Wrestlers come away empty
Chris McCarty
That is how Head Coach Tom Borrelli explains the CMU wrestling team’s performance at this year’s NCAA Tournament.
“All year long we talked about getting three All-Americans and finishing in the top 10. We didn’t do either of those things, and any time you don’t accomplish your goals, it’s disappointing,” Borrelli said.
As a team, the Chippewas wrestlers posted a 7-12 record at the tournament, with only two of the six wrestlers not having a losing record.
“We weren’t committed enough to wrestling well at this tournament. We have to be committed to wrestling well here, and not just in our conference,” Borrelli said.
“I look at our team and I see a lot of potential, but we just don’t have that level of commitment.”
Borrelli said he does see room for improvement and still expects big things from next year’s team.
“When we look at the present we always compare it to the past. The year we took fifth in the nation, the year before that we sent three wrestlers to Nationals and earned six team points,” Borrelli said.
“This year, we sent six and finished with seven-and-a-half team points. So, we definitely have the people to be there next year. We have four national qualifiers here returning and one from two years ago that is coming back from injury, so we’ll definitely have the wrestlers.”
The increased level of commitment will begin right away for the CMU wrestlers.
“We have to have a great spring and get stronger, along with a good summer. We have to be ready for the national tournament,” Borrelli said.
Along with the lack of commitment, Borrelli also sighted a lax schedule for a possibility in the team’s lackluster performance.
“We’re going to look at next year’s schedule. We have got to wrestle a tougher schedule,” Borrelli said.
“You look at our schedule this year and we faced six ranked opponents, but we lost to six ranked opponents. We have to start winning those duals.”
This was the second time in a row the CMU wrestling team traveled to the NCAA Tournament to come home without any All-Americans.
The Chippewas top finish came from Jordan Webster, who found himself just two wins shy of the coveted honor that goes to the top eight wrestlers in each weight class.
Webster lost to Corey Ace of Edinboro University 5-4 in the third round of the consolation brackets.
Webster and Ace wrestled back and forth for three periods, and were tied after time expired at four points apiece, but with 1:19 in riding time in Ace’s favor, the bonus point put him over the top.
Webster beat Ace in both matches they had this season prior to Friday. He beat him at the National Duals 8-7 on Jan. 19 and 3-2 on Feb. 10.
Ace’s previous knowledge of Webster proved the defining point, as every effort Webster made for a takedown in the final moments was thwarted by Ace.
Webster defeated Dan Hyman of Lehigh University in the consolation bracket’s second round, 10-7.
Webster led 5-1 after the second period, but Hyman came right back to close the score to as close as 8-7. In the final 10 seconds of the match, Webster clinched the win with a takedown.
Jason Mester and Ty Morgan both bowed out in the second rounds of their consolation brackets.
The 141-pound Mester lost to Gabe Vigil of Boise State in his first match. Morgan lost to Karl Nadolsky from Michigan State at 149 pounds. Morgan’s loss to Nadolsky was his third of the season.
Nadolsky beat Morgan by a combined score of 17-6 in their three matches this season.
At heavyweight, senior Jack Leffler lost his first match of the day and the final one of his career. Leffler dropped his match to Boise State’s Boe Rushton. After the clock expired, Leffler lost to Rushton 4-2 with riding time. Leffler’s last-ditch efforts were thwarted as a last-second takedown was called too late by the officials.
CMU returns nine of 10 wrestlers from this year’s Mid-American Conference championship team, with Leffler being the lone senior on the squad. Next year’s team will include three conference champions and a total of eight NCAA tournament appearances.
