Chippewas Battle in Intrasquad
10/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Cullen Maksimowski, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — The Central Michigan wrestling team hit the mat for the first time in the 2016-17 season Sunday, competing in the annual Maroon and Gold intrasquad meet at McGuirk Arena.
The Maroon team defeated the Gold team, 26-14.
The meet serves as a chance for the veterans on the team to get re-acclimated to a completive atmosphere as well as chance for coaches to see the younger guys in live match situations.
"Overall I think we have some really good competition on our team," coach Tom Borrelli said. "I liked what I saw from the younger guys, I thought they were competitive and trying to score points against some of our more experienced guys."
Eight of the of the 10 matches on Sunday featured wrestlers in were regulars in last season's starting lineup, highlighted by returning All-American Justin Oliver at 149 pounds. Oliver, a sophomore, defeated junior Mitch Hrnyak by technical fall, 23-8.
The Chippewas also return four NCAA Championships qualifiers in Brent Fleetwood (125), Corey Keener (133), Colin Heffernan (157) and Jordan Ellingwood (184). Ellingwood is the defending Mid-American Conference champion.
The toughest matchups of the night came at the 125 and 174. Fleetwood was edged, 7-6, by practice partner Carter Ballinger, and Jordan Atienza, who went 22-17 at 165 last season, dropped a 7-5 decision to C.J Brucki. Brucki finished 30-6 a year ago at 174.
"I'm glad to see how competitive we are at 125 and obviously 174 is a real competitive situation for us," Borrelli said. "I think the competition we have throughout our lineup is going to make our team better."
Borrelli said that the results of the meet mean a lot in the big picture of deciding the opening day lineup for the Chippewas.
"We're more interested to see how the guys do in the two open tournaments this month so we'll evaluate it more based on that then what they do against each other."
The Chippewas open their season with the Eastern Michigan Open on Nov.5. They host non-conference Virginia in their home-opener on Nov. 13. CMU will also compete in the Michigan State Open on Nov. 20.
Maroon 26, Gold 14
125 pounds: Carter Ballinger (Maroon) dec. Brent Fleetwood (Gold), 7-6
133: Corey Keener (Maroon) tech fall, Jon Martin (Gold), 5:10
141: Dresden Simon (Marron) dec. Kyle Noonan (Gold), 4-3
149: Justin Oliver (Gold) tech fall Mitch Hrnyak (Maroon), 5:19
157: Colin Heffernan (Maroon) tech fall Ryan Violette, 4:34
165: Logan Parks (Maroon) dec. Hunter Rollins, 5-3
174: C.J Brucki (Gold) dec. Jordan Atienza, 7-5
184: Jordan Ellingwood (Maroon) major dec. Landon Pelham (Gold), 17-9
197: Austin Severn (Gold) pinned Tyrus Kemp (Maroon), 5:43
285: Newton Smerchek (Maroon) dec. Matt Stencil (Gold), 6-3
Players Mentioned
