Wrestling places fifth at MAC Championships, five wrestlers clinch trip to NCAA Championships
This was the first time since 1994 CMU did not have an individual champion at the MAC Championships.
Four Chippewas placed third or better at the Mid-American Conference Championships while five clinched spots for the NCAA Championships.
"The thing that stood out to me was the way some of our guys fought back from some real tough losses yesterday,” Borrelli said. “We had a couple really tough losses in the semifinal, but those guys fought back hard and finished third.”
CMU placed fifth in the tournament finishing with 85.5 points. Missouri won the tournament with 118.5 points while Northern Iowa (116 points) and Old Dominion (97 points) placed second and third.
Six of the ten Chippewa wrestlers placed in the top five in their weight class.
Head Coach Tom Borrelli said after a few tough losses yesterday he was pleased with the way in which come wrestlers bounced back to claim a spot in the top three.
Senior Joe Roth and sophomore Lucas Smith wrestled for MAC titles Sunday but were unable to seal the victories, both finished runner-up at 133 and 157 pounds, respectively.
Roth was going for his second title, his first at 133-pounds, but lost by decision 3-1 to No. 1 Joe Colon of Northern Iowa.
Smith was hoping to get his first title but lost to No. 1 Ian Miller at 157-pounds by decision 9-4.
Borrelli said he thought Smith and Roth wrestled hard despite coming up short in the title matches.
“Their two opponents in the final were really, really good," Borrelli said. "We just didn’t come up on the right side of things but I think they competed hard and learned some things in those matches that will help them two weeks from now.”
Roth, junior Mike Ottinger, sophomores Smith and Zach Horan and freshman Corey Keener clinched a trip to the NCAA Championships March 20-22 in Oklahoma City.
Borrelli said all five wrestlers have the potential to do great things at the national tournament and will represent the program very well.
“I think they will all be very competitive and I think they all have a chance to do some good things," Borrelli said. "They’re all capable of doing well. “
Horan placed third in the 141-pound weight class with a win by pinning Lavion Mayes of Missouri.
Ottinger also placed third in the 174-pound division after he claimed a 3-1 victory against Cody Caldwell of Northern Iowa.
In the third round match of the 125-pound division Keener wasn’t able to get much going, losing by decision 4-0. Senior Craig Kelliher also lost his third round match 184 pounds.
“I was really proud of the way they wrestled back,” Borrelli said. “Both of their matches were real controversial and hard fought matches. Both of those guys have won and lost conference championships. Our conference is not easy to make the finals or even place third in. They needed to do their thing not only for themselves but to make sure they got in the national tournament making sure they were going into the tournament on a high. “
Seniors Scott Mattingly and Nick Becker both placed sixth in their respective weight classes.
Day One
The first day of the Mid-American Conference Championships saw two Chippewas secure their spot in title matches.
Roth wrestled his way into the title match by defeating sophomore Vincent Pizzuto of Eastern Michigan in the semi-final match by decision, 8-3.
Roth’s first match in the quarterfinals was a 14-3 major decision victory. He scored 14 team points for CMU on Saturday.
Smith won in sudden death in his 157-pound quarterfinal match 4-2, while also winning by decision 1-0 in the semifinal match over freshman Joseph LaVallee of Missouri.
With 65.5 points through day one, CMU was sitting in fifth place in the tournament behind Northern Iowa with 97 points, Missouri (89.5), Ohio (81) and Old Dominion (79).
