Central Michigan University Athletics
Wrestlers Face Busy Weekend
1/2/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 2, 2001
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
THE TEAM--The Central Michigan University wrestling team has four dual meets on tap this week in final tune-ups before the beginning of the spring semester and Mid-American Conference (MAC) action. The Chippewas wrestle at No. 11-ranked Michigan State on Friday, Jan. 5, before hosting the annual Hampton Inn Duels on Sunday, Jan. 7, beginning at noon. Central will wrestle The Citadel at noon, Findlay at 2 p.m., and No. 13 Edinboro at 4 p.m.
THE COACH--Tom Borrelli enters his 10th season as head coach of the Chippewas. CMU is 94-56-5 overall and 34-11 in the MAC under Borrelli. The veteran coach has been named MAC "Coach of the Year" four times and was tabbed "National Coach of the Year" by two organizations in 1998. He has coached 27 MAC champions and 11 All-Americans. Central has finished in the top 10 nationally in two of the last three seasons.
CMU REVIEW--The Central Michigan University wrestling team finished 13th of 54 teams with 43.5 points in the prestigious Midlands Tournament on Dec. 29-30 in Evanston, Ill. The Chippewas were led by seventh-place finishes from senior Ahmad Sanders (Flint/Northern) at 125, sophomore Derek Phillips (Grosse Pointe/North) at 141 and redshirt freshman Ty Morgan (New Carlisle, Ohio/Wayne) at 149. Sanders, seeded eighth, defeated No. 3 Ryan Escobar (Illinois) for seventh, 4-2. Phillips (unseeded) defeated No. 2 Florean Ghinea (Montclair State) twice including 2-1 for seventh and unseeded Morgan beat Rutgers' Jon Forster, 6-3, for seventh. CMU was 10th of 13 teams in the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 20. Redshirt freshman Jason Mester (Mineral Point, Wis.) paved the way with a 4-1 record and a consolation title at 141 pounds. Phillips was 3-2 at 141.
BORRELLI ON THE MIDLANDS--"We're wrestling more competitively and it's taking quality opponents to beat us. We're starting to turn the corner and getting confidence as we go. I was pleased with the three wrestlers who placed for us, especially the two unseeded wrestlers (Phillips and Morgan) who finished seventh."
BORRELLI ON MICHIGAN STATE--"We're facing the nation's 11th-ranked team and we'll have to wrestle as hard as we can to be competitive. We're improving so it will be good to see how we stack up against Michigan State."
BORRELLI ON THE HAMPTON INN DUELS--"It will be nice to have our first home competition of the year. Edinboro is ranked 13th in the country and we'll have another chance to go against a top-ranked club. The Duels are one of the highlights of the season for us."
