Wrestling coach Tom Borrelli gets his 300th career win over break
A young Tom Borrelli took the helm at Lake Superior State seven years out of college in 1986.
Now, 25 years later, the Central Michigan wrestling coach clinched his 300th career win on Dec. 17.
“It just means I’m old and been doing this a long time,” Borrelli said.
Borrelli, 55, now sits at 302 victories and 256 with the Chippewas.
“300 wins is very, very good,” CMU wrestler Joe Roth said. “I’m wrestling for one of the best in the country in my eyes and I still got a lot to learn from him.”
CMU wrestler Ben Bennett thinks the program has been so successful because Borrelli has the Chippewas best interest in mind at all times.
“I think over the years people just bought into what he’s done as a coach and they believe in him,” Bennett said. “I know he wants what’s best for me and the guys on the team, so I just try to follow him.”
Only 46 of the 300 victories weren't with the maroon and gold. In his five seasons at Lake Superior State he went 46-25-1. Ever since 1991 Borrelli has been racking up his wins for the Chippewas. His best stretch was 2006-2010 when he won at least 16 games a season.
During his 20 years at CMU he's won 12 MAC titles and 13 MAC Championship titles. Borrelli has been named MAC coach of the year a record 11 times while dominating the conference.
CMU started 10-2 after only reaching eight wins with a difficult schedule last season. This is with standout Jarod Trice away from the program to try out for the Olympics.
Borrelli and the Chippewas are trying to reach their 11th straight MAC title.
Bennett appears to be on path for a third-consecutive year of All-American honors.
But the addition of freshman Mike Ottinger and transfer Peter Sturgeon, along with an improved Joe Roth have led to the early success in duels.
Borrelli is not completely satisfied despite the milestone he reached and his team's undefeated Bison Duel record (the event CMU competed in where he reached 300).
“We had a lot of ups and a lot of downs,” Borrelli said. “We weren’t really sharp, especially against Bucknell. We lost a match against Princeton that we didn’t think we should lose.”
