Wrestlers Hit The Mat For Intrasquad

Monday, October 29

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7 p.m.

Central Michigan University

Intrasquad Meet

Photo by: Monica Bradburn

10/28/2018 11:09:00 AM | Wrestling

Monday-night dual gives fans a look at very young squad

By: Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Central Michigan wrestling team will kick off the 2018-19 season on Monday (7 p.m.) with its annual Maroon & Gold Intrasquad dual at McGuirk Arena.

The dual provides an opportunity for the Chippewa wrestlers, several of whom are underclassmen and, therefore, have limited experience in a collegiate dual, to gain experience under 'game-night' conditions.

The meet will feature just two upperclassmen, junior Logan Parks (157 pounds) and senior Jordan Atienza (184). Both are returning starters as is sophomore Matt Stencel (285).

There are a number of other Chippewas who have seen significant mat time, either as a front-liner or in opens and tournaments, over the past year or two. But for the most part, most are inexperienced when it comes to a collegiate dual.

"It's so much different (than a tournament) because all eyes are on you," said coach Tom Borrelli, who is in his 28^th year in charge of the program. "And they've got to get used to handling that psychologically and this is the first time for a lot of those guys."

"This is really a test run for our guys being in front of the crowd and getting used to that. Most of our younger guys wrestled in tournaments last year. I think we're going to improve a lot during the year. This is the start of that whole process."

The Chippewas open the season on Saturday, Nov. 3, at the Michigan State Open. Their home opener is a nonconference dual with Michigan on Sunday, Nov. 11 (2 p.m.). The Wolverines finished fourth last season in the NCAA Championships.

"We'll know a lot after the MSU open and the Michigan dual in terms of where we're at and what we need to work on," Borrelli said.

The lineup (maroon team members listed first):
125: Drew Hildebrandt vs. Zach Shupp
133: Deven Perez vs. Brock Bergelin
141: Corbyn Munson vs. Drew Marten
149: Luke Raczkowski vs. Kam Bush
157: Logan Parks vs. Tracy Hubbard
165: Bret Fedewa vs. Blake Montrie
174: Sage Castillo vs. Collin Lieber
184: Jordan Atienza vs. Ben Cushman
197: Jacob Gray vs. Landon Pelham
285: Matt Stencel vs. Nick Jenkins