CMU fell behind early 4-0, but responded with seven straight points.  Freshman Zach Horan earned a 12-4 major decision at 133-pounds, and sophomore Scott Mattingly won his match 6-2 at 141-pounds.

“He wrestled good from a front headlock,” head coach Tom Borrelli said of Horan’s performance.  “He was very good on top and very good defensively, and on his feet.”

CMU redshirt freshman Anthony Bill later broke a 10-10 tie with a 7-4 decision.

Junior Ben Bennett followed Bill’s performance with a pin at the 1:05 minute mark, stretching the Chippewas lead to 19-10.

Senior Peter Sturgeon sealed the win for CMU with a 17-5 major decision at 285-pounds.

“Sturgeon wrestled real well,” Borrelli said.  “He probably had around six or seven takedowns, and was a lot more offensive than he has been.”

CMU will have a quick turnaround as its back in action tomorrow when it travels to Norfolk, Va. to face Old Dominion.

“I know making weight with a little bit of time between matches is going to be tough on these guys,” Borrelli said.  “We just felt like we needed to rest some of our guys because it’s tough to make weight back-to-back.”

Craig Kelliher

Central Michigan wrestler Craig Kelliher was ruled ineligible to wrestle at 174-pounds for the remainder of the season.

Although he has remained in compliance with the NCAA Wrestling Weight Loss Certification Plan guidelines, Kelliher’s competition in four matches at 174 pounds violated NCAA wrestling bylaw 8.3.5.4.  It states: “A wrestler weighing in two weight classes above an original certified weight class shall forfeit his or her right to return to the original wrestled weight class.”

“It wasn’t brought to my attention until this week,” head coach Tom Borrelli said.  “Unfortunately I’m to blame for that because I didn’t give him really good advice.  I wasn’t really aware you couldn’t wrestle two weight-classes up even if you were following your weight decent.”

Kelliher initially certified at the 174-pound weight class prior to the 2011-12 season.  However, he wrestled unattached to CMU in the 197-pound weight class at the Eastern Michigan Open on Nov. 5, 2011.  He wrestled three matches at 197 pounds at the tournament. Kelliher also competed in four dual meets for CMU at the 174-pound weight class between Dec.10, 2011 and Jan.22, 2012.

“It was an honest mistake,” Borrelli said.  “Craig Kelliher had nothing to do with it.  He did everything right.  It’s just unfortunate.”

Kelliher’s results for those matches are vacated, but team scores and all other results for those four dual meets are not changed.

He is still able to compete at any weight class above 174-pounds for the current season.

He will be able to begin wrestling at 174-pounds again next season.

Craig Kelliher

Central Michigan University wrestler Criag Kelliher wrestled in four matches at 174-pounds, but he competed in the Eastern Michigan Open at 197 pounds unattached to CMU.

Before the season CMU cleared him to weigh at 174 which is two weight classes down from the 197 class. Kelliher’s four matches will be vacated, but the team results will not change.

NCAA guidelines state: “A wrestler weighing in two weight classes above an original certified weight class shall forfeit his or her right to return to the original wrestled weight class.”

Kelliher was 2-1 in the Mid-American Conference and earned a pin against Buffalo. In both MAC duels that he won during CMU won by at least 15.

Ben Bennett and the rest of the Chippewas can capture another MAC title on Sunday. (Andrew Kuhn/Staff Photographer)

The Central Michigan wrestling team faces two ranked opponents this weekend with Sunday’s meet having the Mid-American Conference regular season title on the line.

CMU will host No. 14 Lehigh at 7:30 p.m. Friday before traveling to No. 16 Kent State in a pivotal MAC matchup at 2:05 p.m. Sunday.

The Chippewas can earn the outright MAC regular season title with a win at Kent State.  It would be their 13^th MAC title in 14 seasons.

Head coach Tom Borrelli knows Kent State will not be an easy environment to play in.

“I know the crowd will be hostile,” Borelli said.  “But I think our guys are used to that.”

Borrelli said he wants his team to maintain focus on what it has been working on all season.

“Really, we’re just working on the same things, kind of adding on to some of the things we’ve been trying to build on all season long,” he said.  “We’re not really focused on outcomes as much as we are improving our technique, our conditioning and just improving our match strategy.  You win and lose based on how good those things are.”

