Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Oklahoma (National Duals)
Wrestling Battles to a Sixth-Place Finish at National Duals
1/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 24, 2005
CLEVELAND, Ohio - College wrestling is a tough, demanding sport and how a team deals with adversity tells a lot about its heart and determination.
At the National Duals over the weekend, the Central Michigan University wrestling team faced many different types of challenges, but the squad showed great heart and courage to battle to a sixth-place showing in the tournament, its best finish ever.
CMU's top performance at the tournament previous to this season was eighth in 1999, the only other time the Chippewas placed at the National Duals.
The Maroon and Gold picked up victories over No. 14 Northern Iowa, 21-18, No. 16 Arizona State, 20-19, and No. 21 Penn State, 25-15, while the team fell to No. 8 Minnesota twice - 20-18 the first time and 18-15 the second - and No. 10 Oklahoma, 20-19, in the fifth-place match.
"I am so proud of how our team wrestled this weekend," said head coach Tom Borrelli. "Our guys showed a lot of heart and fight this whole tournament. I hope people realize how big a deal this event is and what it means to place at National Duals. This tournament is one of the biggest events in our sport.
"It looked like we were down and out of multiple times this weekend, but each time our kids responded to the challenge. Our wrestlers never gave up and I think that says a lot about our team."
The biggest challenge CMU had to overcome all weekend was the loss of 133-pounder Jason Borrelli in the first match of the tournament. That injury forced the Chippewas to forfeit 133 in every dual they wrestled placing the squad in an early hole because a forfeit gives the opposition six team points. The Chippewas came back from deficits of 9-0, 15-0, and 12-3 in their three victories.
The Chippewas also had to wrestle without starter Wynn Michalak in their last three duals because of an injury. This force CMU to used a backup 184-pounder at that weight in those three duals.
The length of the tournament and the top-notch competition didn't make things much easier on the team as CMU wrestled six matches over the two-day tournament. An example of the grueling schedule was the fact the squad weighed in at 9 a.m. on Saturday and finished its fourth match of the day at just after 10 p.m. that night.
The prestigious tournament was also stacked from top to bottom with eight of the top 11 teams in the nation wrestling in the tournament. By taking sixth, the Chippewas finished ahead of No. 4 Michigan, No. 6 Hofstra, and No. 11 Cornell. Michigan took seventh while Hofstra and Cornell did not place.
"This is such a tough tournament to wrestle in because of many factors, but the biggest is the competition," said Borrelli. "We never have an easy match when we come to National Duals and that was especially true this year with just nine guys able to wrestle. It is really easy to get discouraged at the event, but our wrestlers never hung their heads. Our crowd was awesome and their support helped us a lot when we were down and trying to fight back."
David Bolyard post a perfect 6-0 record at the National Duals. He defeated No. 8 Matt Nagel of MInnesota twice and No. 12 Nick Biama of Northern Iowa during the duals.  | |
Two senior wrestlers played a key role in CMU's success: 165-pounder David Bolyard and 174-pounder Mitch Hancock. Both went 6-0 in the tournament and both scored multiple victories against ranked opponents.
Bolyard defeated Minnesota's Matt Nagel, ranked eight, twice in the tournament and also defeated 12th-ranked Nick Biama of Northern Iowa. He also scored a pair of major decisions in the duals with Penn State and Oklahoma.
Hancock stayed red hot with timely wins all weekend for CMU. Hancock scored a pin against Arizona State to spark CMU to victory. He then pinned third-ranked Eric Hauan of Northern Iowa with the Chippewas losing 15-6 in the dual and in need of a major boost of energy which the senior provided. Hancock, ranked ninth, also defeated seventh-rank E.K. Waldhaus of Oklahoma, 8-4, in his final match of the event.
"David and Mitch both stepped up big for us this weekend and that is what we expect from our seniors," said Borrelli. "Both wrestled smart, solid matches every time out and were great team leaders on and off the mat. When we needed a spark, we turned to them and they responded."
Also picking up big victories for the Chippewas was a group of five freshmen who each scored some critical wins for CMU: 125-pounder Luke Smith, 157-pounder Eric Neil, Christian Sinnott at 184, 197-pounder Wynn Michalak and heavyweight Bubba Gritter.
Smith defeated No. 4 Bobbe Lowe of Minnesota, 11-8, after being down 5-0 in that match. Neil scored a big 18-7 victory over ninth-ranked Nate Galloway of Penn State while Sinnott was a 6-5 winner over ninth-ranked Justin Dyer of Oklahoma.
Michalak scored a big win over fourth-ranked Ryan Baider of Arizona State that pretty much sealed the team victory for CMU in that dual. Gritter did seal the victories over Northern Iowa and Penn State by winning at heavyweight
"I was impressed with the poise our younger wrestlers showed in big matches this weekend," said Borrelli. "Each one of those freshman made big strides this weekend, but it is important they continue to improve the rest of this season.
"That message goes for our entire team as well because it is important we build off this performance and always continue to get better. Hopefully, this success gives our wrestlers some confidence but we can not let it get to our head."
The Chippewas now travel to Northern Illinois for their Mid-American Conference opener on Friday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. CST. The squad returns home for a dual with Eastern Michigan on Sunday, Jan. 30, at 2 p.m.
No. 10 University of Oklahoma 20, No. 12 Central Michigan University 19
CMU battled to the end against 10th-ranked Oklahoma but the Chippewas were unable to climb out of an early hole in a 20-19 loss to the Sooners.
OU jumped ahead with by winning four of the first five weight classes. Oklahoma picked up wins at 125, 133, 141 and 157 to build a 17-6 lead midway though the dual.
