Central Michigan University
NCAA Championships
Freshman Oliver Goes From Backup To All-American
3/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
NEW YORK - Freshman year of college is a major transition, a year of growth, a year of self-discovery.
For Central Michigan's Justin Oliver, it was all that. And more, much more.
Oliver defeated Geo Martinez of Boise State, 5-1, Saturday to claim seventh place at 149 pounds in the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Madison Square Garden.
Oliver became CMU's first freshman All-American since current Chippewa assistant coach Ben Bennett in 2010. The top eight finishers in each weight class earn All-America honors, and Oliver had accomplished that with his 6-5 win over Mitch Finesilver of Duke on Friday afternoon.
The win over Martinez was the icing on the cake.
"It's always good to finish with odd numbers," said Oliver, who finished the season 32-7. "It's awesome winning that last match here, gives me a little bit of confidence going into next year."
Like most college wrestlers, Oliver enjoyed a sensational high school career, going 172-5 and earning All-State honors - and winning two state titles -- in each of his four years at Davison High School, one of Michigan's premier prep programs.
He started his freshman year at CMU behind incumbent Colin Heffernan on the depth chart. Oliver lost his first collegiate match to Purdue's Alex Griffin, but came back at the Michigan State Open to reach the final, where he lost to Heffernan.
"I think (Oliver) was in a tough situation from the start of the year," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "He didn't even know if he was going to be our starter this year and he just kept grinding, trying to get better every day in practice. And he didn't worry about all those things that you can get distracted by.
"He just kept getting better and when he got his chance to perform he took advantage of it. Keeping your head down, keep grinding, and keep working pays off for you a lot in this sport."
Oliver's opportunity came when an injury sidelined Heffernan. He went 3-2 at the Reno Tournament of Champions just before Christmas. One of those losses came to Martinez, 10-5.
Oliver then posted a CMU-best third-place finish, going 6-1, at the prestigious Southern Scuffle at Chattanooga Jan 1-2. He won his last four matches at that tournament, igniting a 15-match win streak. He went unbeaten in Mid-American Conference duals.
"This year's been a big roller coaster," Oliver said. "Had a lot of ups and downs. Beginning of the year, being the backup, kind of put me in a little bit of a dark place. But I realize I needed to bounce back and come back and try to work as hard as possible, try to get that starting spot."
Oliver's win streak ended with a loss to Kent State's Mike DePalma in the title match at the MAC Championships. Oliver entered the NCAA Championships as the ninth seed.
He won his first two matches to reach the quarterfinal round, where he bowed to top-seed Zain Retherford of Penn State.
"Coming into the tournament being the nine seed, I kind of felt like I had to win that first match," Oliver said. "Walking out I was kind of awestruck by all the people watching. But as the day progressed I just kind of had fun with it, flowed through my own match, and didn't pay attention to the people as much. Had fun with it."
Oliver said that was his main take-away from the tournament.
"Don't get too caught up in all the people watching, just take it like every other match and go out there and battle," he said. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Go out there and have fun."
Oliver rebounded in the wrestlebacks, where he beat Finesilver then lost 8-6 in a rematch with DePalma, a senior who finished fifth Saturday at the NCAA.
Oliver seized a 2-0 lead on Martinez with a first-period takedown. He added a second-period takedown and earned a riding-time point. Martinez's lone point came on an escape.
"It's huge to get those early takedowns," Oliver said. "That definitely helped my confidence throughout the match."
And confidence is critical, Oliver said, any time he steps on the mat, whether he's wrestling in a dual at McGuirk Arena or at Madison Square Garden, where he took the mat in front of a crowd of more than 18,000 people and the ESPN cameras tracking every match.
"Going into the last two tournaments, I knew I didn't have anything to lose because I didn't have the starting spot in the first place," he said. "So I just had to go out there and wrestle."
Oliver was the lone CMU wrestler, among the seven who qualified for the NCAA's, to earn All-America honors. Three of those Chippewas, Luke Smith, Mike Ottinger and Zach Horan, are seniors.
The Chippewas scored 10 team points and were among a group tied for 32nd place heading into Saturday night's championship matches. CMU finished 50th last season with 2 ½ points in the NCAA's.
Borrelli said Oliver's success will be felt throughout the program.
"I think that's invaluable in your wrestling room -- if that young man's the right type of person and the right type of leader and is not satisfied with that," Borrelli said. "I think he's going to drag some other people along with him. Hopefully that's what's going to happen.
"You have to have somebody who's been there, done that, and is training the right way and making the right sacrifices. Other people are going to try to aspire to that.
"It can't just come from the coaches. It's got to come from your peers and that's a big step. It was a big step for us to get seven guys here this year. Four of those guys are back next year. I think we've got some guys who are waiting in the wings who are pretty hungry. We'll find out. I like where we're going. I think we're back moving in the right direction."
