches, but was pinned twice against Oklahoma.
Sunday began with Illinois' No. 3 Jesse Delgado beating No. 16 freshman Corey Keener 11-4 at 125, but the Chippewas quickly bounced back and won four straight matches from the 133 to 157 weight classes to take a 13-3 lead.
"I feel like we wrestled with a lot better attitude," Borrelli said. "I felt like against Eastern Michigan we were real tentative and too concerned about winning and today we kind of just let ourselves wrestle a little bit more."
No. 14 Senior Joe Roth started the streak at 133-pounds with a 6-5 win by decision. Roth had two takedowns in the first period and took control early.
At 141 pounds, No. 10 sophomore Zach Horan battled into overtime to win his match. A takedown 26 seconds into overtime gave him the 7-5 win by decision.
The lead increased to 10 after No. 20 sophomore Lucas Smith scored four points for CMU with an 8-0 major decision at 157 pounds.
Over the past few weeks, Borrelli said freshman Nick Becker has been the most consistent wrestler for CMU.
This was not the case against No. 13 Jackson Morse, who soundly beat him by 14-2 major decision. Morse recorded four takedowns and three near fall points to get the major.
The final four matches split, leading to CMU winning at 174 and 184 pounds.
At 174, No. 9 junior Mike Ottinger had one his most dominant first periods of the season. He scored nine points starting off a takedown that his opponent reversed. Ottinger reversed him to his back to score a three-point near fall.
Match two
Against Oklahoma, Keener began the meet with a 9-2 loss to No. 7 Jarrod Patterson. Roth followed with a 10-7 decision against No. 7 Cody Brewer and Horan won his 141-pound match to take the lead.
CMU got wins at 157 and 184, both scoring extra points. Sophomore Lucas Smith won by major decision in a dominating 12-0 match, and senior Craig Kelliher pinned his opponent in the second period.
However, senior Scott Mattingly and sophomore Adam Robinson were pinned at 149 and heavyweight.
The NWCA Nationals continue Monday against Iowa State at 11 a.m.
