Central Michigan University
Southern Scuffle
Two Chippewas Place in 'Scuffle'
1/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Zach Horan placed fourth at 141 pounds and Colin Heffernan was eighth at 149 Friday in leading the Central Michigan wrestling team a 13th-place finish in the prestigious Southern Scuffle at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
The Chippewas finished with 47.5 points, one-half point behind 12th-place Army. Penn State, which is ranked fourth nationally, won the 31-team tournament with 165 points, 15 better than runner-up Missouri, which is ranked fifth. Eighth-ranked Oklahoma State was third with 135.5. The field included 11 ranked teams.
"I felt like we competed hard the whole weekend," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "We lost a lot of really close matches. To be successful in this sport you have to win close matches. If you can win close matches you can do well in this sport. We have two months here where we can work on winning those close matches."
Horan, a junior who was seeded second in the tournament, defeated Isaiah Locsin of Stanford, 3-2, in a quarterfinal match on Friday, then was pinned in 1 minute, 41 seconds, by third-seeded Geo Martinez of Boise State in the semifinals.
In the consolation bracket, Horan pinned Kade Moss of Penn State in 2:42 to reach the third-place match, where he dropped to a 2-1 decision to sixth-seeded Anthony Abidin of Nebraska. Horan, who was ranked 10th nationally entering the tournament, finished 3-2 in the two-day event and is 8-4 on the season. His pin of Moss was his first of the season.
Heffernan, who lost his opening match on Thursday, rebounded to win five consecutive matches before bowing to Luke Frey of Penn State, 5-2, on Friday. In the seventh-place match, he dropped a 3-2 decision to Mike Racciato of Pittsburgh to finish eighth.
After dropping into the consolation bracket early on Thursday, Heffernan won two matches later that day, then three more on Friday, the first by forfeit over Gus Sako of Virginia; the second, 2-0, over Beau Donahue of North Carolina State; and the third, a 12-7 decision over Gabe Moreno of Iowa State.
Heffernan's victory over Moreno avenged a 7-6 loss he had suffered to the Cyclone when the teams met in a dual meet at McGuirk Arena in late November.
"That was a big win for him," Borrelli said. "Anytime you can avenge losses it means you're improving."
Heffernan, a freshman who was unseeded, finished 5-3 in the tournament, improving to 14-8 on the season, including 12-4 in tournaments.
Also for CMU:
• At 125, Brent Fleetwood finished 3-2, winning by forfeit on Friday over Will Mason of Virginia before falling to Conor Youtsey of Michigan, 4-0. Fleetwood, a freshman, is 8-8 on the year.
• At 133, senior Tyler Keselring took a 7-0 decision over Gary Way Harding of Oklahoma State in an elimination match on Friday, then was pinned by Vito Pasone of Appalachian State in 5:50. Keselring finished the tournament 2-2 and is 7-8 on the year.
• At 149, freshman Cody LeCount was eliminated by Grant Leeth of Duke on a 3-2 decision and finished the tourney 2-2. LeCount is 13-4 on the season.
• At 165, sophomore Jordan Wohlfert was defeated by Brian Dorsey of Duke, 4-2, in an elimination match. Wohlfert finished the tournament 2-2 and stands 9-8 on the year.
• At 174, Jordan Ellingwood defeated Jadaen Bernstein of Navy, 3-2, before being eliminated on an 8-0 major decision by John Staudenmayer of North Carolina. Ellingwood, a freshman, went 3-2 in the tournament and is 7-5 on the year.
• At 184, sophomore Austin Severn was eliminated by Aaron Studebaker of Nebraska, 6-0, to close the tournament at 3-2. He is 3-7 on the season. Also for CMU at 184, freshman CJ Brucki pinned Samson Imonode of Army at 6:54 before being eliminated by Studebaker, 3-1. It was Brucki's first pin of the season. Brucki went 2-2 in the event and is 9-5.
• At 197, Jackson Lewis forfeited his Friday consolation match to Owen Scott of Cornell and finished 2-2 in the tournament. Lewis, a junior, is 5-6 on the year.
• At 285, junior Adam Robinson defeated Collin Campbell of Virginia, 4-3, before being eliminated by Jacob Kettler of George Mason on a pin at 3:39. CMU's Newton Smerchek, a freshman, was eliminated by Tanner Harms of Wyoming, 11-4. Smerchek finished 1-2 in the tourney and is 9-10 on the season. Robinson finished 2-2 in the tournament and is 9-5 on the year.
"I feel like our whole team needs to focus on being able to finish what they start and stay focused for seven minutes," Borrelli said. "Every one of our guys are really close to breaking through. It took a lot to beat us this weekend. We were in almost every match we wrestled. Lapses for 30 seconds or 15 seconds and that's all it really takes, especially when you're wrestling in a quality event.
"We're getting better. Obviously we have a lot we can improve on, but I see us making progress, which is good. When you have a young team you should be able to improve a lot. We feel good about that."
Players Mentioned
