No. 4 Missouri hands 19th-ranked Chippewas first conference loss


Missouri 26, Central Michigan 9


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Madison Heights senior Jackson Lewis gets pinned down by his Missouri opponent at Central Michigan's wrestling game in McGurick Arena, Sunday, January 17, 2016. 

The Missouri Tigers showed why they are the fourth-ranked wrestling team in the country, dominating the 19th-ranked Chippewas 26-9 Sunday at McGurik Arena.

“We (were) wrestling a good team, but we still have to figure out how to score points,” said Head Coach Tom Borrelli. “We have to figure out how to win. We have to get to those guys and take them down.”

Central Michigan (5-2, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) lost the first four matches of the meet to fourth-ranked Missouri (9-0, 6-0 MAC) and could not overcome the deficit.

Sophomore Brent Fleetwood (125) lost the opening match to No. 8 Barlow McGhee 9-3. McGhee had two takedowns in the third period.

The 133-pound, 141-pound and 149-pound matches all ended in one-point decisions. Junior Corey Keener (133) fell to No. 9 Zach Synon 5-4 in overtime, senior No. 14 Zach Horan (141) lost to No. 5 Matt Manley 2-1 in overtime and junior No. 12 Colin Heffernan (149) lost 5-4 to No. 3 Lavion Mayes.

It was Heffernan’s first match since getting injured Dec. 20 at the Reno Tournament of Champions. Heffernan came from behind in the third period with a takedown and escape to cut the lead to one, but was unable to tie the match with Mayes (18-0).

“I thought (Heffernan) did fine. I’m sure he would have liked to have won, but it was a quality opponent,” Borrelli said.

Senior No. 15 Luke Smith (157) put the Chippewas on the board in the fifth match of the meet with a 3-2 victory over Le’Roy Barnes. Smith had a one-point lead late in the third period when he scored a takedown while being wrapped around Barnes’ back. Barnes had a late reversal, but could not close the gap in time.

“You just gotta take what he gives you and go from there,” Smith said. “The reversal at the end shouldn’t have happened. I gotta finish matches better.”

One bright spot for CMU came when senior No. 11 Mike Ottinger (174) defeated No. 9 Blaise Butler 3-2. The two were tied 1-1 halfway through the third period when Butler went for the legs and Ottinger used his quickness to get around Butler and get the takedown. 

Ottinger has now beaten the 174-pound class's ninth-ranked wrestler in back-to-back meets. He defeated Cody Walters of Ohio last Sunday in CMU's 16-15 win over the 21st-ranked Bobcats.

“(Ottinger) is very hard to score on. He knows how to wrestle when he’s tired so he’s not scared of that,” Borrelli said. “He feels what the other guy is trying to do to him and he counters that. The kid from Missouri got aggressive and Mike spun behind him.”

No. 2 J’Den Cox (197) validated his ranking with a dominating performance over CMU’s Jackson Lewis, winning 16-3. Cox was on top almost the entire match and controlled the pace throughout.

CMU Sophomore Newton Smerchek finished the meet with a 4-0 victory over James Romero to close close out the match.

“We’re too worried about losing instead of making things happen. If you make things happen, good things happen,” Borrelli said.

With Sunday's loss, the MAC regular season title chances took a hit for the Chippewas with only three conference dual meets remaining. 

The team heads to Michigan on Friday. After that, CMU has a week off before heading to Northern Iowa and Iowa State Jan. 29 and Jan. 31.

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