Despite having a young team, Borrelli said his wrestlers shouldn’t have a difficult time adjusting to the pressure.

“I think we put our guys in those situations enough times,” Borrelli said. “This past weekend was one of those situations.  You try and put each individual in those high profile situations so that when they get to the national tournament or get to the finals of the conference, then it’s just another match to them.”

The Kent State lineup will feature fifth-year senior Nic Bedelyon at 125-pounds and freshman Ian Miller at 149-pounds.  Bedelyon is 23-2 overall and Miller is 23-3.  Both are 2-0 in the MAC.

“There are a number of matchups that are going to be interesting to see in both the Lehigh match and the Kent State match,” Borrelli said.  “The difference is you’ll see the Kent State matchups again in the conference tournament, probably.”

Friday’s dual will feature a bout between a pair of top-five ranked opponents at 184-pounds.  No. 5 Ben Bennett will look to avenge his 5-2 loss at the Midlands Championships Dec. 30 against No. 4 Robert Hamlin of Lehigh.

“I’m not going to change a whole lot,” Bennett said.  “I’ve got to keep getting to my attacks and finish solid.”

Lehigh has another top-five ranked wrestler, senior Zach Rey. He is 15-1 overall and ranked third at 285-pounds.

The Chippewas are 24-19 all-time against Kent State, and have won 13 of the past 14 meetings.

They are 2-2 all-time against Lehigh.

The Central Michigan wrestling team has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success this season.

But in order to be labeled as one of the top teams in the nation, it must beat other top-quality opponents.

CMU lost 23-14 against the University of Michigan Sunday, after defeating Northern Illinois 24-9 on Friday.

“I thought we competed very hard,” head coach Tom Borrelli said.  “But I felt like in a few matches we beat ourselves instead of them beating us. We didn’t keep our composure and we took some bad shots.”

The Chippewas had a chance to tie or win the meet Sunday trailing by three points going into the heavyweight bout. But Michigan wrestler Ben Apland halted the Chippewas comeback attempt by pinning senior Peter Sturgeon at the five minute mark.

CMU fell to 12-3 overall, but are still 4-0 in Mid-American Conference action at beating NIU.

Borrelli does not think fatigue played a role in the loss.

“I felt like we were pretty fresh,” Borrelli said.  “Our conditioning held up well today.”

For the second time in three days, sophomore Joe Roth gave the Chippewas a 4-0 lead by earning a major decision over sophomore Grant Pizzo.

The Wolverines countered with three-straight decisions taking the 10-4 lead.

CMU tied the score at 10 with decisions by junior Donnie Corby and freshman Mike Ottinger.  Ottinger improved his record to 14-6 overall.

“The thing Mike does is he is really hard to take down and then he capitalizes on your mistakes,”  Borrelli said.

U-M would later break a 14-14 tie with redshirt freshman Max Huntley defeating senior Chad Friend at 197 pounds.

“I feel like we are making progress,” Borrelli said. “I think we can get much better, but I’m happy about our progress.”

The Wolverines are ranked 10 in the NWCA/USA Today coaches’ poll, CMU is at 19.

CMU beats NIU Friday

On Friday, Roth started the scoring by posting eight takedowns en route to a 17-8 major decision against NIU sophomore Nick Smith.

Redshirt freshman Tyler Keselring followed with 12-1 major decision of his own extending the Chippewas lead to 8-0.

“I really just executed on my feet really well and was able to get to my shots and take him down,” Keselring said.

CMU junior Ben Bennett also had a 14-4 major decision over sophomore Shane Rosenberry. Bennett  is ranked fifth in the nation at 184 pounds.

Sturgeon capped the MAC victory for CMU with a 2-1 decision in overtime against sophomore Jared Torrence.

“He’s had a lot of real big wins for us,” Borrelli said.  “The last couple of matches, Peter hasn’t really been himself.  But with what we have going on with Jarod Trice, he has been a kind of a Godsend almost.”

The Chippewas return home next 7:30 p.m. Friday to face Lehigh.

The Chippewas have also won at least a share of 12 of the past 13 MAC titles and 10 straight conference tournament championships.

“It just says that we are pretty competitive and working hard,” head coach Tom Borrelli said.  “I really don’t try to get caught up in that.  I try to get caught up in what we need to do from week to week.”

According to the MAC preseason rankings, the Chippewas were picked to finish second in the conference behind Kent State.

