Central Michigan University Athletics
Tom Borrelli Question And Answer
3/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 18, 2003
CMUChippewas.com sat down with wrestling head coach Tom Borrelli after this squad won its fifth MAC tournament title in the last six years and talked with him about why his teams have been so successful and what he expects at this week's NCAA championships.
CMUChippewas.com: Coach you told the team after the tournament that this title meant more to you than the previous four you have won. Why does this title mean so much to you?
Coach Borrelli: This was the first time during a six-year stretch that we entered the tournament not favored to win. Northern Illinois had three returning champions and had beaten us in a dual meet, so I thought NIU would be the team to beat. It had six seniors in the starting lineup and whenever you have that much experience on a squad, you should be the favorite and everyone in the league thought this way. We had no returning champions and for the first time in five years lost a conference dual meet. Even with all this adversity facing our guys, they persevered and won when many people doubted us. This is a special team because it works hard and never gives in. That is why this title was so special.
CMUChippewas.com: Talk about the balance that the MAC had this year and how that led to a lot of uncertainty heading into the conference tournament?
Coach Borrelli: This is the first time I can remember when there were three teams from the MAC ranked in the top 25 in the nation. For the first time ever, we had three teams share the conference regular season championship. In most years, when you look at each weight class heading into the tournament, usually only two or three of the ten weight classes are wide open but this year there were seven or eight that were unpredictable. In a conference tournament with seven or eight weights without a clear-cut favorite, it is reassuring to have two weight classes where you are pretty much guaranteed a title. Going into this year's tournament Northern Illinois had two weight classes where it was the heavy favorite and three defending conference champions. That is why NIU was considered the favorite and why I am so proud of how hard our guys wrestled. We overachieved and ended up winning by a sizable margin.
CMUChippewas.com: One thing we did have in our favor heading into this tournament was CMU was hosting, and you were able to wrestle in your home arena and in front of your fans. How did that help you win the title?
Coach Borrelli: Wrestling in front of our fans is a huge advantage. We have built a feeling of pride and tradition in Chippewa wrestling and know Rose Arena is a tough place for any team to compete. Another important ingredient to hosting the tournament was the fact that our administration put on one of the best MAC tournaments ever. Our administration showed in hosting this championship what I have been trying to tell people for thirteen years, that CMU cares a great deal about the product it presents to the public, puts in many long hours, and is dedicated to doing the best job possible for every event we host. Along with our great administration, our fans are second to none in the MAC and some of the best in the nation. They energized our guys during the tournament, just like they do at all our duals, both home and away. They are a faithful bunch and I thank them for all the support they have given us through the years and know it will continue down the road. This year's "Maroon Platoon" and all our fans are a big reason we have had the success we have enjoyed.
CMUChippewas.com: Talk about your season so far. What have been some of the highs and some things that have been disappointing?
Coach Borrelli: The things we are proud of are our overall record of 13-3 and the victories over Michigan and Michigan State. This is only the second time in our history that we have beaten all three state programs in the same season, so when this happens it is a big deal. I think that the way our team started the season with quality wins over the two top 10 ranked Big Ten in-state rivals, a win over top twenty-five ranked Cleveland State and then going 4-0 out in Oregon, with victories over Oregon and Oregon State, was rewarding. The way we ended the season with big wins over Clarion and Kent State was also important to get some momentum heading into the MAC tournament. The most disappointing thing was our performance at the National Duals. I thought we would really show people how good this team was at the National Duals, but our guys lost two very close and hard-fought dual meets to Iowa and Boise State. However, these losses really got our athletes to refocus and push hard to perform well at the end of the year. I also think this year we learned we couldn't show up and not perform well against conference teams and expect to win handily because of the balance that now exists in MAC wrestling. Our guys were also motivated by some of the comments of the NIU media after that dual and they didn't want to hear the same types of things after the conference tournament.
CMUChippewas.com: What do you expect from your team at the NCAA championships this upcoming weekend?
Coach Borrelli: We expect to finish in the top 10 and produce All-Americans and national champions. These are two of our main goals and we haven't accomplished either the last two years. We have the athletes in our program to accomplish these goals it is only a matter of getting the job done. Conference honors are important, but doing well at the NCAA tournament will get our program the attention and respect we deserve. People tend to overlook the success our program has had recently unless we do well at the NCAA tournament. Our goal is to give people no choice but to take notice of the outstanding wrestling program we have at Central Michigan University.
