Central Michigan University
Missouri
Chippewas Wrestlers Fall To No. 3 Missouri
1/19/2018 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Good start, good finish.
In between, it was all Missouri.
The third-ranked Tigers won eight matches - one by pin, two by major decision - in handing No. 17 Central Michigan a 29-6 loss in a Mid-American Conference wrestling dual meet on Friday at McGuirk Arena.
The loss ended CMU's dual win streak at four and left the Chippewas 5-4, 2-1 MAC. Missouri is 15-0, 6-0.
The Chippewas entertain Buffalo in a league dual on Sunday (2 p.m.). The Bulls (5-6, 2-2) dropped a 22-9 league dual to Old Dominion on Friday.
"We have to get better to be able to compete with them, that's all there is to it," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "You can't take anything away from them. They're good. I think we're a little better than the way we performed.
"We've got to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off; we've got a big match to get ready for on Sunday. We can't hang our head or anything like that."
CMU's Drew Hildebrandt opened the meet with a 5-4 win over Barlow McGhee at 125 pounds, and Chippewa 285-pounder Matt Stencel posted a 9-2 victory over Jake Bohlken to close the night.
Missouri won the intervening eight matches, including at 141 and 149. Third-ranked Jaydin Eireman topped No. 9 Mason Smith, 6-0, at 141; and No. 11 Grant Leeth upset third-ranked Justin Oliver, 3-1, at 149.
Leeth scored a takedown with just 3 seconds remaining to top Oliver, who is now 22-3 on the season. Smith had won 13 consecutive matches entering Friday's dual. CMU was again without 157-pounder Colin Heffernan, who is injured but expected to return, perhaps as early as Sunday against Buffalo.
"Those were two matches (141, 149) that were real important for us, especially without having Heffernan in the lineup tonight," Borrelli said. "We felt like we could get them in a few spots and it just didn't work out for us."
Missouri's pin came from fourth-ranked Joey Lavallee at 157, and the Tigers got back-to-back majors at 174 and at 184.
"I thought we got ridden real hard the whole match," Borrelli said. "We've got to get better off the bottom. We weren't aggressive enough most of the night. We've just have to improve on those things."
MISSOURI 29, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 6
125: Drew Hildebrandt (CMU) dec. Barlow McGhee, 5-4
133: John Erneste (M) dec. Dresden Simon, 6-4
141: Jaydin Eireman (M) dec. Mason Smith, 6-0
149: Grant Leeth (M) dec. Justin Oliver, 3-1
157: Joey Lavallee (M) pinned Blake Montrie, 3:41
165: Connor Flynn (M) dec. Logan Parks, 7-3
174: Daniel Lewis (M) major dec. CJ Brucki, 9-1
184: Canten Marriott (M) major dec. Jordan Ellingwood, 9-1
197: Willie Miklus (M) dec. Jordan Atienza, 7-2
285: Matt Stencel (CMU) dec. Jake Bohlken, 9-2
Players Mentioned
