Central Michigan University Athletics
Wrestlers Have Week Off To Prepare For MAC Championships
2/21/2000 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 21, 2000
THE TEAM: The Central Michigan wrestling team has next week off as it prepares for the Mid-American Conference championships to be held at the University at Buffalo on Mar. 4 -5. The Chippewas wrapped up the season last weekend undefeated in the MAC and decisively claimed their second straight MAC regular season title by going 5-0.
THE COACH: Tom Borrelli is in his ninth season as head coach of the Chippewas. CMU is 93-55-5 overall and 34-11 in the MAC under Borrelli. The veteran coach has been named MAC "Coach of the Year" three times and was tabbed "National Coach of the Year" by two organizations in 1998. Central has finished in the top ten nationally the past two seasons.
MAC ATTACK: "I think we're the favorite in the MAC tournament," said Borrelli. "We're hoping to qualify seven or eight wrestlers for national tournament."
SPECIAL CHAMPIONSHIP: "This year's championship is special because there are several guys who weren't starters on last year's team," Borrelli said. "It gives more people a chance to say they earned a championship ring. It's also nice because people had us picked to finish third in the conference because they thought we were going to have a down year."
A FLASH IN THE PAN: "We wrestled well against the Kent Golden Flashes," said Borrelli. "I thought our team was focused and Jeremy Hardman's win at 149 gave us the momentum to come away with the victory."
RESULTS: Central Michigan capped-off its regular season schedule with a 27-9 victory over the Kent Golden Flashes on Sunday afternoon. The Chippewas victory saved a three-way tie for first in the conference and earned them the regular-season title.
Chris Marshall (Washington, D.C./Sr.) got CMU on the board with an 8-4 win over Mark Wentz at 141. Jeremy Hardman (Constantine/Sr.), a 149-pounder, extended his win-streak to eight matches by pinning Sam Murdock at 8:08 of overtime. At 165, Vernon Cannon (Indianapolis, IN/Sr.) broke his two-match losing streak in MAC action with a win over Nick Nemeth, 4-2. The Chippewas scored two major decisions in the dual. Chris Vike (Stoughton, WI/Sr.) and Ryan Cunningham (Middleton/Sr.) each out scored their opponents by nine points. Cunningham won 9-0 over Ryan Kinley at 174 while Vike outscored Zeb Miller, 11-2, at 197. The losses were at 133 by Jordan Webster (Washington, IL/Fr.), heavyweight Jack Leffler (Morris, IL/So.) and Ahmad Sanders (Flint/Jr) at 125.
NOTES: The Chippewas have gone undefeated in Mid-American Conference duals the past two seasons and are 14-0 in the MAC dating back to 1997-98 ... The Chippewas have outscored their MAC opponents, 390-54, the past two seasons ... Jeremy Hardman (Constantine/Sr.) has six pins this season, four of which have come on his eight-match win-streak dating back to Jan. 22 against Cornell at the National Duals. ... Ryan Cunningham (Middleton/Sr.) is three wins away from 100 career-wins which will put him 10th in CMU annals.
