CMU sits seventh, three wrestlers remain undefeated after Day 1 at Midlands
Three Central Michigan wrestlers remain undefeated and another alive in the wrestleback round after Day 1 of the Midlands Championships Wednesday in Evanston, Ill.
Among the 11 competitors CMU brought to the two-day tournament at Northwestern University, all three wrestlers ranked in the top eight spots of their respective classes remain in the champions bracket.
No. 6 Scotti Sentes, No. 3 Ben Bennett and No. 7 Jarod Trice each posted three wins to open the tournament.
Sentes needed extra time to get the win in a close quarterfinals match, winning by a fall in overtime. The 133-pounder recorded 9-2 and 4-1 decisions in his first two matches of the day.
Bennett came up on top of a close quarterfinals match, using a 1-0 decision to advance into the semifinals of the 174-pound class. He won his first two matches with more ease, pinning his first opponent in 2:40, followed by a 10-0 major decision in the third round.
“If we continue to get real good production out of our returning All-Americans, we can have a good year,” said CMU head coach Tom Borrelli.
Defending Midlands heavyweight champ Trice came into the day as the sixth seed, knocking off his first two opponents by 4-0 and 3-2 decisions. The junior moved into the quarterfinals and upset No. 3 seed D.J. Russo (Rutgers) by a 9-3 decision.
“Heavyweight was a pretty good weight class at this tournament as far as rankings of our participants, and Trice wrestled real good,” Borrelli said.
Four other CMU wrestlers moved past the first session, but only sophomore Donnie Corby advanced to the second day of the tournament.
After a 3-2 loss to the eighth seed Joe Napoli, Corby bounced back with two wins, including a 6-0 decision to close out the day for CMU.
All-American Mike Miller did not compete, leaving the 165-pound slot without a CMU wrestler.
CMU finished Day 1 in seventh place with 43 points. Lehigh leads the way with 65 points, followed by Wisconsin with 58.5 points and Iowa with 52.5 points.
“I thought the team were really evenly matched, but I think the best two teams, Cornell and Penn State, were at the Southern Scuffle,” Borrelli said.
The Chippewas are one of 32 teams overall 14 ranked programs competing at Midlands. The NWCA/USA Today Coaches’ Poll ranks the Chippewas No. 17, while Intermat ranks them No. 25.
The wrestlers weigh in at 10 a.m. Thursday, with competition continuing at 1 p.m. with the semifinals and consolation round/seventh place matches.
