Friend to the rescue: Junior Chad Friend comes up big in CMU win against Buffalo
The CMU wrestling team hasn’t lost back-to-back Mid-American Conference dual meets in 14 years.
But when Buffalo took an 14-13 lead in Sunday’s match, the No. 17 Chippewas found themselves dangerously close to doing so again.
CMU (6-8 overall, 2-1 MAC) defeated the Bulls 19-14 Sunday at McGuirk Arena, getting a big contribution from an unlikely source.
Junior Chad Friend made his debut at 197 pounds and won just his third match all year to give the Chippewas a lead that they wouldn’t look back from.
Friend (3-13), who has wrestled all season at 184 pounds, said he is more comfortable at 197 pounds because it’s closer to his natural weight.
“Since I moved up, I’ve got a lot more energy out there,” he said. “I feel a lot stronger and I feel like I’m able to create a lot more offense.”
CMU began the dual in dominating fashion, taking an early 9-0 lead after winning each of the first three matches. But Buffalo (8-8 overall, 1-3 MAC) bounced back, taking the lead 11-9 after winning the next three matches, including earning major decisions at 149 and 157 pounds.
Head coach Tom Borrelli said the three consecutive wins for Buffalo were by its best wrestlers. Sophomore Donnie Corby suffered a 9-4 loss to the Bulls’ Desi Green, who is ranked 14th in the country at 149 pounds. Junior Eric Cubberly lost at 165 pounds to John-Martin Cannon, who Borelli said was the conference runner-up last season.
With a two-point deficit, CMU’s Ben Bennett took the mat and reclaimed the lead with a decisive 11-0 major decision over Ron Majerus at 174 pounds. Bennett scored three takedowns in the match to improve to 23-5 overall.
Sporting a 13-11 lead in the dual, redshirt freshman Craigh Kelliher debuted at 184 pounds. Kelliher was tied with his opponent Jimmy Hamel going into the final period, but suffered two takedowns and was penalized for an illegal hold, allowing Hamel to win 5-3, which gave the Bulls a 14-13 lead.
Borrelli said the coaching staff wanted to swap Kelliher and Friend at 184 and 197 pounds earlier this season, but had to wait because of NCAA weight loss restrictions. He said Kelliher needed to work down to 184 pounds slowly.
“(Kelliher’s) been wrestling at 197, but he’s been weighing in at like 192, 189, 187 (pounds),” Borrelli said. “This was the first weekend he could go at 184, so it just worked out well.”
Borrelli said the coaches thought Friend wasn’t displaying enough energy at 184 pounds, so a switch needed to be made.
“We just noticed Chad having a hard time, not competing with the same intensity that he was practicing with,” he said. “I think making the weight was taking a lot out of him.”
Despite Friend’s victory, a loss from junior heavyweight Jarod Trice would have spelled doom for the Chippewas in the dual. The No. 2 All-American fell behind early in his match and was down 1-0 going into the third period, but Trice earned an escape and scored an emphatic takedown, to take the lead 3-1.
Trice added another takedown and a riding time point to secure the victory, the team win in the dual, and an undefeated 16-0 record all-time against Buffalo.
“It was nice to get a win,” Borrelli said. “Any time we can win right now, and not just from a team standpoint, but any time we’re competing well as individuals is really important this time of year.”
CMU, which has won 64 of its last 67 conference dual meets, ends the regular season with two MAC duals at home this week. The Chippewas host Eastern Michigan at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Kent State at 2 p.m. Sunday.
