Central Michigan University Athletics
Thursday, January 24
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
7 p.m.
Central Michigan University
15
vs
23
North Dakota State
Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf
Chippewas Come Up Short Against North Dakota State
1/24/2019 10:24:00 PM | Wrestling
Marten, Simon, Atienza, Stencel post victories for CMU
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – A forfeit and a loss at the buzzer proved too much for the Central Michigan wrestling team to overcome on Thursday as the Chippewas dropped a nonconference dual to North Dakota State, 23-15, at McGuirk Arena.
The Chippewas slipped to 3-5. The Bison are 7-5.
The Chippewas got victories from Drew Marten (141 pounds), Dresden Simon (149), Jordan Atienza (184) and Matt Stencel (285), but gave up six points at 125 where they forfeited because of a medical issue.
Simon held on for a 13-9 victory over Jaden Van Maanen to pull the Chippewas to within 10-6. North Dakota State's Luke Weber (157) then posted a 4-3 victory over Logan Parks, scoring a takedown as time expired to swing momentum and increase the lead to 13-6.
"I think it sucks the life out of everybody a little bit – the crowd, the team," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "Logan's a big part of our team … it affects everybody."
ATIENZA REBOUNDS
Atienza bounced back from a disappointing 12-11 loss in the Chippewas' Sunday dual at Southern Illinois Edwardsville. Atienza had also dropped his previous match, in dual with Old Dominion.
He controlled his match on Thursday against North Dakota State's Michael Otomo in posting a 9-5 victory, improving to 12-8. The win, Atienza said, helped him regain his confidence.
"I think I could have poured it on a little more, but I don't think I made any mistakes," Atienza said. "The only way out is forward. You can't sulk and you can't feel bad about yourself. … keep putting your best foot forward.
"If you're too hard on yourself and only focus on the negatives, you have no chance of improving and tonight I think I did a good job of shutting off that noise and not letting the results of my past few matches affect the way I wrestled tonight."
STENCEL RALLIES
Stencel, who on Wednesday was named the Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Week, fell behind, 6-0, in the opening minute to redshirt freshman Brandon Metz, who took down the Chippewa sophomore and scored a four-point nearfall.
Stencel pinned Metz at the 3:29 mark. It was his 15th pin of the season and his 10th consecutive victory as he improved to 19-4.
That Stencel kept his composure while falling behind early is an encouraging sign, Borrelli said.
"Probably earlier in the year I don't know that he would have had the composure to do that," he said. "I've seen that (composure) in a number of his matches recently."
Metz is a two-time Greco Roman national champion.
"(Stencel) got thrown, but he had enough composure to keep from getting pinned and get off his back and start chipping away," Borrelli said. "Matt's a pinner. If he puts a guy on his back he's probably going to pin him."
BIG WINS
Marten, a redshirt freshman, held off Sawyar Degan, 5-4, getting the winning point on riding time after Degan scored a late takedown to even the match 4-4.
Simon, a sophomore, built a 10-3 first-period lead and then held off Van Maanen, who had pinned Simon earlier this season as the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Simon posted a major-decision victory on Sunday at SIUE.
"That was a big win for him," Borrelli said of Simon's victory over Van Maanen. "I see him gaining a lot of confidence in himself."
Simon scored two takedowns and a four-point nearfall in the first period and while a pin would have been nice – any wrestler and any coach will take one anytime – it was to Simon's benefit to have to go seven minutes, Borrelli said.
"In the big picture," he said, "it was probably a good thing that he didn't get the fall early because he got to wrestle. He got tired and had to fight through that and figure out how to hold the guy off and figure out how to win. Hopefully that's going to serve him well later on in the year."
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
While Marten was able to hold on to win, Parks did not, and it was a bitterly disappointing outcome for the junior who lost a one-point match on Sunday at SIUE.
"You can't play defense in a wrestling match," Borrelli said. "As soon as you start thinking defensively in a wrestling match, the other guy gets life and he can feel that you're worried a little bit and it changes everything.
"That happened in Drew Marten's match and it happened in Logan's match. You need to be always being aggressive and always trying to lengthen your lead and then build on your lead. As long as you're doing that, you're concentrating on wrestling instead of concentrating on the score or the clock. Those things don't work."
NEXT
The Chippewas return to league action on Sunday, Feb. 3 when they entertain Ohio in a dual.
North Dakota State 23, Central Michigan 15
125: Brent Fleetwood (N) won by void.
133: Cam Sykora (N) major dec. Deven Perez, 10-2
141: Drew Marten (C) dec. Sawyer Degan, 5-4
149: Dresden Simon (C) dec. Jaden Van Maanen, 13-9
157: Luke Weber (N) dec. Logan Parks, 4-3
165: Drew Fogarty (N) tech. fall Bret Fedewa, 16-0
174: Lorenzo De La Riva dec. Collin Lieber, 8-2
184: Jordan Atienza (C) dec. Michael Otomo, 9-5
197: Cordell Eaton (N) dec. Landon Pelham, 8-4
285: Matt Stencel (C) pinned Brandon Metz, 3:29
The Chippewas slipped to 3-5. The Bison are 7-5.
