Seven wrestlers will compete in St. Louis in the NCAA tournament
Central Michigan will be represented by seven wrestlers with varying expectations heading into the NCAA Championships Thursday at St. Louis.
“We’re a little bit younger (than last season),” head coach Tom Borrelli said. “There won’t be a whole lot of pressure on our guys, and we have more guys here to coach, so that makes it more fun.”
Redshirt junior Ben Bennett was anointed the No. 3 seed in the 184-pound bracket. He is the only CMU wrestler who is seeded.It is his third-straight appearance in the NCAA Championships. He placed eighth last season. He was the fourth freshman in CMU history to earn All-American status by grabbing sixth-place in his second year in the program.
“My goal is to win the Nationals, so I’m just ready to get out and start wrestling on Thursday,” Bennett said. “I just got to show up, and be ready to compete, and execute well and just really do all the things that we’ve been working on all season long.”
Bennett said he has just as high of expectations this year as he did his previous three tries.
“Every year my goal is to win it, so hopefully sooner or later I accomplish that goal," he said. "If things worked out how I wanted them to, I would have won as a freshman.”
To be the second wrestler in CMU history to place first in the NCAA Championships Bennett will most likely have to beat No. 2 Robert Hamlin of Lehigh, who is credited with two of Bennett’s three losses this season.
“I think he can win a championship, but he also has a really formidable path,” Borrelli said.
Senior Peter Sturgeon and junior Donnie Corby are the only other wrestlers with experience in the NCAA Championships. They lost in the first round in their lone appearance last season. Corby was able to win one in wrestlebacks.
Underclassmen Mike Ottinger, Zach Horan, Scott Mattingly and Joe Roth will wrestle in the NCAA Championships for the first time.
Borrelli said the surroundings will be a surprise to the young wrestlers.
“It’ll certainly be the atmosphere. It’s a pretty neat atmosphere,” he said. “I’m not sure how many tickets we sold, but we’ll have a lot of people here as far as CMU people and family.”
Roth is going to wrestle Purdue’s Camden Eppert in a rematch to begin the tournament. Roth won the first match 4-2 in overtime.
He was a major piece in the Chippewas success in a sport that is more about individuals than the team when it comes to results.
He finished the season 34-7, an improvement from 13 wins last year. He also won the Mid-American Conference championship in what Borrelli tabbed as one of the toughest weight classes in the conference.
CMU finished tied for thirteenth in last season’s NCAA Championships. Their highest ranking was fifth in 1998.
“I just want our guys to wrestle well,” Borrelli said. “To relax and enjoy the experience and do their best.”
