Wrestling travels to New York for National Duals
The competition will not get any easier for the Central Michigan wrestling team this weekend when it travels to Ithaca, New York.
CMU (13-6, 4-1 Mid-American Conference) is in a six-team bracket with Cornell, Illinois, Oklahoma, Purdue and American, four of which are ranked in the top 25 nationally according to InterMat.
The Chippewas will face Purdue in the first round Sunday at the NWCA/Cliff Kleen National Duals. They are the No. 4 seed and Purdue is the No. 5 seed.
“I know we should be able to be very competitive,” head coach Tom Borrelli said. “We want to be successful. We would like to go have some success individually and as a team.”
If the Chippewas win their first match, they will take on the No. 1 seed Cornell in the semi-finals. The Purdue match will be at 10 a.m. Sunday. If CMU beats Purdue, the Cornell semi-finals will start at noon.
“If we make the semifinals, we should have a real good challenge,” Borrelli said.
Junior Donnie Corby said he expects it to be quality competition throughout the Mat Mayhem Regional.
“I’m really excited to go there because I know it will be tough competition,” Corby said. “If we wrestle Cornell, they have a two-time national champion in my weight class (157-pounds). I’m pretty excited to wrestle him because it’s going to show me where I’m at.”
Junior Kyle Dake of Cornell is currently ranked No.1 nationally at 157-pounds.
Corby has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success the past four weeks, going 6-1 in his last seven dual meets.
“I’ve been working harder in practices and doing the little things that really make the match,” Corby said.
The Boilmakers are 8-9 overall and are coming off a 19-16 win at Indiana last Sunday. They have three wrestlers ranked in the top 20 nationally.
Junior Ivan Lopouchanksi is 12-3 on the season and is ranked eleventh at 133-pounds. No. 9 Cashe’ Quiroga is 14-4 at 149-pounds and No.11 Braden Atwood is 19-8 at 184-pounds.
This is the first time the National Duals will feature a regional format. The four winners of each region will move on to compete for the National Championship on Feb. 19.
Even if CMU loses its first match, it is still guaranteed another match. Borrelli likes the new format.
“I think it’s a real good change for college wrestling,” he said.
He said he also thinks it will be great preparation for the NCAA Tournament.
“Everybody says that dual meets don’t mean anything when it comes to the national tournament, but they do,” Borrelli said. “Usually the best dual meet teams also win the NCAA tournament. If you have strong individuals whether it’s a dual meet or a tournament, those guys are going to do well.”
