Central Michigan Wrestling takes down Rider with 24-12 Win
Lapeer redshirt senior Matt Stencel wrestles his Northern Illinois opponent on Jan. 17, 2021 in the McGuirk Arena.
A grand return, a comeback win and a medical forfeit earned Central Michigan’s wrestling squad a Mid-American Conference win against Rider University as they hosted the Bronc's in a dual match. The Chippewas earned a 24-12 win.
Senior Dresden Simon ended the dual proving why he's a top-ten 141-pound wrestler. Facing No. 22 Quinn Kinner. Kinner, the Dansville native found himself trailing 6-0 after Kinner secured a takedown and four-point near fall. Simon earned a takedown near the end of the second quarter to pull within four.
The No. 8 141-pounder erupted after that, earning a pair of takedowns and one four-point near fall of his own for a 10-7 lead. He is now 5-0 on the season.
“Dresden to go down by six points and come back gives inspiration to the whole team” said head coach Tom Borrelli, “It gets your team to believe in themselves.”
Leading 15-6 midway through the dual, Matt Stencel did what Matt Stencel does best. He pinned his opponent. The graduate senior needed one one minute and 48 seconds to top David Szuba for not only his first pin of the season, but pin number 50 for his career, tying Wynn Michalak for third all-time.
CMU sophomore Johnny Lovett put CMU on the board and tied with Rider against junior Alec Bobchin. Lovett opened the scoring and got on the board first with a take down, but Bobchin was quick to escape. After starting down in the third period, Lovett rallied and kept Bobchin off the scoreboard in the final period for a 6-2 decision for the Chippewas first three points of the match.
Chippewa senior Brett Fedwa made his return to the mat after being away since 2019, facing off against Shane Reitsma wrestling in the 174-weight class. Fedwa controlled most of the match, earning takedown after takedown. Resitma managed to hold his own and fight back escaping holds and earning take downs of his own. Fedwa came out with the win to make the score 12 for the Chippewas and three for Rider.
“It felt really good to come out there and get a win for the team,” Fedwa said. “It takes me a step in the right direction”
Rider starts to fight back during the 184-weight class with junior wrestlers Ben Cushman for the Chippewas and senior George Walton for Rider. Walton and Cushman were both aggressive and held their own during pins and takedowns, but Walton came out on top to cut the Chippewas lead in half with a score of 12-6.
Senior Aaron Bolo earned a 10-4 win. Junior Tracy Hubbard earns a win via medical forfeit
The Chippewas wrestling squad travels to Cleveland, Ohio on December 11th for the Cleveland State Open.
