2008 Woodie Awards
Wrestling takes down UTC, 26-11
By: Aaron Vigneault
Issue date: 2/18/08 Section: Sports
Eric Kruger was just beginning his Sunday afternoon warm-up when he was told it was time to wrestle at Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Fresh out of the locker room and without much of a chance to prepare, Kruger, ranked No. 11, handed No. 13 Cody Cleveland his first loss in six matches. Kruger's 7-2 decision gave the Chippewas (14-2 overall) a 12-0 lead against the No. 18 Mocs and helped set the tone for a 26-11 CMU win.
"I was getting ready to warm up, and (Casey Cunningham) told me I was up. Wrestling a guy that is just a few points behind me in the rankings - it was nice to get the win," Kruger said.
The 141-pound Kruger had expected to do his warm-up during sophomore Conor Beebe's match in the 133-pound weight class, but the match never happened.
"We didn't realize they were going to forfeit 133," said coach Tom Borrelli. "They had weighed in another 125-pounder, and we thought (Beebe) was going to wrestle one of those guys. I don't know why they didn't wrestle on of them, but that caught us off guard a little bit."
Borrelli thinks the Mocs were weighing in a wrestler they never intended to wrestle in an attempt to catch Kruger by surprise, but he was pleased with the way Kruger performed.
"We felt Kruger responded real well without time to warm up," Borrelli said. "They were trying to throw us off guard, but Kruger did a good job and kind of dominated the match."
CMU didn't fare as well in the 149- and 157-pound weight classes. The Mocs gained six points with decisions against redshirt freshman Nathaniel Holt and sophomore Steve Brown.
Central Michigan took control of the match by winning five of the final six bouts.
Junior Trevor Stewart, ranked No. 6, won a major decision by shutting out Bond Davis 8-0 at 165 pounds.
Some of the team's wrestlers still are dealing with the flu. Junior Don Dryer competed in the 174-pound weight class while senior Brandon Sinnott gets healthy.
Dryer had a tough task against No. 14 Lloyd Rogers, who earned a technical fall, 25-9.
Fresh out of the locker room and without much of a chance to prepare, Kruger, ranked No. 11, handed No. 13 Cody Cleveland his first loss in six matches. Kruger's 7-2 decision gave the Chippewas (14-2 overall) a 12-0 lead against the No. 18 Mocs and helped set the tone for a 26-11 CMU win.
"I was getting ready to warm up, and (Casey Cunningham) told me I was up. Wrestling a guy that is just a few points behind me in the rankings - it was nice to get the win," Kruger said.
The 141-pound Kruger had expected to do his warm-up during sophomore Conor Beebe's match in the 133-pound weight class, but the match never happened.
"We didn't realize they were going to forfeit 133," said coach Tom Borrelli. "They had weighed in another 125-pounder, and we thought (Beebe) was going to wrestle one of those guys. I don't know why they didn't wrestle on of them, but that caught us off guard a little bit."
Borrelli thinks the Mocs were weighing in a wrestler they never intended to wrestle in an attempt to catch Kruger by surprise, but he was pleased with the way Kruger performed.
"We felt Kruger responded real well without time to warm up," Borrelli said. "They were trying to throw us off guard, but Kruger did a good job and kind of dominated the match."
CMU didn't fare as well in the 149- and 157-pound weight classes. The Mocs gained six points with decisions against redshirt freshman Nathaniel Holt and sophomore Steve Brown.
Central Michigan took control of the match by winning five of the final six bouts.
Junior Trevor Stewart, ranked No. 6, won a major decision by shutting out Bond Davis 8-0 at 165 pounds.
Some of the team's wrestlers still are dealing with the flu. Junior Don Dryer competed in the 174-pound weight class while senior Brandon Sinnott gets healthy.
Dryer had a tough task against No. 14 Lloyd Rogers, who earned a technical fall, 25-9.
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