Central Michigan University Athletics
Wrestling Looks To Reload For Upcoming Season
11/3/2000 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 3, 2000
On the heels of the greatest three-year stretch in Central Michigan University wrestling history, head coach Tom Borrelli is looking to "reload" for the 2000-01 season.
If the Chippewas are to have any margin of success comparable to the past three incredible campaigns, it will take a season-long improvement by an exceptionally young group of wrestlers.
"Our expectations are more for the end of the year than the start," said Borrelli, who enters his 10th season. "We hope our young men will be wrestling like sophomores by then instead of freshmen.
"It's a good thing they'll be redshirt freshmen instead of first year freshmen. They've all been in the program and wrestled with some pretty good people. Who knows how far this will get us in the MAC."
Only four wrestlers return from last year's club that won the Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular-season title and MAC tournament crown. Six or seven weight classes will be manned by redshirts that have never competed for the Maroon and Gold.
One advantage they may have, though, is that they battled daily against some of the premier wrestlers in Chippewa history.
To get an idea what those wrestlers from the past three years have accomplished, check this:
*CMU was fifth in the NCAA finals in 1998, seventh in '99 and 20th in '00.
*CMU had five wrestlers (Casey and Ryan Cunningham, Mike Greenfield, Chris Marshall and Chris Vike) earn All-American honors 10 times.
*Casey Cunningham became the school's first national champion in 1999.
*CMU won the Mid-American Conference (MAC) tournament three times and the regular-season MAC crown twice.
Most of the components of that streak are gone but don't feel sorry for Borrelli.
"We're young but we have some awfully good wrestlers," he said. "The national exposure we've gotten the past three years has really helped our program."
While the recruiting base is still Michigan, the Chippewas have five wrestlers from Ohio, three from Illinois and one each from Indiana and Wisconsin.
Central inked an outstanding class of 12 wrestlers for this fall but Borrelli would like to redshirt the entire group.
"That's our plan," Borrelli said. "But, with injuries, who knows?"
The lone senior on this year's team is 125-pounder Ahmad Sanders (Flint/Northern). He posted a 16-10 record in 1999-00 and finished the MAC dual meet season with a 4-1 record.
"We're expecting big things out of Ahmad this season," Borrelli said. "He's in his fifth year in the program and has a tremendous amount of experience. He should be a definite MAC contender."
Jack Leffler (Morris, Ill./Coal) is the returnee at heavyweight and the only junior on the squad. Leffler is Central's lone returning NCAA qualifier (0-2). He was the MAC runner-up, posting a 3-2 mark in MAC duals.
"Jack earned a trip to the NCAA championship last season and that should motivate him to bigger and better things this season," Borrelli said. "Plus, he has some competition for his starting job."
Two sophomores are returning starters in Russell Clark (Holt) at 157 and Jordan Webster (Washington, Ill.) at 133. Clark was also a MAC runner-up and 3-2 in the MAC as a redshirt freshman while Webster was 20-20 and 2-3 in the MAC as a true freshman.
"Russell has tremendous potential," Borrelli said. "He improved considerably as the year went on and we're looking for more of the same this year.
"Jordan was the biggest surprise last season. He served as an inspiration for the whole team with his relentless effort. We expect him to keep on improving."
The remaining six spots will likely come from wrestlers who have been in the program but marking time behind standout Chippewas.
"Most of these young men have waited their turn, wrestling behind five All-Americans," Borrelli said. "They should know what to expect and be ready for their turn."
Redshirt sophomore Derek Phillips (Perrinton/Grosse Pointe North) and redshirt freshman Jason Mester (Mineral Point, Wis.) will battle for the starting job at 141 pounds while a pair of redshirt freshmen in Ty Morgan (New Carlisle, Ohio) and Joe Ray Barry (Mason) will square off at 149.
The competition among returnees isn't as great in the upper weight classes where redshirt freshman Dean Schuler (Delta, Ohio) at 165, redshirt freshman Kevin Carr (Milford, Ind./Wawasee) at 174, redshirt freshman Jeff Pangborn (Durand/Corunna) at 184 and redshirt sophomore Brett Faustman (Mason) at 197 appear the starters.
Redshirt freshman Jim Kilcoyne (Portage/Central) will compete with Leffler for the starting heavyweight job.
Borrelli sees a wide-open race in the MAC this season. "I think everyone sees us coming back to the pack," he said. "I hope our guys don't feel that way."
Borrelli rates Kent as the favorite and feels that Buffalo and Ohio will be in the mix. CMU was picked fifth by the MAC coaches in a preseason poll.
The Chippewas open the season on Nov. 18-19 at the Michigan Open in East Lansing and face a busy schedule in December with six different competitions slated. Central closes the regular season with five straight MAC dual meets.
The MAC tourney is set for March 3-4 at Ohio University and the nationals are March 15-17 at Iowa City, Iowa.
