Central Michigan University
MAC Championships
Rough Opening Day For CMU At MAC Championships
3/4/2017 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Tom Borrelli has had better days.
The Central Michigan wrestling coach watched his team stumble on several fronts Saturday on Day 1 of the Mid-American Conference Championships at Northern Iowa's McLeod Center.
Just one Chippewa, junior 157-pounder Colin Heffernan, survived the day unscathed and is scheduled to wrestle Joey Lavallee of Missouri for a league title on Sunday.
"We picked a bad day, first day of the MAC tournament, to probably wrestle as poorly as we've wrestled all year," Borrelli said. "Some days you're on, some days you're not as sharp as you want to be. You've just got to wrestle through it."
Heffernan was one of four Chippewas who entered the tournament seeded second. The others, Brent Fleetwood (125), Justin Oliver (149) and CJ Brucki (174), each lost a match on Saturday to fall into the consolation bracket.
Oliver and Brucki, along with teammates Corey Keener (133), Mason Smith (141), Logan Parks (165), Jordan Ellingwood (184), Austin Severn (197) and Newton Smerchek (HWT) are still in the hunt to finish as high as third. Fleetwood (125) will wrestle for seventh place on Sunday.
"Coming back and finishing third is important," Borrelli said. "Hopefully Heffernan can knock off someone in the finals and he can head to the nationals with some confidence.
"(Sunday's) another day. We'll regroup and hopefully the same things won't happen again."
Heffernan, who is 28-6 and ranked 11th nationally, opened with a 3-1 decision over Larry Early of Old Dominion, then defeated Zachary Carson of Eastern Michigan, 7-3, in his semifinal bout.
He will face Lavallee (24-1), who is ranked fifth, for the second time this season. Lavallee defeated Heffernan, 3-1, in overtime during a dual meet in Columbia, Mo., some six weeks ago.
Lavallee is the top seed in the weight class; Heffernan was seeded No. 2.
"Now that I've wrestled him once I kind of know what he likes to do and what's going to work best for me going against him," Heffernan said. "Between that and film you kind of analyze what you need to do.
"There's not a lot of pressure on me. He's the No. 1 seed, he's beaten me already. We're both going to nationals. I'm just going to go out there and let it rip."
The Chippewas are fourth in the team standings with 72 points. Four-time defending champion Missouri, which has six wrestlers who will wrestle for titles on Sunday, is first with 117.5. Host Northern Iowa, the regular-season MAC champion, is second with 90.5, while Old Dominion (82.5) is third.
Northern Illinois (64) is fifth, followed by Buffalo (61.5), Eastern Michigan (56), Ohio (53) and Kent State (41.5).
• Fleetwood, who upset in his opening match by Brock Hudkins of Northern Illinois, 4-2. Fleetwood came back with a 17-1 technical fall victory over Kent State's Cory Simpson, then dropped a 4-3 decision to Kyle Akins of Buffalo. Fleetwood is scheduled to wrestle Simpson for seventh place on Sunday.
• Keener dropped a 6-1 decision to Bryan Lantry of Buffalo in his opening bout, then took a 7-2 decision from Alijah Jeffery of Northern Illinois. Keener is slated to wrestle Kent State's Anthony Tutolo on Sunday for a spot in the third-place match.
• Smith dropped his opening match, 2-1, to Angel Velasquez of Northern Illinois. He rebounded with a 7-0 victory over Jason Estavez of Buffalo and is scheduled to wrestle Kevin Budock of Old Dominion for a spot in the third-place match.
• Oliver scored an 18-2 technical fall over Colt Cotton of Buffalo in his opening bout, then dropped a 6-3 decision to Max Thomsen of Northern Iowa in the semifinals. Oliver will wrestle Michael Hayes of Old Dominion for a spot in the third-place match.
• Parks opened with a 10-3 victory over Zach Wilson of Ohio, then was pinned by top-seeded Daniel Lewis of Missouir in 2:03. Parks came back to beat Devan Marry of Eastern Michigan, 7-4, and is scheduled to wrestle Seldon Wright of Old Dominion for a spot in the third-place match on Sunday.
• Brucki opened with an 11-4 win over Antonio Agee of Old Dominion before dropping an 11-9 SV-1 decision to Trace Engelkes of Northern Illinois. Brucki will wrestle Jacob Davis of Eastern Michigan on Sunday for a berth in the third-place match.
• Ellingwood, the defending champion at 184, opened with a 10-1 major decision victory over Bryce Gorman of Northern Illinois, then dropped a 3-2 decision to Old Dominion's Jack Dechow in the semifinals. Ellingwood will wrestle Buffalo's Brett Perry on Sunday for a spot in the third-place match.
• Severn opened with a 5-3 loss to Kent State's Stephen Suglio, then came back with a TB-1 2-1 victory over Derek Hillman of Eastern Michigan. Severn will wrestle Shawn Scott of Northern Illinois on Sunday for a berth in the third-place match.
• Smerchek dropped a 2-1 decision to Jake Gunning in his opener, then downed Caleb Gossett of Northern Illinois, 4-1. Smerchek is set to face Missouri's Austin Myers for a spot in the third-place match.
Players Mentioned
