Two Chippewas qualify for title matches tomorrow following day one of the Wrestling MAC Tournament
The first day of the Mid-American Conference Championships saw two Chippewas secure their spot in title matches on Sunday.
Senior Joe Roth will be wrestling for his second MAC title, his first at 133-pounds, against No. 1 Joe Colon of Northern Iowa. Roth defeated sophomore Vincent Pizzuto of Eastern Michigan in the semi-final match by decision, 8-3.
Roth’s first match in the quarterfinals was a 14-3 major decision victory. He scored 14 team points for CMU on Saturday.
Sophomore Lucas Smith won in sudden death in his 157-pound quarterfinal match 4-2 while also winning by decision 1-0 in the semifinal match over freshman Joseph LaVallee of Missouri.
Smith will be trying to win his first MAC title tomorrow in the final of the 157-pound weight class.
With 65.5 points through day one, CMU is currently sitting in fifth place in the tournament behind Northern Iowa with 97 points, Missouri (89.5), Ohio (81) and Old Dominion (79)
Four Chippewas will be trying to advance to the third place matches tomorrow including freshman Corey Keener at 125-pounds, Sophomore Zach Horan at 133-pounds, junior Mike Ottinger at 174-pounds and senior Nick Becker at 165-pounds.
Ottinger was looking to win his third consecutive MAC title, his first at 174-pounds, but he came up short in the semifinal match against sophomore Cody Walters of Ohio. He won by decision 5-4 in the quarterfinals, but lost in semifinals in a tiebreaker 3-2.
Three other Chippewas made it all the way to the semifinals in their weight class before eventually losing.
Keener lost in sudden death 11-6 to freshman Dylan Peters of Northern Iowa in the 125-pound division.
A 8-6 decision loss ended Horan’s quest for his second MAC title, his first in the 141-pound weight class. Horan lead CMU this season with 28 wins.
The final Chippewa to lose in the semifinals was Becker. He fell by major decision, 11-2.
After being ousted in the first round of the tournament several Chipppewas found success in the consolation rounds.
Senior Scott Mattingly lost in the quarterfinals to No. 1 Drake Houdashelt of Missori but bounced back in a big way with a 10-0 major decision win over freshman Ryan Todora of Buffalo in round two of the consolation bracket followed by a win by fall in the third round.
Other wrestlers still alive in the consolation bracket for CMU are sophomore Jackson Lewis at 195-pounds and senior Craig Kelliher at 184.
Kelliher has placed third in two of the last three MAC Tournaments at both 184 and 174-pounds.
Lewis secured a 7-6 decision victory in round two while Kelliher received a bye into the third round. Kelliher won by decision in round three 6-1 placing him in the semifinals tomorrow while Lewis lost in round three by decision 11-6.