“We have a young team so every week is real important to us as far as improvement.”

Freshmen Mike Ottinger and Joey Kielbasa are a combined 30-15 on the season and earned themselves a frequent spot in the starting lineup.  Ottinger is 3-0 in MAC duals and is ranked first in the conference at 165 pounds.

“I think we are doing well,” redshirt freshman Tyler Keselring said.  “We’re on the right track and we’re doing things right in the room. We definitely can and hopefully we can receive another MAC Championship this year.”

Including Saturday’s victory against Northern Illinois, the Chippewas boast a 12-2 overall record while going 4-0 in MAC play.  They have outscored their opponents 92-42 in those matches.

Borrelli does not think the competition has been weaker either.

“I know our league is a lot more balanced this year than it has been,” Borrelli said.  “Last year it was very balanced too, but this year it might even be more balanced.”

CMU faces Kent State on Jan. 29.  Borrelli knows it will be a difficult opponent, but thinks his team will be ready.

“We’re going to compete hard and see what happens,” Borrelli said.

The last CMU conference loss came on Feb. 4, 2011 against Ohio.

Sophomore Joe Roth wrestles Northern Illinois University's Nick Smith in the 125 pound weight class Friday night at McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant. Roth beat Smith by a decision of 17-8, and the Chippewas beat the Huskies 24-9. (Andrew Kuhn/Staff Photographer)

Sophomore Joe Roth did what he has done for most of the season.

He was the catalyst for another Central Michigan wrestling victory by earning the squad a 4-0 lead early over Northern Illinois the Chippewas won 24-9 in Mount Pleasant Friday night.

Roth posted eight takedowns en route to a 17-8 major decision against sophomore Nick Smith.

Redshirt freshman Tyler Keselring followed with 12-1 major decision of his own extending the Chippewas lead to 8-0.

“I really just executed on my feet really well and was able to get to my shots and take him down,” Keselring said.

The Chippewas improved to 12-2 overall and 4-0 in the Mid-American Conference.

“I thought we were real competitive in every match,” said head coach Tom Borrelli.  “Even the three matches we lost, they were competitive matches.  It takes a lot to beat us.”

CMU junior Ben Bennett also had a 14-4 major decision over sophomore Shane Rosenberry which improved his record to 20-2 on the season.  He is ranked fifth in the country at 184 pounds.

Senior Peter Sturgeon capped the victory for CMU with a 2-1 decision in overtime against sophomore Jared Torrence.

“He’s had a lot of real big wins for us,” Borrelli said.  “The last couple of matches, Peter hasn’t really been himself.  But with what we have going on with Jarod Trice, he has been a kind of a Godsend almost.”

The Chippewas will travel to Ann Arbor on Sunday to face the University of Michigan at 2 p.m.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for our guys,” Chippewas coach Tom Borrelli said. “Move up in the rankings, make a name for themselves and get a victory against a quality opponent.”

No. 19 CMU will host the Huskies Friday at 7:30 p.m. before traveling to Ann Arbor to wrestle the Wolverines 2 p.m. Sunday.

InterMat has seven Michigan wrestlers placed in the top-20 in their respective weight division. Undefeated NIU wrestler Brad Dieckhaus dropped out of the rankings because he did not participate in the Huskies last duel.

In the next 3-of-4 CMU matches the opponents are ranked in the NWCA/USA Today Coaches Team Poll.  The Chippewas believe they are up for the challenge.

“Just take it one match at a time, battle, keep it close, and beat them at the end,” CMU wrestler Joey Kielbasa said. “That’s what you got to do against those really good guys.”

CMU No. 1 Ben Bennett and No. 2 Dieckhaus 184-pound matchup is in jeopardy as a result of Diekhaus having a foot injury.

“(Diekhaus) is close to 100 percent, but the coaches may decide to hold him back until after this weekend,” Huskies media relations member, Michael Benson said via email.

It would be the first meeting between the wrestlers as a result of Bennett moving up a weight class this season.

CMU Freshman Joey Kielbasa will wrestle Matt Smith of NIU who’s third in the MAC and No. 9 Eric Grajales of Michigan.

Kielbasa emerged from the shadows of fellow freshman Mike Ottinger in CMU last duel against Eastern Michigan.  He clinched an 11-3 decision that resulted in the last lead change of the duel.

