Chippewas finish 11th at Midlands
Central Michigan junior wrestler Ben Bennett finished runner-up at 184-pounds in the Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill. on Dec. 30.
The Chippewas were one of 10 teams ranked in the top 25 for the event. They finished in 11th of 43 teams in the two-day tournament.
It was Bennett’s third consecutive runner-up finish at Midlands.
“I know Ben is a little bit disappointed by not winning the championship,” said head coach Tom Borrelli. “But I thought he wrestled well. I saw some improvements in his technique and the things he’s doing.”
The No. 3 seed Bennett stormed through the championship bracket by posting technical falls against each of his first three opponents, defeating them by a combined score of 50-1. He then beat No. 2 seed Ryan Loder from Northern Iowa 6-3.
“In my first three matches, I really just tried to get to my attacks and score a bunch of points,” Bennett said. “In the semi-finals, I kind of knew what to expect so I just changed a few things up.”
The bout against Loder was the second meeting between the two this season with Loder earning a close 3-1 decision in the first matchup.
Sophomore Joe Roth finished sixth at 125-pounds, falling to Oklahoma’s Jarrod Patterson in the fifth-place match 6-2. Patterson also defeated Roth 5-1 in the quarterfinals.
“He is definitely getting better technically,” Borrelli said. “He is also wrestling with a lot more confidence.”
Former CMU star Jarod Trice, who is taking an Olympic redshirt for the 2011-12 season, competed unattached in the event as the No. 1 seed. He was an All-American at CMU the past two seasons.
Trice won the championship at the heavyweight division, defeating Iowa’s Bobby Telford 3-2.
“He won a lot of long, grueling matches and figured out how to win every one of those matches,” Borrelli said.
CMU Heavyweight Peter Sturgeons was the No. 2 seed and won his first two bouts before falling 8-6 to Mike McMullan from Northwestern. Sturgeon’s loss depleted any chance of him facing Trice in the finals.
“We talked about it all week and I was hoping I would face him in the finals,” Trice said.
Trice and Sturgeon were the top seeds after the one and two seeds dropped out of the tournament.
Sturgeon and freshman Mike Ottinger finished one victory shy of competing for a placement match.
“I thought Ottinger wrestled well,” Borrelli said. “His win against the No. 7 seed was really impressive for a true freshman.”
CMU is back in action Friday, Jan. 13 when it visits Eastern Michigan for a Mid-American Conference dual meet.
Here’s the complete results:
2011 Midlands Complete Results
125 Pounds: No. 6 Joe Roth - Sixth Place First Round: W, maj. dec. Thomas Williams (American), 10-1 Second Round: W, maj. dec. No. 10 Tyler Iwamura (Bakersfield), 18-6 Quarterfinals: L, dec. No. 3 Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma), 5-1 Consolation Fifth Round: W, maj. dec. Aaron Pickrel (South Dakota State), 8-0 Consolation Quarterfinals: W, dec. No. 7 Jared Germaine (Eastern Michigan), 7-2 Consolation Semifinals: L, dec. No. 4 Levi Mele (Northwestern), 2-0 Fifth-Place Match: L, dec. No. 3 Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma), 6-2
133 Pounds: No. 12 Zach Horan* First Round: Bye Second Round: L, dec. Joe Colon (Northern Iowa), 13-8 Consolation Third Round: W, maj. dec. Jake Tanenbaum (Cal Poly), 15-5 Consolation Fourth Round: L, dec. Mason Beckman (Lehigh), 3-2
