Sunday, December 29
Hoffman Estates, Ill.
9:30 a.m.
Central Michigan University
vs
Midlands Championships
CMU's Matt Stencel has his hand raised after a victory at the Midlands Championships.
Four Chippewas Place; CMU 6th At Midlands
12/30/2019 11:46:00 PM | Wrestling
Stencel, Hildebrandt, Parks, Simon place for CMU
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – Four Central Michigan wrestlers placed in the top eight in their respective weight classes as the Chippewas finished sixth in an extremely strong field at the 57th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships at Sears Centre Arena.
CMU's Matt Stencel (285 pounds) was second, Drew Hildebrandt (125) was fourth, Logan Parks (157) was fifth, and Dresden Simon (141) was seventh.
The Chippewas, who are ranked 24th by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, collected 80 points. No. 1-ranked Iowa won the tournament with 196.5 points. No. 16 Northern Iowa (101) was second, followed by Illinois (94.5), No. 8 Wisconsin (93), No. 12 Princeton (84.5), and CMU.
"Going into (Monday) were in ninth place and we really had a good second day to move up," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "We had four guys that really wrestled well the second day. We scored a lot of bonus points in all of those matches; we had some pins, a lot of major decisions. The biggest reason we were able to move up to sixth place was bonus points."
• Stencel, who is ranked eighth nationally, dropped a 5-1 decision to fourth-ranked Anthony Cassioppi of Iowa in the title match at 285. Cassioppi was the No. 1 seed in the tournament, while Stencel was seeded third.
Stencel, a junior who is 17-4 on the season, went 4-1 in the tournament, posting three victories by pin to bring his season total to 11. He defeated fifth-ranked Trent Hillger of Wisconsin, the No. 2 seed, 6-1, in the semifinals. Stencel opened with a pin in 1:12 of Mark Chaid of North Carolina, then pinned Max Ihry of Northern Illinois in 35 seconds, and then pinned Yaraslau Slavikouski of Harvard in 5:17.
"Matt wrestled a really good tournament until that (championship) match," Borrelli said. "Cassioppi is real basic, a really good hand fighter and he kind of pushes (an opponent) around, doesn't make mistakes, and is really good on top. Matt's got to learn how to wrestle that type of guy."
• Hildebrandt, a junior who is ranked seventh nationally, dropped a 5-4 decision to 13th-ranked Michael Colaiocco of Penn in the third-place match. Colaiocco was seeded sixth.
Hildebrandt, who was seeded fourth, went 6-2 in the tournament to up his season record to 18-3. He opened with a 9-4 victory over Eric Barnett of Wisconsin, and then pinned Blair Orr of Penn in 6:23. He followed with an 8-0 major decision win over Korbin Meink of Campbell, and then lost, 5-1, to 11th-ranked Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern.
Hildebrandt, who won three matches by major decision and one by pin in the tournament, bounced back with a pair of major-decision victories, the first 10-0 over Gage Curry of American, and the second 11-2 over Nolan Hellickson of Harvard. He advanced to the third-place match with a medical forfeit win over Brock Hudkins of Indiana.
"To take fourth in the Midlands is not anything to sneeze at, but I know (Hildebrandt) expects more from himself," Borrelli said. "I'm sure he's pretty disappointed in himself. He had a bad loss to the kid from Northwestern in the quarterfinal and that put him in the consolation. There's a lot of improvement Drew can make from this weekend."
• Parks, a senior who is ranked 25th nationally and was seeded eighth, made an outstanding comeback after dropping his third match of the tournament on a pin, in 4:07, by Markus Hartman of Army.
Parks rebounded with a 10-1 major-decision victory over Michael Petite of Buffalo, and then pinned (2:42) Justin Ruffin of SIUE. He dropped a 7-5 decision Kendall Coleman of Purdue, and topped Anthony Artalona of Penn, 3-1, in the fifth-place match.
Ruffin is ranked 13th and was seeded fifth; Coleman is ranked fifth and was seeded third; and Artalona is ranked ninth and seeded fourth. Parks opened the tournament with a 10-4 win over Devin Bahr of Wisconsin and then followed with a 7-2 win over Justin McCoy of Virginia. Parks finished 5-2 in the tournament, improving to 13-6 on the season.
"He was pretty disappointed after he got pinned," Borrelli said of Parks. "I think he was pretty determined after that and he beat some guys that were ranked ahead of him. He really wrestled well the second day."
• Simon, a junior, is ranked 17th and was seeded sixth. He went 6-2 in the tournament to up his record to 18-6.
He opened with a 10-3 win over David Campbell of Bucknell, then posted a 6-4 victory over Saul Ervin of SIUE. Simon then lost, 6-5, to 11th-seeded Salvatore Profaci of American, and then rebounded with a 14-5 major-decision victory over Jimmy Pawelski of Brown.
