Central splits vs. Ivy teams
The wrestling team was one match away from upsetting the No. 8 Pennsylvania Quakers and an Ivy League sweep this weekend.
Sunday
Penn 20, CMU 15
After a close loss at 157 pounds and a chance fall at 184 pounds, the Chippewas lost a heart-breaker to Pennsylvania, 20-15, at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Pa.
“Our guys wrestled really, really well and we had a couple calls take us out of the match,” said Head Coach Tom Borrelli.
“Our guys are frustrated with the outcome of the match, but that’s good. I’d rather have them frustrated than happy with it.”
CMU lost the match despite holding an initial 12-point advantage after the first four matches.
“I told our guys I felt Penn was a little overranked and that I thought we could show that,” Borrelli said.
“Our whole thing is we’re trying to get some respect. If we had some of our guys that are out like Kevin Carr, Alex Lammers or Brett Faustman, then I think people would have to notice us.”
The match started with CMU posting back-to-back wins over two of Penn’s five ranked wrestlers.
In the first bout it was heavyweight Jack Leffler with a 6-4 win over No. 14 Matt Feast. Leffler scored takedowns in the first and second period to put the Chippewas up 3-0 over the Quakers.
Following Leffler was Jason Borrelli at 125 pounds. Borrelli upset No. 8 Mason Lenhard with a 6-1 decision.
The freshman used five third- period points to down Lenhard and push the Chippewas lead to six after two matches.
CMU continued to roll with wins from Jordan Webster at 133 and Jason Mester at 141 pounds.
The No. 15 Webster beat Jeff Eveleth 9-4 and Mester beat Brett Vanderveer 4-2 to push CMU’s lead to 12-0 over Penn.
The Quakers got on the board for the first time at 149 pounds with No. 10 Joe Henson scoring a 12-1 major decision over Ty Morgan.
At 157 pounds No. 2 Yoshi Nakamura went up against CMU’s No. 19 David Bolyard.
Bolyard led most of the match 3-2. Inside of the last minute, Bolyard was called for stalling while attempting a shot and the penalty point tied the match at three.
Then, as Bolyard attempted another shot, Nakamura counted and scored a match-winning takedown.
Penn continued to roll, winning the next three matches including a key fall at 184 pounds.
Tony Gansen was wrestled up a weight class from his usual 174 pounds. Gansen led going into the final period and was pinned at 6:31 by Marcus Schintube.
“There was a struggle after a takedown and Tony (Gansen) ended up on his back and the ref called him pinned,” Borrelli said.
The match ended with CMU’s one true freshman Bill Stouffer earning a 2-1 victory over Mike Faust in sudden-victory overtime.
Four CMU wrestlers posted a perfect 2-0 on the weekend: Leffler, Jason Borrelli, Mester and Webster.
Friday
CMU 34
Princeton 7
The Chippewas dominated their first taste of Ivy League competition Friday night at Princeton when they beat the Tigers.
Princeton’s wins came from No. 6 Greg Parker at 174 pounds and Matt Fisher at 197 pounds.
CMU returns to action this Sunday when it travels to Kent, Ohio, where it will attempt to capture its fourth consecutive MAC regular season title and end its third consecutive undefeated conference season.
