Parks shines again as CMU wrestling falls to Old Dominion


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Junior Logan Parks takes on his opponent from Old Dominion University on Jan. 4 at McGuirk Arena.

The Central Michigan wrestling team took the mat for the first time in 2019 and were defeated soundly by the Old Dominion Monarchs.

The Chippewas dropped to 2-3 on the year and 1-1 in the Mid-American Conference with the 24-9 loss. 

While the score seemed like the Monarchs dominated the dual, there were a lot of close matches and last second points that did the Chippewas in.

"I think our guys are really trying to get better," head coach Tom Borrelli said. "They were an athletic team and they came after us. They scored points a lot at the end of periods or at the end of matches. We just have to be more savvy in those situations."

Junior Logan Parks once again was the epicenter of an eruption from the McGuirk Arena crowd with a 4-0 decision over No. 3 ranked Larry Early. Parks utilized riding time to keep Early at bay and secure the victory. 

"It's different depending on the guy," Parks said. "I  saw the opportunity to ride him out and that's what I did, I was pretty happy that I did that." 

Parks won a seven-period thriller against Ben Lamantia of Michigan on Nov. 11. 

The victory moved Parks to 16-7 on the season and dropped Early to 12-2 on the campaign. 

"The whole match, everything I did I feel like the crowd was pretty supportive and it was cool to see them behind my back."

Sophomore Drew Hildebrandt started the night with a dropped decision 6-4 to Michael McGee in the 125-pound weight class.

In the 133, sophomore Deven Perez defeated Killian Cardinale in a closely contested match that went back-and-forth with a 7-6 decision.

Next, redshirt freshman Drew Marten dropped a 12-3 major decision to No. 13 ranked Sa'Derian Perry, who dominated the match from the outset. 

Sophomore Dresden Simon controlled the 149-weight class early on but was defeated by Kevin Budock with a late takedown for a 4-3 decision. 

Following the intermission, sophomore Blake Montrie dropped a 14-4 major decision to Shane Jones in the 164-pound weight class.

In the 174, redshirt freshman Collin Lieber dropped a  14-5 major decision to nationally No. 20 ranked Seldon Wright. 

Senior Jordan Atienza dropped a 3-2 decision to Antonio Agee following a late escape from Agee. That brought the team scores to 21-6. 

In the penultimate match, sophomore Landon Pelham was defeated at the last second by Tim Young. Young earned a takedown with two seconds left and won by decision, 4-2. 

Sophomore Matt Stencel defeated Ali Wahab 4-1 with a late takedown to give the Chippewas a much-needed victory to close out the dual.

Next up

The Chippewas will have some time off until 2 p.m. on Jan. 19 when they travel to Columbia, Missouri to take on the Missouri Tigers.

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