Wrestling seeks to find identity in intrasquad meet
Oregon, Ohio freshmen Matt Stencel wins the finals to become the MAC champion on Mar. 4 in McGuirk Arena.
Central Michigan wrestling kicked off the 2018-19 season with a Maroon and Gold intrasquad meet Oct. 29 at McGuirk Arena.
The Maroon Team knocked off the Gold Team 23-13 in the preseason meet. Maroon took an 8-0 lead early on. The Gold Team stormed back and cut the deficit to one point at 8-7, but never got closer.
“The matches went kind of the way I thought they would,” said head coach Tom Borelli. “(Weight class) 133 was a real competitive match. There’s going to be a new guy there and it was nice to see those two guys be close and be competitive. Those guys will probably go back and forth a couple of times before we decide in March who our guy is.”
Borelli also touched on the 165 is the same way for the Chippewas saying that it’s good that, “those guys are so competitive with each other which will help them improve and stay sharp throughout the year.”
The Chippewas are loaded with young talent and understand that they need to focus on improving as the year begins. Sophomore Matt Stencel is considered a leader of his team, and is excited for one thing to begin the season.
“(I've been) giving it my all, even in practice,” Stencel said.
Stencel also touched on that scoring bonus points would help the team going forward, he wants to see aggressive strategies and not just holding on to win matches.
Results
To kick off the evening, sophomore Drew Hildebrandt (125) secured the Maroon Team’s first points as he defeated freshman Zach Shupp by major decision, 15-1.
Sophomore Deven Perez (133) followed his teammate’s victory with one of his own as he scored points in each round and defeated redshirt freshman Brock Bergelin 4-3 and brought the Maroon Team’s lead to 8-0.
After a scoreless first period, redshirt freshman Drew Marten (141) claimed the Gold Team’s first points as he scored a victory over freshman Corbyn Munson by decision 6-2.
Redshirt freshman Kam Bush (149) secured another Gold Team victory over redshirt freshman Luke Raczkowski by major decision 11-2 and brought the overall score to 8-7 Maroon.
Junior Logan Parks (157) turned the tide in the next match as he defeated freshman Tracy Hubbard 16-2 by major decision.
Another scoreless period in the 165-pound weight class saw redshirt freshman Bret Fedewa secured another three points for the Maroon Team as he defeated sophomore Blake Montrie 2-1 after being awarded riding time.
Redshirt freshman Collin Lieber dominated the 174-pound weight class with a 5-0 win over sophomore Sage Castillo.
Senior Jordan Atienza (184) defeated freshman Ben Cushman by major decision 10-2 to push the Maroon Team’s lead to 19-10.
Sophomore Landon Pelham (197) fought a close match and won against redshirt freshman Jacob Gray by decision 7-4.
Stencel (HWT) ended the night with an 8-0 major decision over redshirt freshman Nick Jenkins.
The Chippewas kick the season off at the Michigan State Open at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 3 at the Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing, Michigan.
