CMU wrestling finishes second at MAC tournament; Borrelli named MAC coach of the year
After a weekend of wrestling in Fairfax Virginia at the Mid-American Conference tournament, Central Michigan wrestling finished second just two and a half points behind Lock Haven (112.5) and will have three wrestlers representing the Chippewas on the NCAA stage in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
CMU ended its season 6-10 overall and 5-1 in the MAC, while also achieving MAC West Division Champions for the second year in a row. In his 32-year career, head coach Tom Borelli was named MAC Wrestling Coach of the Year for the 14th time.
After being seeded fifth in the 149-pound weight class, redshirt junior Johnny Lovett claimed the MAC title in his first season wrestling in the 149-pound weight-class going undefeated on the weekend and extending his win streak to 12. Following a first-round bye on Friday, Lovett took down Lock Haven's Nick Stonecheck with a score of 11-4. Advancing him to the MAC semifinals, Lovett upset the No.1 seed Caleb Tyus of SIUE with a close score of 5-4 on Friday. Capping it off with a win against Nate Higley of George Mason on Saturday, Lovett went 3-0 on the weekend claiming the MAC title and a spot at the NCAA tournament.
Wrestling in his first season at CMU, Alex Cramer, the redshirt junior claimed his first MAC title wrestling in the 174-weight class. Cramer opened the MAC tournament on Friday with a 17-0 technical fall over Anthony DeRosa of Bloomsburg. Finishing out the night, Cramer defeated Jay Nivision of Buffalo with a score of 2-1 and pinned Logan Messer of George Mason in overtime sending him to the semifinal match. Cramer not only secured the 174-pound MAC Championship title by defeating John Worthington of Clarion, but also a spot on the NCAA stage.
Redshirt senior Corbyn Munson punched his ticket to the NCAA tournament after going 2-2 on the weekend. He sat in the number one seed and faced off against Keegan Knapp from Kent State on Friday, defeating him with a score of 8-5. Munson dropped his next match to Peter Pappas of George Mason moving him to the consolation bracket. After dropping his first match on Saturday to Peyton Keller of Ohio, Munson rallied back from a 6-1 deficit to take down Marcus Robinson of Cleveland State. Ending the night with a comeback win in the last 25 seconds of the match against Buffalo’s Michael Petite, Munson claimed the MAC’s fourth and final spot in the NCAA tournament.
Redshirt freshman Bryan Caves finished third in the 285-weight class going 3-1 on the weekend. Caves was seeded fifth going into the tournament. Redshirt senior Tracy Hubbard (165) finished in fourth place, redshirt senior Ben Cushman (184) and junior Cameron Wood (197) finished seventh while junior Sean Spidle (125) finished eighth.
Lovett, Cramer and Munson will move onto the NCAA Championships starting on March 16, at 11 a.m.
