Central Michigan University
Ohio
Chippewa Wrestlers Upset Ohio
1/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
ATHENS, Ohio - Adam Robinson held on, and so did the Chippewas.
Robinson held off Zach Parker for a 3-2 win at heavyweight Saturday night, preserving the Central Michigan wrestling team's 19-14 victory over Ohio in a Mid-American Conference dual.
It was CMU's third consecutive dual victory as it improved to 3-0 in the MAC. The Chippewas are 4-4 overall. All four losses came to ranked teams.
Coach Tom Borrelli's lineup included seven underclassemen, five freshmen among them, and just one Chippewa, Zach Horan (141 pounds) is ranked.
Ohio countered with a lineup featuring seven upperclassmen and four wrestlers who are ranked nationally.
"I think this could really springboard us into moving ahead even faster," Borrelli said. "Any win is big for us for as young as we are. We're trying to gain confidence, we're trying to gain a belief in ourselves. This is a big step for us."
The Chippewas got a 12-1 major decision win from Brent Fleetwood to start the meet at 125, followed by a 7-0 victory from Tyler Keselring at 133. Horan, ranked 13th, recorded a pin in 1 minute, 23 seconds to up CMU's lead to 13-0.
Then came the key match of the night. CMU freshman Colin Heffernan took a 9-7 sudden victory over ninth-ranked Tywan Claxton, a junior, to extend CMU's lead to 16-0.
"That was a huge match," Borrelli said. "Heffernan was down 7-5 with about 30 seconds to go in the match. He took him down and rode him out," sending the match to sudden victory.
Heffernan, who placed eighth last weekend at the Southern Scuffle, scored a takedown in the extra session to claim the sudden victory. It was just the second loss of the season for Cluxton, who is 19-2.
"He's improving and finishing his shots," Borrelli said of Heffernan, who is 13-8. "He's always been able to get in on people, but he's getting better at finishing now.
"If we don't win that match we probably don't win the dual meet. They beat us 17-16."
Ohio won the next five matches, all by decision, and none were decided by more than five points, and two of them went to overtime. Because the Chippewas did not lose any of those five matches by pin, technical fall or major decision, it kept the damage to a minimum, and allowed the Bobcats to creep up at a rate of only three points per match.
All five of the CMU entrants in those matches - Cody LeCount, Jordan Wohlfert, Jordan Ellingwood, CJ Brucki and Austin Severn - are underlcassmen. Three of their respective opponents are ranked.
"Our guys were really competitive the whole night, even the matches we lost we were real competitive," Borrelli said. "They were all wrestling really quality kids from Ohio. So I was real happy with how they competed. I was happy with the way everyone wrestled."
The Chippewa lead was 16-14 heading into Robinson's 3-2 victory over at heavyweight.
Both Robinson and Parker each had a warning for stalling in the match which meant that another stalling call would have been a point for the opponent.
"Robinson did a really good job," Borrelli said. "He controlled the center of the mat, hand fought, took some shots, and kept the ref from making that (stalling) call.
"I was really proud of Robinson. He's learning how to win matches in pressure situations and last year he didn't do those things. Tonight he was in that situation and he really came through. That's a step forward for him."
Central Michigan 19, Ohio 14
125: Brent Fleetwood (Central Michigan) major dec. over Zachary Hassan (Ohio), 12-1 (Central Michigan 4, Ohio 0)
133: Tyler Keselring (Central Michigan) dec. over Kagan Squire (Ohio), 7-0 (Central Michigan 7, Ohio 0)
141: No. 13 Zachary Horan (Central Michigan) pinned Joel Shump (Ohio), 1:23 (Central Michigan 13, Ohio 0)
149: Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan) sudden victory dec. over No. 9 Tywan Claxton (Ohio), 9-7 (Central Michigan 16, Ohio 0)
157: Spartak Chino (Ohio) sudden victory dec. over Cody LeCount (Central Michigan), 3-1 (Central Michigan 16, Ohio 2)
165: No. 20 Harrison Hightower (Ohio) dec. over Jordan Wohlfert (Central Michigan), 1-0 (Central Michigan 16, Ohio 5)
174: No. 11 Cody Walters (Ohio) dec. over Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan), 3-0 (Central Michigan 16, Ohio 8)
184: Andrew Romanchik (Ohio) sudden victory dec. over CJ Brucki (Central Michigan), 3-1 (Central Michigan 16, Ohio 11)
197: No. 17 Phil Wellington (Ohio) dec. over Austin Severn (Central Michigan), 8-3 (Central Michigan 16, Ohio 14)
HWT: Adam Robinson (Central Michigan) dec. over Zach Parker (Ohio), 3-2 (Central Michigan 19, Ohio 14)
Players Mentioned
