Central Michigan University
NCAA Championships
All-American Oliver Will Wrestle For 7th Place
3/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
NEW YORK - Central Michigan's Justin Oliver didn't get exactly what he sought.
But for a freshman, it's not bad. Not bad at all.
Oliver defeated Mitch Finesilver of Duke, 6-5, to guarantee himself All-America status in the 149-pound weight class Saturday night at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Madison Square Garden.
Oliver will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday morning against Geo Martinez of Boise State. Oliver dropped a 10-5 decision to Martinez at the Jan. 1-2 Reno Tournament of Champions.
Oliver is CMU's first freshman All-American since current assistant coach Ben Bennett in 2010. The top eight placers in each weight class earn All-America honors.
"That was a steppingstone toward the end goal of being a national champion," Oliver said of earning All-American honors. "Fell a little short this year of being a national champion, but being an All-American is still awesome.
"It's kind of a tradition at Central. Just got to win this match tomorrow, work hard in the offseason, and come back next season ready to win it."
Oliver, who was seeded ninth, is 31-7 on the season. Martinez, the 12th seed, is 32-7.
Oliver started Friday by being pinned in the first period in a quarterfinal match with top-seeded and unbeaten Zain Retherford of Penn State.
Retherford (33-0) will wrestled No. 2 seed Brandon Sorenson of Iowa in Saturday's championship match. Retherford is 4-0 in the tournament, three of those wins have come by pin, the other on a technical fall.
That loss knocked Oliver into the wrestlebacks and a showdown with the 14th-seeded Finesilver in what is known as the blood round, with the winner guaranteeing himself All-America status.
Oliver, who beat Finesilver 8-6 earlier this season, seized an early 2-0 lead with a first-period takedown, then wrestled defensively late in the third period to hang on for the victory.
Oliver then dropped an 8-6 decision to Kent State's Mike DePalma, the 10th seed. DePalma defeated Oliver, 7-3, in the title match at the MAC Championships two weeks ago. Oliver won their first meeting, 7-4, in a dual at Kent State in mid-February.
"I just kind of wrestled a little sloppy on my feet the first two periods," said Oliver, who was taken down in the first period and was never able to even the score or seize the lead. "I wrestled a good third period, but I needed to wrestle like that the whole match.
"It's always hard to wrestle a guy more than once. You make adjustments, win or lose. He evidently made a little better adjustments than I did."
That loss put Oliver in the seventh-place match. And while Oliver is a freshman, he, like most elite competitors in his sport, is accustomed to the emotional ups and downs of a wrestling tournament against top-notch competition.
"Got to have a short memory," he said. "I just try to keep my head clear. With a long career you're going to have lots of tough losses that you're going to have to come back from. And each one of them you just got to try to learn from it and try to better yourself for the next match.
"Come back angry and come back as hard as you can."
Oliver's push to All-America status was the bright spot on an otherwise dim day for CMU.
Five Chippewas were alive in the wrestlebacks when matches began on Friday morning, but all five lost in their bid to climb to a place finish and earn All-America honors.
• At 125 pounds, CMU's Brent Fleetwood lost, 7-0, to 14th-seeded Josh Rodriguez of North Dakota State. Fleetwood, a sophomore who wrestled the tournament with a broken bone in his foot, finished the season 20-13.
• At 133, Corey Keener fell to 11th-seeded Dom Forys of Pittsburgh, 12-6. Keener, a junior, finished the season at 19-12.
• At 157, senior Luke Smith, who was seeded 11th, dropped a 5-3 decision to fifth-seeded Dylan Palacio of Cornell. Smith finished 31-10.
• At 174, senior Mike Ottinger, who was seeded 10th, dropped a 17-6 major decision to eighth-seeded Zach Epperly of Virginia Tech. Ottinger finished 30-8.
• At 184, CMU sophomore Jordan Ellingwood lost on a 3-1 sudden-victory decision to Jack Dechow of Old Dominion. Ellingwood finished 29-14.
The Chippewas are tied with North Carolina and Duke for 35th in the team standings with 9 points. Penn State leads with 114, followed by Oklahoma State (79.5), Iowa (77.5), Virginia Tech (69.5) and Ohio State (68).
Players Mentioned