“Very few true freshman start, so for him to be starting as a true freshman, both, him and Mike Ottinger is pretty unique,” Borrelli said. “For them to be competing on the level they’re competing on as a true freshman is really good.”

Kielbasa is becoming more acclimated to the college game.

“(The season) started off really slow. I’m starting to get into it a little bit. Starting to believe in myself a little bit,” Kielbasa said. “Hopefully my season starts going off like my last match.”

Two Chippewas were nearly Wolverines

Kielbasa and Bennett had thoughts of donning the maize and blue uniform before choosing the Chippewas.

But they both felt more comfortable with the coaches at CMU.

Kielbasa was closer to choosing Michigan.  He got acquainted with the Wolverines coaching staff.

“I decided (Central Michigan) was a better place for me.  Better coaches here,” he said. “I’m exited to wrestle Michigan.”

Wrestling head coach Tom Borrelli acknowledges his team must get back into their regular routine, but is also excited to see it get back in action Friday against Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti at 7 p.m.

“Any time you have this long of a break in wrestling, not that we haven’t been practicing, but just the whole routine if making weight, recovering and then wrestling an hour later, you worry about that a little bit,” Borrelli said.

The last CMU dual meet was Dec. 17 at the Bison Duals. The Chippewas went 3-0 against Sacred Heart, Princeton and Bucknell.

EMU enters the contest at 7-3 and is 1-0 in Mid-American Conference play.

“It will be good competition,” Borrelli said. “I am really interested to see if our guys have improved. I think we have had a good training session since the Midlands.”

After a 29-3 romp of the Eagles last season, EMU will have extra incentive to perform well this time.

“I think it’s a big match for them,” Borrelli said. “This is a matchup that they’re going to use to gauge where their program is going. ”

The Eagles feature a veteran roster led by redshirt senior Andrew Novak and redshirt junior Aaron Sulzer. Novak is 13-6 this season at 133 pounds and Sulzer is 14-4 at 157 pounds.

“We need to be aggressive,” Borrelli said. “We need to wrestle from the positions we are good from and stay away from the things they do well.”

Another intriguing matchup is the rematch between sophomore Joe Roth and Eagles’ Jared Germaine. They squared off at the Midlands two weeks ago and Roth won 7-2.

Borrelli hopes to see a few breakout performances from sophomore’s Scott Mattingly and Craig Kelliher.

“We have some guys in our lineup that we feel are ready to turn the corner,” he said.

CMU is 59-3 all time against EMU.

Sophomore setter Kelly Maxwell celebrates with teammates after winning 3-2 over NIU at the MAC Championships Nov. 20 in Geneva, Ohio. (Adam Niemi/Staff Photographer)

Central Michigan athletics claimed three Mid-American Conference titles this past season, and a regular season MAC-West crown in baseball.

Wrestling, volleyball and gymnastic also won MAC championships.

For wrestling it was the squad’s 10th straight conference title.

“For us to win the championship we needed every single point of every single match …,” said head coach Tom Borrelli. “It was a total team victory.”

Later that same month CMU gymnastics won its second consecutive MAC title in McGuirk Arena on March 20.

Posting a season-high 195.600, the Chippewas made their mark on this season’s MAC tournament title. It was their 12th conference title, and claimed individual winners in the balance beam, floor exercise, uneven bars and the all-around categories.

Volleyball won the program’s first ever MAC championship on Nov. 20.

“This is ours, it is what the team kept saying going into every timeout and every break,” said eight-year head coach Erik Olson. “This win puts CMU on the volleyball map with our first championship in history.”

The Chippewas had to beat No. 16 Northern Illinois in the MAC Championship game. It took a fifth and deciding set, but CMU upset the top-seeded Huskies.

“Our whole team was on fire tonight,” Kelly Maxwell said. “We always talk about how we have to put everything together and this was the time to do it and we did.”

The baseball team couldn’t take the MAC tournament title, but during the regular season they won their division. Much of that was thanks to pitcher Jake Sabol, who was since drafted by the Detroit Tigers.

In the MAC-West clinching game Sabol threw a complete game only allowing two runs in a 5-2 victory for CMU.

“For it to come to down to the final game of the season and for him to be the guy and go out there and throw like that, it makes you feel so good for him and all the time and effort he put in to get to this level,” head coach Steve Jaksa said. “It’s a great accomplishment for him.”