Wrestling snaps losing skid, knock off NIU to open MAC play
Central Michigan wrestling drops their losing skid with a convincing 34-6 win at Northern Illinois on Saturday night.
The Chippewas (2-3, 1-0 in Mid-American Conference) won eight out of 10 individual matches, including two pins, one technical fall and two major decisions.
NIU falls to 0-3 overall, 0-1 in MAC play.
“I was happy with the way we responded after last weekend,” said head coach Tom Borrelli. “We had an emphasis in practice to score more points in the third period.”
The first pin came at 141 pounds when No. 19 Mason Smith pinned Anthony Rubino 44 seconds into the second period.
The second pinfall came as an explanation point on the dual. Redshirt freshman Matt Stencel pinned redshirt sophomore Caleb Gossett 46 seconds into the match.
“He executed what we worked on on practice this week,” Borrelli said. “(Stencel) gave an impressive performancetonight.”
Junior Justin Oliver scored the meets lone technical fall. The No. 3 wrestler at 149 pounds knocked off Zachary Velasquez 19-4.
Seniors Jordan Ellingwood (No. 14 at 184) and CJ Brucki (No. 15 at 174)earned major decisions. Ellingwood knocked off Michael Aldrich 14-3, while Brucki defeated Quinton Rosser 12-4.
Redshirt freshman Dresden Simon earned a 2-1 victory over Alijah Jeffery, his first career win in MAC play.
Sophomore Logan Parks (165) earned an 11-4 victory over Andrew Scott. Junior Jordan Atienza (197) earned a 9-3 victory over Max Ihry.
The Huskies earned two individual wins over CMU, defeating redshirt freshmen Drew Hildebrandt and Blake Montrie. Hildebrandt (125) fell 4-2 to No. 20 Brock Hodkins, while Montrie (157) fell to Caden Mcwhiter 7-2.
CMU wrestling is back in action on Monday with a three-team dual meet against Purdue and SIUE in West Lafayette, Indiana at 1 p.m.
