Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 3/19/08 Section: Sports

Clockwise from top left, seniors Wynn Michalak, Brandon Carter, Bubba Gritter, Christian Sinnott, Luke Smith, Brandon Sinnott and coach Tom Borrelli are looking to establish the wrestling team as a national power Thursday at the NCAA Championships. [Click to enlarge]

Senior 184-pounder Christian Sinnott is a No. 4 seed in the 2008 NCAA Championships. Sinnott and the Chippewas have been one of the best dual meet teams in the nation the last few years, but are looking to make a run in the postseason this year. [Click to enlarge]

Seven seniors have built the CMU wrestling program into a national power in the last four years.

During their tenure at CMU, Brandon Carter, Luke Smith, Brandon Sinnott, Christian Sinnott, Wynn Michalak and Bubba Gritter have elevated the CMU program to a level it has never reached before. The Chippewas finished the season ranked No. 2 in the dual meet coaches poll, the program's highest-ever rank.

After conference titles and countless accolades, perhaps the most important three days in the program's history begins Thursday at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.

Coach Tom Borrelli believes it's time for the program to reach another plateau as the veterans depart.

"We've been a good dual meet team the last few years. We've proven that we can compete with anyone in the country in a dual, but we haven't really proven that we can do that in a tournament," Borrelli said. "We won Reno and were third in Midlands this year, but I think still in the traditional wrestling people's minds we're not a tournament power yet, until we prove it."

Central finished last season's national championships in 15th place. It finished with 37 points and had three All-Americans - Brandon Sinnott, Gritter and Mike Miller, who did not compete this season because of an Olympic redshirt. In 2006, Central finished 26th with 26 points.

CMU has historically had success in dual meets. But this season, the Chippewas have several individuals who believe they can go deep in the tournament.

Christian Sinnott and Michalak are No. 4 seeds, Brandon Sinnott is a No. 5 seed, Gritter is a No. 8 seed and junior 165-pounder Trevor Stewart is a No. 9 seed.

Brandon Sinnott is a three-time MAC champion and a returning All-American at 174 pounds. Sinnott went undefeated in the MAC this season and finished with a 28-3 record, but does not believe his work at CMU will be complete unless his team makes a statement in St. Louis.

"This weekend is big. We're trying not to put that much pressure on ourselves and I'm just going to go out there to have fun," he said. "We've had one of the best finishes that Central's ever had, so this is huge for coach Borrelli and the future of the program. We want to start a dynasty here."

This season, Carter, Brandon Sinnott, Christian Sinnott, Michalak and Gritter all won individual MAC titles.

Smith, a two-time MAC champion at 125 pounds, did not have the same success in the conference tournament. He lost his opening match to Eastern Michigan's Andrew Novak before battling back to finish third. Despite the objection of many MAC coaches, Smith was awarded one of the MAC's at-large bids to the NCAA Championships.

"I know what it's like to think that your season is over," Smith said. "It's a horrible feeling that I don't want to have again. I feel like I've been given another chance and I still feel like when I wrestle my best I can beat anybody."

CMU's MAC dual meet undefeated streak stands at 29. This season's championship was the Chippewas' 10th consecutive.

"We're pretty happy with what we've done here, but we're not going to be satisfied unless we leave with a national championship," he said. "No one remembers what you do in the regular season. No one will remember that we were No. 2 in duals at the end of the year. They'll remember how we did at nationals."


sports@cm-life.com

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