Simon followed with an 8-6 win over Carter Happel of Iowa and a 14-3 major-decision win over 12th-ranked Michael Blockhus of Northern Iowa, the No. 4 seed. Simon then lost, 7-4, to Dylan Duncan of Illinois before avenging his earlier loss to Profaci with a 9-5 in the seventh-place match.
"Dresden had a bad loss and he came back and beat the guy in the seventh-place match," Borrelli said. "He had some big wins along the way too. Dresden did well in coming back the second day."
Other Chippewa results:
• Aaron Bolo, 197: Defeated Sam Mitchell, Buffalo, 6-3; lost, 9-4, to Lucas Davison of Northwestern; lost, 2-1, to Nicholas Willham of Indiana.
• Ben Cushman, 184: Lost 10-4 to Travis Stefanik of Princeton; defeated Jakob Hinz of Indiana, 10-5; lost, 14-3, to Trent Tracy of Cal Poly.
• Brock Bergelin, 133: Defeated Dillon Murphy of Harvard, 10-0; lost, 6-1, to Travis Piotrowski of Illinois; lost, 11-10, to Travis Ford-Melton of Purdue.
• Corbyn Munson, 149: Defeated Andrew Garr of Columbia, 15-0 technical fall; lost, 16-0 technical fall to Max Thomsen of Northern Iowa; lost, 11-7, to Yahya Thomas of Northwestern.
• Drew Marten, 133: Lost on a 13-2 major decision to Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern; defeated Caleb Brooks of Northern Illinois, 4-0; defeated Lucas Byrd of Illinois, 4-2; lost on a 13-4 major decision to Jaime Hernandez of North Carolina.
• Jake Lowell, 174: Lost on a 12-4 major decision to Dylan Lydy of Purdue; lost, 5-2, to Logan Stanley of Ohio.
• Johnny Lovett, 157: Lost, 9-5, to Garrett Model of Wisconsin; lost, 6-4, to Devin Bahr of Wisconsin.
• Landon Pelham, 197: Pinned Pete Christensen of Wisconsin in 2:02; lost, 10-4, to Pat Brucki of Princeton; pinned Aric Bohn of SIUE in 2:58; lost, 8-6, to Brandon Whitman of North Carolina.
• Luke Raczkowski, 149: Lost on a 20-8 major decision to Austin O'Connor of North Carolina; pinned Niko Derain of Northern Illinois in 1:21; lost on a pin in 51 seconds to Alec Hagan of Ohio.
• Tracy Hubbard, 165: Lost on a 15-0 technical fall to Bernie Truax of Cal Poly; lost, 4-3, to Joshua Otto of Wisconsin.
• Vince Perez, 125: Lost, 7-0, to Brock Hudkins of Indiana; lost, 6-1, to Eric Barnett of Wisconsin.
CMU's Matt Stencel (285 pounds) was second, Drew Hildebrandt (125) was fourth, Logan Parks (157) was fifth, and Dresden Simon (141) was seventh.
The Chippewas, who are ranked 24th by the National Wrestling Coaches Association, collected 80 points. No. 1-ranked Iowa won the tournament with 196.5 points. No. 16 Northern Iowa (101) was second, followed by Illinois (94.5), No. 8 Wisconsin (93), No. 12 Princeton (84.5), and CMU.
"Going into (Monday) were in ninth place and we really had a good second day to move up," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "We had four guys that really wrestled well the second day. We scored a lot of bonus points in all of those matches; we had some pins, a lot of major decisions. The biggest reason we were able to move up to sixth place was bonus points."
• Stencel, who is ranked eighth nationally, dropped a 5-1 decision to fourth-ranked Anthony Cassioppi of Iowa in the title match at 285. Cassioppi was the No. 1 seed in the tournament, while Stencel was seeded third.
Stencel, a junior who is 17-4 on the season, went 4-1 in the tournament, posting three victories by pin to bring his season total to 11. He defeated fifth-ranked Trent Hillger of Wisconsin, the No. 2 seed, 6-1, in the semifinals. Stencel opened with a pin in 1:12 of Mark Chaid of North Carolina, then pinned Max Ihry of Northern Illinois in 35 seconds, and then pinned Yaraslau Slavikouski of Harvard in 5:17.
"Matt wrestled a really good tournament until that (championship) match," Borrelli said. "Cassioppi is real basic, a really good hand fighter and he kind of pushes (an opponent) around, doesn't make mistakes, and is really good on top. Matt's got to learn how to wrestle that type of guy."
• Hildebrandt, a junior who is ranked seventh nationally, dropped a 5-4 decision to 13th-ranked Michael Colaiocco of Penn in the third-place match. Colaiocco was seeded sixth.
Hildebrandt, who was seeded fourth, went 6-2 in the tournament to up his season record to 18-3. He opened with a 9-4 victory over Eric Barnett of Wisconsin, and then pinned Blair Orr of Penn in 6:23. He followed with an 8-0 major decision win over Korbin Meink of Campbell, and then lost, 5-1, to 11th-ranked Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern.
