Central Michigan University
Edinboro Open
CMU Wrestler Claim Two Firsts at Edinboro Open
2/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Cullen Maksimowski, CMUChippewas.com
EDINBORO, Pa. - Two Central Michigan wrestlers placed first in their respective weight classes Saturday at the Edinboro Open.
Sophomore Jordan Wohlfert won the 165-pound class and freshman Newton Smerchek was first at heavyweight.
It was the last open tournament of the season for the Chippewas, who will wrestle three duel meets before the Mid-American Conference tournament on March 7-8.
Of the 17 CMU wrestlers who entered the tournament, seven placed in the top six of their respective weight classes.
Jordan Ellingwood (174) and Justin Oliver (149) each placed third, Jordan Atienza (165) was fourth, and Adam Robinson (HWT) and Carter Ballinger (133) were fifth. Ballinger, Atienza, Oliver and Ellingwood are freshmen.
"We accomplished a lot today," said CMU coach Tom Borrelli. "We were able to get some quality wins for both our starters and our younger guys."
Four Chippewas wrestlers normally in the starting lineup did not compete in the tournament. Brent Fleetwood (125), Tyler Keselring (133), Zach Horan (141) and Colin Heffernan (149) did not wrestle in order to avoid injury risk, Borrelli said.
Horan is ranked first in the MAC and 11th nationally, Keselring is ranked fourth in the MAC, and Heffernan is 4th in the MAC and 15th nationally.
Wohlfert went 4-0 on the way to his first-place finish, beating MAC conference rival Mikey English of Missouri 4-2 in sudden victory.
"It was a big win for Jordan," Borrelli said. "He was able to get a hard-fought win against one of Missouri's starters."
CMU's other champion, Smerchek, captured a 2-0 victory over Conan Jennings of Northwestern in the fina.
"Smerchek wrestled very well today," Borrelli said. "He won some close matches against some tough kids and showed a lot of improvement."
Smerchek has shared time with Robinson as the starting heavyweight throughout the season, with Robinson getting most of the recent starts.
Even with Smerchek's strong showing at Edinboro, Borrelli said that he has not decided on who will start when the Chippewas wrestle No.18--ranked Old Dominion in their home finale next Sunday.
"It's a good thing when you have a competition between guys and we'll just see what happens," Borrelli said.
Sunday's MAC conference meet against Old Dominion will start at 2 p.m. in McGuirk Arena.
Players Mentioned
