Central Michigan University Athletics
CMU Wrestlers to Compete Saturday in Edinboro Open
2/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Cullen Maksimowski, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan wrestling team will travel to Pennsylvania Saturday to participate in the Edinboro Open.
The competition will feature wrestlers and schools from all over the country. No. 2-ranked Missouri, No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 Penn State, No. 6 Cornell and No. 22 Purdue are among the teams expected to be in attendance.
The Chippewas will bring upwards of 20 wrestlers, both starters and non-starters, to compete in Saturday's tournament.
"We're really going there to get matches in and to try to get some quality wins for some of our guys heading into the MAC tournament," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said.
Coach Borrelli said the tournament will help CMU wrestler with the all-importance win percentage and RPI (rating percentage index), two major factors that the NCAA employs to determine national qualifiers.
Two of CMU's better wrestlers, junior Zach Horan (141 pounds) and freshman Colin Heffernan (149) will not wrestle this weekend, Borrelli said.
"There's no sense in taking them and risking a chance of them getting injured," he said.
Horan, who is 14-4 on the season, is ranked No. 1 in the Mid-American Conference and 11th nationally. Heffernan, 18-8, is fourth in the MAC and 15th nationally.
Senior Tyler Keselring (133) and freshman Jordan Ellingwood (174) are also ranked fourth in their respective weight classes in the MAC.
In the most recent MAC team rankings released on Feb.4, the Chippewas are sixth behind Missouri, Old Dominion, Northern Iowa, Ohio and Kent State.
CMU has won its head-to-head matchups with Ohio, 19-14; Northern Iowa, 19-12; and Kent State, 19-13. The Chippewas are 7-5 overall and 5-1 in the MAC in duals.
Coach Borrelli said his team may be getting overlooked in some aspect regarding the MAC conference rankings.
"We feel that maybe some of the coaches aren't paying attention to the results as much as they should," he said. "But it's just one of those things that will start to sort itself out in the MAC tournament."
The Chippewas will return to MAC competition next Sunday, Feb. 15, as they take on 17th-ranked Old Dominion in their final home dual of the season. The meet will start at 2 p.m. at McGuirk Arena.