The Chippewas got victories from Drew Marten (141 pounds), Dresden Simon (149), Jordan Atienza (184) and Matt Stencel (285), but gave up six points at 125 where they forfeited because of a medical issue.
Simon held on for a 13-9 victory over Jaden Van Maanen to pull the Chippewas to within 10-6. North Dakota State's Luke Weber (157) then posted a 4-3 victory over Logan Parks, scoring a takedown as time expired to swing momentum and increase the lead to 13-6.
"I think it sucks the life out of everybody a little bit – the crowd, the team," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "Logan's a big part of our team … it affects everybody."
ATIENZA REBOUNDS
Atienza bounced back from a disappointing 12-11 loss in the Chippewas' Sunday dual at Southern Illinois Edwardsville. Atienza had also dropped his previous match, in dual with Old Dominion.
He controlled his match on Thursday against North Dakota State's Michael Otomo in posting a 9-5 victory, improving to 12-8. The win, Atienza said, helped him regain his confidence.
"I think I could have poured it on a little more, but I don't think I made any mistakes," Atienza said. "The only way out is forward. You can't sulk and you can't feel bad about yourself. … keep putting your best foot forward.
"If you're too hard on yourself and only focus on the negatives, you have no chance of improving and tonight I think I did a good job of shutting off that noise and not letting the results of my past few matches affect the way I wrestled tonight."
STENCEL RALLIES
Stencel, who on Wednesday was named the Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Week, fell behind, 6-0, in the opening minute to redshirt freshman Brandon Metz, who took down the Chippewa sophomore and scored a four-point nearfall.
Stencel pinned Metz at the 3:29 mark. It was his 15th pin of the season and his 10th consecutive victory as he improved to 19-4.
That Stencel kept his composure while falling behind early is an encouraging sign, Borrelli said.
"Probably earlier in the year I don't know that he would have had the composure to do that," he said. "I've seen that (composure) in a number of his matches recently."
Metz is a two-time Greco Roman national champion.
"(Stencel) got thrown, but he had enough composure to keep from getting pinned and get off his back and start chipping away," Borrelli said. "Matt's a pinner. If he puts a guy on his back he's probably going to pin him."
BIG WINS
Marten, a redshirt freshman, held off Sawyar Degan, 5-4, getting the winning point on riding time after Degan scored a late takedown to even the match 4-4.
Simon, a sophomore, built a 10-3 first-period lead and then held off Van Maanen, who had pinned Simon earlier this season as the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Simon posted a major-decision victory on Sunday at SIUE.
"That was a big win for him," Borrelli said of Simon's victory over Van Maanen. "I see him gaining a lot of confidence in himself."
Simon scored two takedowns and a four-point nearfall in the first period and while a pin would have been nice – any wrestler and any coach will take one anytime – it was to Simon's benefit to have to go seven minutes, Borrelli said.
"In the big picture," he said, "it was probably a good thing that he didn't get the fall early because he got to wrestle. He got tired and had to fight through that and figure out how to hold the guy off and figure out how to win. Hopefully that's going to serve him well later on in the year."
LEARNING EXPERIENCES
While Marten was able to hold on to win, Parks did not, and it was a bitterly disappointing outcome for the junior who lost a one-point match on Sunday at SIUE.
"You can't play defense in a wrestling match," Borrelli said. "As soon as you start thinking defensively in a wrestling match, the other guy gets life and he can feel that you're worried a little bit and it changes everything.
"That happened in Drew Marten's match and it happened in Logan's match. You need to be always being aggressive and always trying to lengthen your lead and then build on your lead. As long as you're doing that, you're concentrating on wrestling instead of concentrating on the score or the clock. Those things don't work."
NEXT
The Chippewas return to league action on Sunday, Feb. 3 when they entertain Ohio in a dual.
North Dakota State 23, Central Michigan 15
125: Brent Fleetwood (N) won by void.
133: Cam Sykora (N) major dec. Deven Perez, 10-2
141: Drew Marten (C) dec. Sawyer Degan, 5-4
149: Dresden Simon (C) dec. Jaden Van Maanen, 13-9
157: Luke Weber (N) dec. Logan Parks, 4-3
165: Drew Fogarty (N) tech. fall Bret Fedewa, 16-0
174: Lorenzo De La Riva dec. Collin Lieber, 8-2
184: Jordan Atienza (C) dec. Michael Otomo, 9-5
197: Cordell Eaton (N) dec. Landon Pelham, 8-4
285: Matt Stencel (C) pinned Brandon Metz, 3:29
Players Mentioned
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