At 125, top-ranked Sam Hazewinkle scored a 12-4 major decision over Luke Smith to give OU four team points. The Sooners then collected six team points at 133 because CMU forfeited and extended it lead at 141 as second-ranked Teyon Ware majored Brandon Carter, 10-1.
The Chippewas then collected a forfeit of their own at 149. The bout at 157 turned out to be one of the critical matches in the dual as Oklahoma's Charles Jones beat Eric Neil, 6-1. The match was tied 1-1 late in the third period when Jones put Neil to his back and scored a five-point lead to take control of the match.
David Bolyard continued to look solid at 165 as he recorded a major decision over Randy Sulaver, 12-3. It was then Mitch Hancock's turn as he defeated seventh-ranked E.K. Waldhaus by the mark of 8-4 at 174. Hancock took control of the match with a reversal and three-point nearfall midway though the second period.
At 184, Christian Sinnott used a late takedown to defeat ninth-ranked Justin Dyer, 6-5. OU bounced back to win 197 for a 20-16 led heading into the heavyweight contest. CMU's Bill Stouffer needed a pin or technical fall to give the Chippewas' a team victory, but was only able to fight out a 6-3 victory over 13th-ranked Jake Hager.
No. 8 University of Minnesota 18, No. 12 Central Michigan University 15
CMU fell 18-15 in its rematch with Minnesota in the consolation semifinals of Sunday morning.
Just as the first meeting between these two teams, the dual came down to the heavyweights. With the team score tied at 15, Gopher Cole Konrad, ranked second in the nation, scored a 3-1 victory over CMU's Bill Stouffer, ranked seventh. The deciding points in the match were scored on a foot sweep takedown scored by Konrad midway though the second period.
The first meeting between these two squads was in the championship first round yesterday morning with Minnesota winning, 20-18.
The dual began with one of the most exciting matches of the whole tournament. At 125, it was CMU's Luke Smith, ranked 13th, versus fourth-ranked Bobbe Lowe. Lowe defeated Smith in their first meeting, 5-3 in overtime, after Smith led for the entire match only to have the score tied at three because of a stalling point awarded against the CMU wrestler with two seconds left.
In the rematch, Lowe jumped out to a 5-0 lead when he threw Smith to his back late in the first period. Smith battled back through out the whole match including a five-point move of his own early in the third period to pull within one point. With the score at 8-7 and time winding down, Smith tossed Lowe to his back with five seconds remaining to win the bout by the score of 11-8.
Again the Chippewas were forced to forfeit 133 because of an injury, giving Minnesota back the lead, 6-3. The Gophers extended that advantage to 12-3 by winning the next two matches, 141 and 149. Minnesota's Tommy Owen notched a 4-1 win over Brandon Carter at 141, while it was 11th-ranked C.P. Schlatter downing CMU's Mark DiSalvo, 5-4, at 149.
CMU rallied back to tie the score at 12 by winning the next three weights. Starting off the Chippewas' run was Eric Neil at 157. Neil dominated Nik Lentz to record a 10-3 victory. It was then David Bolyard's turn as he tallied a 5-2 victory over eight-ranked Matt Nagel at 165. Bolyard, ranked seventh, took Nagel down to his back in the first period for a four-point move and controlled the match throughout for the victory.
At 174, it was ninth-ranked Mitch Hancock scoring a 6-2 win over Jeremy Larson to tie the team score at 12. Hancock scored a pair of first period takedowns to take control of the match and earn the victory. The Gophers pulled back ahead at 184 as seventh-ranked Roger Kish defeated Christian Sinnott, 4-2.
It took overtime for CMU's Alex Lammers to defeat Jon Duncombe at 197, but the senior scored a takedown midway though the extra period for a 7-5 win. That made the score 15-15 heading into the deciding match at heavyweight.
No. 10 University of Oklahoma 20, No. 12 Central Michigan University 19
125: #1 Sam Hazewinkle (OU) major dec. #13 Luke Smith (CMU), 12-4
133: Trey Blakely (OU) Forfeit
141: #2 Teyon Ware (OU) major dec. Brandon Carter (CMU), 10-1
149: #10 Mark DiSalvo (CMU) Forfeit
157: Charles Jones (OU) dec. Eric Neil (CMU), 7-1
165: #7 David Bolyard (CMU) major dec. Randy Sulaver (OU), 12-3
174: #9 Mitch Hancock (CMU) dec. #7 E.K. Waldhaus (OU), 10-4
184: Christian Sinnett (CMU) dec. #9 Justin Dyer (OU), 6-5
197: #19 Joel Flaggert (OU) dec. Russ Vanderheyden (CMU), 10-6
285: #7 Bill Stouffer (CMU) dec. #13 Jake Hager (OU), 6-3
No. 8 University of Minnesota 18, No. 12 Central Michigan University 15
125: #13 Luke Smith (CMU) dec. #4 Bobbe Lowe (UMN), 11-8
133: #5 Mack Reiter (UMN) Forfeit
141: Tommy Owen (UMN) dec. Brandon Carter (CMU), 4-1
149: #11 C.P. Schlatter (UMN) dec. #10 Mark DiSalvo (CMU), 5-4
157: Eric Neil (CMU) dec. Nik Lentz (UMN), 10-3
165: #7 David Bolyard (CMU) dec. #8 Matt Nagel (UMN), 5-2
174: #9 Mitch Hancock (CMU) dec. Jeremy Larson (UMN), 6-2
184: #7 Roger Kish (UMN) dec. Christian Sinnott (CMU), 4-2
197: Alex Lammers (CMU) dec. Jon Duncombe (UMN), 7-5 OT
285: #2 Cole Konrad (UMN) dec. #7 Bill Stouffer (CMU), 3-1
