Central Michigan University Athletics
Central Michigan University
Midlands
Five Chippewas Advance to Semifinals at Midlands
12/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 29, 2005
Updated Brackets in PDF Format
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Team Standings After Day One in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader
EVANSTON, Ill. - Five Central Michigan University wrestlers have advanced to the semifinals in their respective weight classes during the first day of competition at the 43rd Midlands Championships.
Qualifying for Friday's semifinals were sophomore Luke Smith (125 pounds), sophomore Brandon Carter (141), freshman Eric Kruger (141), senior Mark DiSalvo (149) and sophomore Wynn Michalak (197).
As a team, the Chippewas sit in second place in the 60-team field with 59 points. Illinois is the team leader after day one with 60 points; rounding out the top five after CMU is Michigan State (51.5 points), Iowa State (51) and Iowa (46).
CMU's best finish at the prestigious tournament was a third-place showing in 1998. Last year, the Chippewas were in first following day one before eventually finishing fourth.
Carter and Kruger both put together impressive showings in the 141-pound bracket and are one win away from squaring off in the championship match. Both entered the tournament unranked nationally, and neither was seeded in the Midlands bracket but knocked off ranked opponents in the early rounds. Following a first-round bye, Carter earned a 7-2 decision over Illinois' Cassio Pero (No. 20 in the NWCA/InterMat poll) and a 7-4 decision over Northern Illinois' Josh Wooton (No. 9 NWCA/InterMat).
Kruger posted a 4-1 decision over Mike Rohowetz (UW-LaCrosse, unranked), a 4-3 decision over Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa, No. 11 NWCA/InterMat) and 2-1 over Thad Benton (Pitt-Johnstown, unranked).
Smith needed to win just one match on the mat in advancing to the final four at 125. He earned a first-round bye, then claimed a 14-1 major decision over Harper's Andy McArthur. Smith, seeded sixth in the bracket, then advanced after third-seeded John Velez of Northwestern was forced to forfeit their quarterfinal matchup.
DiSalvo, seeded second in the 149-pound bracket, cruised into the semis with three consecutive major decisions. He opened the day with a 10-0 major over Noah Fitzenreider (North Central), then recorded majors of 13-5 over Josh Zupancic (Stanford) and 11-3 over Danny Zeman (Illinois).
Michalak, who entered the tournament ranked first nationally at 197 pounds, recorded an 11-2 major over Jared Villers (West Virginia) and a fall at 3:05 over Andrew Anderson (Northern Iowa) in moving to the semis.
CMU also boasts six wrestlers still alive in the consolation bracket: Matt Steintrager (125), Jason Borrelli (133), Andy Keller (157), Justin Petrone (165), Brandon Sinnott (174) and Christian Sinnott (184).
CMU freshman Connor Beebe, wrestling unattached, will also return to competition in the consolation bracket on Friday.