133 Pounds: Tyler Keselring First Round: L, dec. Ryan Fillingame (Adams State), 10-6 Consolation Second Round: W, dec. Christian Cullinan (Central Michigan), 9-4 Consolation Third Round: W, dec. Ryan Jauch (Northern Iowa), 8-2 Consolation Fourth Round: L, No. 5 Bryan Ortenzio (Penn), 6-4
133 Pounds: Christian Cullinan First Round: Bye Second Round: L, dec. Mason Beckman (Lehigh), 4-3 Consolation Second Round: L, dec. Tyler Keselring (Central Michigan), 9-4
141 Pounds: Scott Mattingly First Round: L, dec. Kevin Fanta (Northern Illinois), 8-2 Consolation Second Round: W, dec. Lou Mascola (Maryland), 6-2 Consolation Third Round: W, dec. Andrew Zobac (North Central), 5-0 Consolation Fourth Round: L, dec. No. 4 Steve Dutton (Lehigh), 10-4
149 Pounds: Joey Kielbasa First Round: L, tech. fall Jake Patacsil (Notre Dame Wrestling Club), 15-0 at 4:13 Consolation Second Round: W, dec. Chase Gordon (Oklahoma), 3-1 Consolation Third Round: W, maj. dec. Aaron Heidersheid (UW-Parkside), 11-2 Consolation Fourth Round: W, medical forfeit, No. 11 Zac Cibula (Rider) Consolation Fifth Round: L, dec. No. 9 Kaleb Friedley (Northwestern), 6-2
157 Pounds: No. 7 Donnie Corby First Round: W, dec. Troy Hernandez (Penn), 6-1 Second Round: W, dec. Napoleon Aniciete (Utah Valley), 5-3 Third Round: L, dec. No. 10 John Greisheimer (unattached), 13-7 Consolation Fourth Round: L, dec. Tommy Churchard (Purdue), 8-7
165 Pounds: Mike Ottinger First Round: Bye Second Round: L, dec. No. 2 Scott Winston (Rutgers), 11-6 Consolation Third Round: W, dec. Adam Fierro (Bakersfield), 3-2 Consolation Fourth Round: W, dec. No. 7 Luke Manuel (DCAC), 5-3 Consolation Fifth Round: L, dec. No. 5 Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Clarion), 10-4
165 Pounds: Zack Cline* First Round: Bye Second Round: L, fall No. 1 Steve Fittery (DCAC) at 0:37 Consolation Third Round: W, maj. dec. Lenny Kuspa (Triton), 13-5 Consolation Fourth Round: L, dec. No. 9 Ben Jordan (Wisconsin), 4-0
174 Pounds: Anthony Bill* First Round: W, maj. dec. Rich Tado (unattached), 12-2 Second Round: W, forfeit No. 10 Kurtis Julson (North Dakota State) Third Round: L, maj. dec. No. 7 John-Martin Cannon (unattached), 18-7 Consolation Fourth Round: L, fall Brandon Lintner (Rider) at 2:47
184 Pounds: No. 3 Ben Bennett - Runner-Up First Round: W, tech. fall Arber Bebo (Northern Illinois), 17-0 at 6:02 Second Round: W, tech. fall Clint Morrison (Rider), 18-1 at 4:12 Quarterfinals: W, tech. fall Erich Smith (Penn), 15-0 at 7:00 Semifinals: W, dec. No. 2 Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa), 6-3 Finals: L, dec. No. 1 Robert Hamlin (Lehigh), 5-2
197 Pounds: Chad Friend First Round: Bye Second Round: L, dec. Joe McMullan (Bucknell), 6-5 Consolation Third Round: W, dec. Josh Wood (SIU-Edwardsville), 9-7 Consolation Fourth Round: L, maj. dec. Keldrick Hall (Oklahoma), 12-3
285 Pounds: No. 2 Peter Sturgeon First Round: Bye Second Round: W, dec. James Malacek (UW-Parkside), 5-3 Third Round: W, dec. Kelan Bragg (Cal Poly), 6-3 Quarterfinals: L, dec. No. 10 Mike McMullan (Northwestern), 8-6 SV1 Consolation Fifth Round: L, dec. Matt Gibson (Iowa State), 7-2
Zach Horan, Zack Cline and Anthony Bill do not count toward the Chippewas' team score.
