Wrestling takes care of NIU on road
No. 17 Central Michigan opened competition in the Mid-American Conference Thursday with a 21-13 win against Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Ill.
The Chippewas (2-4, 1-0 MAC) got off to a 10-point lead, winning their first three matches, starting with the heavyweight matchup. Junior Jarod Trice won a close battle by a 2-0 decision.
“There were certain situations in the match where their kid had a chance to get a takedown and Jarod scrambled hard to win the match,” said CMU head coach Tom Borrelli.
Sophomore Christian Cullinan won another close match at the 125-pound class by a 5-4 decision: a match Borrelli was extremely happy about.
“I can’t say enough about Christian Cullinan,” Borrelli said. “He beat a kid who came into the dual meet 16-5, and he just figured out how to win. It was huge for momentum to get us started.”
NIU (2-5) got on the board when Scott Mattingly suffered a 3-1 loss to the 144-pounder Tristen DeShazer, and both Ryan and Eric Cubberly picked up loses as NIU cut the Chippewas lead to three.
“We had to shuffle our lineup around and wrestle some guys out of their normal weight classes just to have a chance to win the dual meet,” Borrelli said. “Until we get everyone healthy and up to speed, I think we’re going to have to do that a lot.”
Sophomore Donnie Corby scored on two takedowns, winning by a 6-2 decision at the 149-pound class.
Junior Scotti Sentes and sophomore Ben Bennett each earned bonus points in their matches, while redshirt freshman Craig Kelliher picked up a 4-3 decision as CMU went on to win for the 15th time in the last 16 meets against the Huskies.
The victory marks the first conference win of the season for the Chippewas, who have shown past success in the MAC. In the past 12 seasons, the team has built up a 59-2 conference record, including 11 first-place finishes.
“We’re not real worried about records or what we’ve done in the past,” Borrelli said. “If we continue to improve, things in our conference will hopefully take care of themselves.”
CMU will be one of 16 teams to compete in the NWCA National Duals Saturday in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The team is one of 13 ranked programs to compete, including No. 1 Cornell.
The Chippewas will open nationals against No. 9 Virginia Tech, as they look to improve their 2-1 all-time record against the Hokies. V.T. will bring six ranked wrestlers into the weekend against three from CMU. In total, the event will include 74 top 10 wrestlers from various weight classes.
“It’s a real prestigious event, and just to get invited to the event is prestigious,” Borrelli said. “Obviously we’re going to try to put our best foot forwards, but regardless if we win or lose, we know it’s helping us.”
