Central Michigan University Athletics
Wrestling Looks To Capture Fourth Straight MAC Tourney Title
2/26/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 26, 2001
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THE TEAM-- Central Michigan's wrestling team, Mid-American Conference (MAC) regular-season champions with a 5-0 dual meet mark, will be gunning for its fourth straight MAC Tournament crown this weekend at Ohio University. The 20th-ranked Chippewas were idle last weekend after wrapping up a perfect MAC slate by defeating Kent State University, 19-12, on Sunday, Feb. 18.
Performance at the MAC championships will help determine what wrestlers advance to the NCAA championships that are slated for March 15-17 in Iowa City, Iowa. Last season, all 10 CMU grapplers placed in the top four at the MAC and five earned national championship bids. Three wrestlers walked away as MAC champions although all have completed their eligibilty.
THE COACH--Tom Borrelli is in his 10th season as head coach of the Chippewas. CMU is 107-60-5 overall and 39-11 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.
WEEKEND REVIEW--CMU was idle last weekend after posting a come-from-behind win over Kent State on Sunday, Feb. 18, 19-12. CMU claimed its third consecutive MAC regular season title with the victory.
AS BORRELLI SEES IT-- "I've thought all along that Buffalo has the most potential but Ohio may be the team I'm most leery of right now because it has wrestled so well of late. It has won five of its last seven dual meets and should feel real comfortable at home. Even though we won the MAC title during the regular season, I still feel that we're being a little overlooked. That doesn't bother me, though. We were picked to finish fifth during the regular season and we won the title. Being the underdog isn't so bad."
BORRELLI ON THE CHIPPEWAS--"This is a big meet for us. It's important for our program to qualify men for the nationals ... it helps get your program in the spotlight. Our goal would be to get six or seven guys to the nationals this year but that will be tough. We had three returning All-Americans last year and only five went to the NCAA tourney. So six or seven would be quite an accomplishment."
CMU TOURNEY HISTORY--The Chippewas won the MAC tourney in 1998, '99 and '00. They advanced seven wrestlers to the NCAA finals in '98, eight in '99 and five last year. CMU finished fifth in the country in 1998, seventh in '99 and 20th in '00.
ON THE MAT FOR CMU--Borrelli will use the following lineup at the MAC championships: 125, senior Ahmad Sanders, 133, sophomore Jordan Webster, 141, freshman Jason Mester, 149, freshman Ty Morgan, 157, sophomore Derek Phillips, 165, freshman Mitch Hancock, 174, freshman Kevin Carr, 184, freshman Jeff Pangborn, 197, sophomore Brett Faustman, and heavweight, junior Jack Leffler.
