While the Chippewas haven’t gotten off to their intended start, they are still in good shape despite a young, injury-plagued roster and intense travel schedule.

CMU has yet to wrestle in front of its home crowd this season, wrestling more than two months already in six different states, which can take a toll on athletes. Traveling cuts practice time down and throws off sleep schedules, while making it more challenging to make weight on the road.

The competition has also been top of the line. Five of the team’s six dual meet losses came to opponents ranked as the top 20 teams in the nation, including No. 1 Cornell University.

“Its tough on our guys to put them in such tough situations to be successful, but hopefully it’ll pay off by the end of this year and for the future,” said head coach Tom Borrelli. “We’re wrestling the right guys right now and we’re improving.”

CMU will face its final Top-20 team Sunday when it hosts No. 18 Michigan, and from there the team will wrestle in front of their home crowd four more times.

With seven matches still to be wrestled before the Mid-American Conference Championships, the team holds a 1-0 conference record and its hopes of winning a 10th straight MAC title are still very much alive.

Borrelli has had to shift guys around all season to make up for injuries and to see what his young guys could do under pressure.

Offseason shoulder surgery and a knee injury have held senior All-American Mike Miller out of the majority of competition this season, though his return to practice this week has Borrelli hopeful for his return to the lineup for Sunday’s match against the Wolverines.

Other injuries have affected the lineup, including redshirt freshmen Adam Miller, who filled in for Mike as the 165-pounder before suffering an ankle injury. Kyle Waldo has also been out for an extended time with a stomach issue.

In the senior’s absence, a handful of other upperclassmen have stepped up.

Junior Jarod Trice (No. 3) and sophomore Ben Bennett (No. 5) have acted as a strong base for the young Chippewa team, both only falling to the top-ranked of their respective weight classes.

Trice holds a 7-1 dual meet record this season, his lone loss coming in a 2-1 overtime decision to Lehigh’s Zach Rey. The only blemish on Bennett’s 8-1 record is a 6-2 loss to Cornell’s Mack Lewnes in the first dual meet of the season.

Sophomore Scotti Sentes has delivered bonus points for CMU in all of his dual meet victories, winning four matches by major decisions and two by pins.

Although there’s still a vacancy for the starting role at the 125-pound weight class, sophomore Christian Cullinan has stepped in to give his team and early lead in four of his five dual meet appearances, holding a 4-1 record.

The team’s record doesn’t exactly give an accurate overview of the 2010-11 season thus far, though CMU has slipped from No. 6 in the country to 12.

Borrelli describes the team as more of a tournament team than a dual-meet team this season due to a couple holes in its starting lineup, though he’s confident they are improving in that aspect.

With the next two matches scheduled against interstate rivals Michigan and Michigan State, two wins would be huge for a team looking for that momentum boost to push it through the rest of conference competition.

“We’ve got a nice little stretch coming up, but we can’t over look anyone because we’ve got a target on our back,” Trice said. “We’ve beat a lot of teams in the past and all these teams are tired of little ole’ Central Michigan beating them.”