Hildebrandt, who won three matches by major decision and one by pin in the tournament, bounced back with a pair of major-decision victories, the first 10-0 over Gage Curry of American, and the second 11-2 over Nolan Hellickson of Harvard. He advanced to the third-place match with a medical forfeit win over Brock Hudkins of Indiana.
"To take fourth in the Midlands is not anything to sneeze at, but I know (Hildebrandt) expects more from himself," Borrelli said. "I'm sure he's pretty disappointed in himself. He had a bad loss to the kid from Northwestern in the quarterfinal and that put him in the consolation. There's a lot of improvement Drew can make from this weekend."
• Parks, a senior who is ranked 25th nationally and was seeded eighth, made an outstanding comeback after dropping his third match of the tournament on a pin, in 4:07, by Markus Hartman of Army.
Parks rebounded with a 10-1 major-decision victory over Michael Petite of Buffalo, and then pinned (2:42) Justin Ruffin of SIUE. He dropped a 7-5 decision Kendall Coleman of Purdue, and topped Anthony Artalona of Penn, 3-1, in the fifth-place match.
Ruffin is ranked 13th and was seeded fifth; Coleman is ranked fifth and was seeded third; and Artalona is ranked ninth and seeded fourth. Parks opened the tournament with a 10-4 win over Devin Bahr of Wisconsin and then followed with a 7-2 win over Justin McCoy of Virginia. Parks finished 5-2 in the tournament, improving to 13-6 on the season.
"He was pretty disappointed after he got pinned," Borrelli said of Parks. "I think he was pretty determined after that and he beat some guys that were ranked ahead of him. He really wrestled well the second day."
• Simon, a junior, is ranked 17th and was seeded sixth. He went 6-2 in the tournament to up his record to 18-6.
He opened with a 10-3 win over David Campbell of Bucknell, then posted a 6-4 victory over Saul Ervin of SIUE. Simon then lost, 6-5, to 11th-seeded Salvatore Profaci of American, and then rebounded with a 14-5 major-decision victory over Jimmy Pawelski of Brown.
Simon followed with an 8-6 win over Carter Happel of Iowa and a 14-3 major-decision win over 12th-ranked Michael Blockhus of Northern Iowa, the No. 4 seed. Simon then lost, 7-4, to Dylan Duncan of Illinois before avenging his earlier loss to Profaci with a 9-5 in the seventh-place match.
"Dresden had a bad loss and he came back and beat the guy in the seventh-place match," Borrelli said. "He had some big wins along the way too. Dresden did well in coming back the second day."
Other Chippewa results:
• Aaron Bolo, 197: Defeated Sam Mitchell, Buffalo, 6-3; lost, 9-4, to Lucas Davison of Northwestern; lost, 2-1, to Nicholas Willham of Indiana.
• Ben Cushman, 184: Lost 10-4 to Travis Stefanik of Princeton; defeated Jakob Hinz of Indiana, 10-5; lost, 14-3, to Trent Tracy of Cal Poly.
• Brock Bergelin, 133: Defeated Dillon Murphy of Harvard, 10-0; lost, 6-1, to Travis Piotrowski of Illinois; lost, 11-10, to Travis Ford-Melton of Purdue.
• Corbyn Munson, 149: Defeated Andrew Garr of Columbia, 15-0 technical fall; lost, 16-0 technical fall to Max Thomsen of Northern Iowa; lost, 11-7, to Yahya Thomas of Northwestern.
• Drew Marten, 133: Lost on a 13-2 major decision to Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern; defeated Caleb Brooks of Northern Illinois, 4-0; defeated Lucas Byrd of Illinois, 4-2; lost on a 13-4 major decision to Jaime Hernandez of North Carolina.
• Jake Lowell, 174: Lost on a 12-4 major decision to Dylan Lydy of Purdue; lost, 5-2, to Logan Stanley of Ohio.
• Johnny Lovett, 157: Lost, 9-5, to Garrett Model of Wisconsin; lost, 6-4, to Devin Bahr of Wisconsin.
• Landon Pelham, 197: Pinned Pete Christensen of Wisconsin in 2:02; lost, 10-4, to Pat Brucki of Princeton; pinned Aric Bohn of SIUE in 2:58; lost, 8-6, to Brandon Whitman of North Carolina.
• Luke Raczkowski, 149: Lost on a 20-8 major decision to Austin O'Connor of North Carolina; pinned Niko Derain of Northern Illinois in 1:21; lost on a pin in 51 seconds to Alec Hagan of Ohio.
• Tracy Hubbard, 165: Lost on a 15-0 technical fall to Bernie Truax of Cal Poly; lost, 4-3, to Joshua Otto of Wisconsin.
• Vince Perez, 125: Lost, 7-0, to Brock Hudkins of Indiana; lost, 6-1, to Eric Barnett of Wisconsin.
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