Week after week I would shake it off. A good coach attempting to raise his team’s moral, that’s normal. But let's look at what the team has had to “improve” on.

This team came into the season with six gaps in its starting lineup. Of those six spots, four were vacated by Mid-American Conference tournament champions.

So we’re looking at a roster of four All-Americans, and six spots for guys that haven’t even had their chance on the big stage — a young team drastically needing to improve.

The team wasted no time when the dual-meet season started, taking on a No. 1 Cornell team. Needless to say, this match didn’t end in CMU’s favor.

Such a young team, ranked No. 6 in the nation, wasn’t expected to win against such a powerhouse, but the team picked up two more quick losses a week later at the Northern Quad meet.

The event, which consisted of three dual-meets, gave Borrelli an opportunity to move his young guys around. Five weight classes saw multiple starters as the day went on, including three different wrestlers at 125-pounds.

Progressing through the season, sophomore Christian Cullinan proved his worth at 125, but as Borrelli started to see his starters falling into place, he lost a big piece of his puzzle.

Senior Mike Miller, who had gone through off-season shoulder surgery, suffered a knee injury, followed by injuries to his shoulder and ribs. In other words, there was another hole on the starting lineup, and more need for improvements.

The new starters didn’t bring the reliability that the All-American wrestlers did, but they picked up their big wins at the right times.

Junior Chad Friend wrestled his biggest match of the season, leading CMU to a win over Buffalo at home, and redshirt freshman Scott Mattingly picked up an important win at 141 pounds that lead to victory over a then-perfect in the conference Kent State.

Sophomore Donnie Corby and senior Ryan Cubberly helped seal a team victory over Old Dominion, each picking up decisions to close out the match and give the team it’s first winning-streak of the season.

While Bennett, Sentes and Trice were almost guaranteed wins each week, and Miller was reliable when his body allowed him to be, the swing matches were key to the team’s share of the MAC title. The improvements the young wrestlers made throughout the season put them in the positions to win meet changing matches.

The team’s 8-8 record doesn’t exactly fit with past records, ending a 10-year streak of double-digit dual-meet wins. The being said, the team still found a way to improve on a slow start, winning five of the last six dual meets to end atop the conference.

With the tournament only a week away, Borrelli still holds that same confidence in his team’s abilities.

Thursday at practice, he grinned and said, “We’ve been trying to tell our guys they’ve been improving all year, and I think they finally believe it, which really helps.”

Can the momentum from back-to-back-to back wins, combined with that mentally push the Chippewas to a 10th straight MAC title?

Well, I’m a journalist and not a psychic, so I guess we’ll see.