Borrelli continues to impress
John Remus IIIThe wrestling team wasn’t supposed to be this good this early.
But, coach Tom Borrelli has a knack for getting the very best out of his athletes.
Borrelli is the staple of a wrestling program that has risen to national prominence during the past decade, yet still does not get the recognition it deserves.
He is recruiting to an arena that is one of the worst in the Mid-American Conference, to a city that isn’t very enticing and with a budget that is limited at best.
But year-after-year he continues to bring in high-caliber wrestlers and win MAC Championships.
CMU is off to one of its best starts in history. Last week’s No. 6 ranking was the highest mid-season ranking ever.
Coupled with the team’s hot start is the wrestling of sophomore 197-pounder Wynn Michalak.
Michalak is 18-0 this season and ranked No. 1 in his weight class. He finished first at both the Reno Tournament and the prestigious Midlands during break.
The Caro native was the first freshman in any CMU sport to earn All-American honors last season.
And many people were saying before the season that this was supposed to be the Chippewas’ down year.
They lost four seniors from last season, including four-time national qualifier and former All-American David Bolyard and All-Americans Mitch Hancock and Bill Stouffer.
But Borrelli, as he always seems to do, restocked the roster with talented freshmen and put more of a leadership role on his sophomore class.
As much as the athletes are credited for their accomplishments, it is Borrelli who makes this all run smoothly.
Like every smaller sport coach at CMU, he is on a one-year contract that is renewed at the end of the season.
For the past 15 years it has been renewed, but for a coach of his immense stature he is sure to be getting calls from bigger universities.
One thing that might affect his decision is that his son Jason Borrelli graduates after this season. He also could be waiting for a job to open somewhere in the Midwest at a Big Ten school.
Either way, new Athletics Director David Heeke better find a way to keep him in Mount Pleasant.
His record speaks for itself, and he also has coached one national champion and 18 All-Americans in his 15 seasons.
Most importantly, his teams get the job done in the classroom. They have finished in the top 16 academically the past 13 seasons.
Tom Borrelli is the face of CMU wrestling and if he were to leave, his legacy would be hard to replace.
And this weekend, as his team travels to the National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa, he has a chance to add another accolade to his already overflowing résumé.
So for the many people who didn’t expect the team to be this good, they shouldn’t be surprised.
But for that success to continue in the future, Borrelli is the key ingredient.
Sports Editor Nathan Mueller can be reached at sports@cm-life.com.
