Wrestling team loses to No. 14 Lehigh 23-11
The Central Michigan wrestling team lost to No. 14 Lehigh by a deceiving score of 23-11 at McGuirk Arena Friday night.
“Obviously Lehigh has a good team, but I think we made them look good in certain situations too,” head coach Tom Borrelli said.
Borrelli pointed to missed opportunities such as Ben Bennett and Zach Horan’s losses in overtime.
“If we convert just those situations the dual meet is a lot closer, and we feel a lot better about ourselves,” he said.
No. 5 Bennett lost to No. 4 Robert Hamlin in a rematch from the Midlands Championships.
Hamlin defeated Bennett 3-1 on a takedown as the clock went to zero Friday. It involved a maddening tussle.
“He kept attacking and kept coming after me,” Bennett said. “I felt like I wrestled pretty well for the most part, just didn’t do the little things right.”
CMU and LU felt the wrath of a wrestler shunning their school to go elsewhere in this matchup.
Mike Ottinger lived in the Mountain Hawks backyard, but chose the Chippewas. He has no regrets about the decision.
“Honestly, the team here and the coaches, I can’t ask for anything more,” Ottinger said. “It’s a great family here. I couldn’t be happier anywhere else.”
He defeated Sean Bilodeau 3-2 in a heated match that involved the Lehigh bench clearing at the end as a result of not being awarded any more points.
LU senior Kyle Rosser returned to his home state and defeated Joey Kielbasa 5-2 with a boisterous contingent in the stands.
The Chippewas won three of 10 matches, and was 0-4 against ranked Mountain Hawks.
When the dual concluded, Borrelli was recognized for winning his 300th career game in December, and the team was awarded their Mid-American Conference Championship rings from last year.
