Central Michigan University Athletics
Chippewas Continue MAC Schedule
2/4/2003 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 4, 2003
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MOUNT PLEASANT -- The Central Michigan University wrestling team (9-3, 1-1 Mid-American Conference), ranked 16th in the NWCA coaches poll, continues its MAC schedule this week with two duals.
The Chippewas take on Buffalo at home on Friday, Feb. 7. The dual is set to take place in Rose Arena at 7 p.m. CMU will then travel to Athens, Ohio to battle Ohio University on Sunday, Feb. 9. The dual will take place in the Convocation Center at 2 p.m.
The Bulls enter the dual with a 0-1 record in the MAC after falling to Kent State in their only MAC dual so far, 22-9. They are 7-3 overall. Last Sunday, Feb. 2, they defeated Mercyhurst, 31-12. Buffalo will take on Slippery Rock on Tuesday, Feb. 4, at home before facing the Chippewas. Buffalo finished tied for fourth in the MAC regular season and fifth in the tournament last season. It was picked by the MAC coaches to finish fifth this season. The Bulls have not faced one ranked team this season. Their top two wrestler this season are Gary Cooper at 174 who has won 17 straight matches and at 197 Kyle Cerminara, who was a MAC champion last season as a true freshman.
Ohio is now 8-4 on the season after going 3-0 in the Ohio Duals. It beat Millersville, 37-3, Slippery Rock, 29-16, and Bloomsburg, 24-10. The Bobcats are 1-1 in the MAC this season after defeating Eastern Michigan, 31-6, and falling to Northern Illinois, 20-14. Ohio finished third in the MAC regular season last year and fourth in the tournament. It won the 2001 MAC tournament, which it hosted, being the only team other then CMU to win the MAC tournament in the last five years. Ohio was selected by the coaches to finish second in the preseason poll. The Bobcats are led by undefeated All-American Jake Percival at 149. He is ranked fourth in the nation at 149.
SERIES INFORMATION: CMU is 7-0 all-time against Buffalo. CMU travelled to Buffalo last season and easily took care of the Bulls, 28-9. Buffalo is the only team in the MAC that has never beaten CMU. The closest dual between the two teams was in 2001 with CMU winning by seven points, 19-12.
The Bobcats leads the all-time series against Central Michigan, 16-14. CMU defeated them last season, 23-9. Before its loss last Friday, the last team to beat CMU in MAC competition was Ohio in 1998. The Bobcats defeated CMU that year, 22-17. Ohio won the MAC regular season that year and CMU won the MAC tournament.
HEAD COACH TOM BORRELLI ON BUFFALO AND OHIO: "These are two good teams that I know will give us a real challenge. Buffalo is a team that has had some great recruits the last few seasons, and I believe will be a contender in the next few years. Ohio always has a good team and this year is no exception. Percival is one of the best wrestlers at his weight and they have three or four other kids that could be MAC champs. Both will be exciting duals and the most important thing is that we stay aggressive."
NIU AND EMU RECAP: The 16th-ranked Central Michigan University wrestling team fell to Northern Illinois on Friday, Jan. 31, 16-15.
CMU took the early lead with a win at 174 by Mitch Hancock (Royal Oak/So.) over defending MAC champion Bill Lowney, 6-2. NIU fought back with a win at 184 by eighth-ranked Ben Heizer, 1-0. CMU retook the lead with a win at 197 by Brett Faustman (Mason/Sr.), 8-4, but the Huskies again tied things up with a win by Jack Dennis at heavyweight.
NIU took its first lead of the dual with a victory by Marlon Felton at 125, but it was CMU tying things back up with a win at 133 by Jason Borrelli (Mount Pleasant/So.). At 141, top-ranked Jason Mester (Mineral Point, Wis/Jr.) was beaten by 20th-ranked Josh Wooton, 8-3.
Ninth-ranked Ty Morgan (Huber Heights, Ohio/Jr.) won in sudden victory, 2-1, to even the score, but NIU earned a critical major decision at 157 by second-ranked Scott Owen over 10th-ranked David Bolyard (Akron, Ohio/So.), 15-5. In the final match of the night Kevin Carr (Warsaw, Ind./Jr.) was able to pick up the victory, 4-2, but it was not enough and the Huskies won the dual by a single point.
CMU got its first Mid-American Conference victory of the season with a 37-0 home win over Eastern Michigan on Sunday, Feb. 2.
The dual began at 149 pound where ninth-ranked Ty Morgan won by major decision over Nick Conklin, 13-2. CMU moved its lead out to 11-0 with wins at 157 by 10th-ranked David Bolyard (Akron, Ohio/Jr.), 9-4, and at 165 with a major decision by ninth-ranked Kevin Carr, 9-1. Mitch Hancock made quick work of his opponent at 174 with a pin in 25 seconds.
CMU's Alex Lammers (Huber Heights, Ohio/So.) dominated his opponent at 184 with a major decision, 14-2. The Chippewas took a commanding 27-0 lead with wins at 197 by Brett Faustman, 5-0, and at heavyweight by Bill Stouffer (Lowell/So.), 14-7. CMU completed the shutout with wins by Kyle Stoffer (Olmsted Falls, Ohio/Fr.) at 125, 13-3, Jason Borrelli at 133, 9-3; and Jason Mester at 141, 9-5.
BORRELLI ON THE BEGINNING MAC SEASON: "I think last weekend was a real eye-opener for other us because our wrestlers learned how competitive the MAC is this season. Northern Illinois came out motivated and had a great crowd behind it and was able to beat us. It's a good team and got us out of our style of match.
"We bounced back well against Eastern Michigan because we wrestled the match the way we wanted and stayed aggressive. When we do those two things we are a good team, but when we get away from that is when we will have trouble."
