Central Michigan University Athletics
Stencel In Quarterfinals; Hildebrandt, Parks Remain Alive At NCAA Championships
3/21/2019 11:08:00 PM | Wrestling
Stencel to face top-seed in Friday quarterfinal match
PITTSBURGH – Matt Stencel is in the quarterfinals and two of his Central Michigan teammates kept their All-America dreams alive after Day 1 of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at PPG Arena.
Stencel is scheduled to wrestle No. 1 seed Derek White of Oklahoma State on Friday morning in a quarterfinal at 285 pounds. The sophomore from Oregon, Ohio, ran his win streak to 18 matches with two victories on Friday.
White, a senior, is 30-1; Stencel, who was seeded ninth, is 29-4. The winner advances to the Friday-night semifinals either Sam Stoll of Iowa or Jordan Wood of Lehigh. Stoll was seeded 28th, while Wood was the fourth seed.
"Just excited to go out there and wrestle, score some points," Stencel said of his mindset heading into the match. "Just keep having fun."
CMU's Drew Hildebrandt (125) and Logan Parks (157) both finished 1-1 on Friday and remain alive in their respective consolation brackets. On Friday morning, Hildebrandt is scheduled to wrestle Alex Mackall of Iowa State, while Parks is set to square off with John Van Brill of Rutgers.
A loss for Parks or for Hildebrandt ends their season.
"I'm happy that we have three guys still wrestling," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "The most important thing is that they're gaining a lot of experience. All three of them are back next year and that bodes well for our future.
"We want to take some things home with us this weekend. We'd like to have some All-Americans and maybe even put a guy in the finals. We're still capable of doing those things."
Stencel opened with a 5-2 victory over 24th-seeded Haydn Maley of Stanford, and then topped eighth-seeded Demetrius Thomas of Pitt, 17-9, to punch his ticket to the quarterfinals.
Thomas pinned Stencel earlier this season at the Las Vegas Invitational.
"In Vegas I was beating him 2-0 and had like 2 minutes of riding time," Stencel said. "I made a mistake on top and he capitalized on it and got me on my back. For heavyweights, it's hard to get off your back.
"I knew that if I wrestled this match like I wrestled that match I shouldn't have any issues. No matter what the score was, whether I was winning or I was losing, just stay mentally in the match and just keep wrestling hard."
Stencel's match with Thomas, who, as a Pitt Panther, was wrestling in front of his hometown fans, was fast-paced and relatively high scoring.
"In Vegas (Stencel) wrestled that guy and they had the same type of high-paced match and Matt couldn't quite handle the pace (at that point) and he tried some things that were kind of out of character," Borrelli said. "He's learned how to handle that pace and how to keep his composure and continue to wrestle."
Hildebrandt (20-9), a sophomore who was seeded 13th, opened with a 6-0 win over 20th-seeded Gabe Townsell of Stanford, and then dropped a 5-3 decision to Oregon State senior Ronnie Bresser, the fourth seed, a four-time NCAA qualifier, and a returning All-American.
Parks (23-13), a junior who was seeded 18th, dropped a 5-3 decision to 15th-seeded Eric Barone of Illinois in his opening bout, and then rebounded with an 18-1 technical-fall victory over Benjamin Barton of Campbell.
Both Parks and Hildebrandt are wrestling in the NCAA Championships for the first time in their respective careers.
Parks (23-13) is slated to wrestle John Van Brill of Rutgers on Friday morning in a consolation-bracket match. Parks is 1-1 this season against Van Brill.
"Both of them handled it well," Borrelli said. "You can always do better in certain situations."
Stencel is scheduled to wrestle No. 1 seed Derek White of Oklahoma State on Friday morning in a quarterfinal at 285 pounds. The sophomore from Oregon, Ohio, ran his win streak to 18 matches with two victories on Friday.
White, a senior, is 30-1; Stencel, who was seeded ninth, is 29-4. The winner advances to the Friday-night semifinals either Sam Stoll of Iowa or Jordan Wood of Lehigh. Stoll was seeded 28th, while Wood was the fourth seed.
"Just excited to go out there and wrestle, score some points," Stencel said of his mindset heading into the match. "Just keep having fun."
CMU's Drew Hildebrandt (125) and Logan Parks (157) both finished 1-1 on Friday and remain alive in their respective consolation brackets. On Friday morning, Hildebrandt is scheduled to wrestle Alex Mackall of Iowa State, while Parks is set to square off with John Van Brill of Rutgers.
A loss for Parks or for Hildebrandt ends their season.
"I'm happy that we have three guys still wrestling," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "The most important thing is that they're gaining a lot of experience. All three of them are back next year and that bodes well for our future.
"We want to take some things home with us this weekend. We'd like to have some All-Americans and maybe even put a guy in the finals. We're still capable of doing those things."
Stencel opened with a 5-2 victory over 24th-seeded Haydn Maley of Stanford, and then topped eighth-seeded Demetrius Thomas of Pitt, 17-9, to punch his ticket to the quarterfinals.
Thomas pinned Stencel earlier this season at the Las Vegas Invitational.
"In Vegas I was beating him 2-0 and had like 2 minutes of riding time," Stencel said. "I made a mistake on top and he capitalized on it and got me on my back. For heavyweights, it's hard to get off your back.
"I knew that if I wrestled this match like I wrestled that match I shouldn't have any issues. No matter what the score was, whether I was winning or I was losing, just stay mentally in the match and just keep wrestling hard."
Stencel's match with Thomas, who, as a Pitt Panther, was wrestling in front of his hometown fans, was fast-paced and relatively high scoring.
"In Vegas (Stencel) wrestled that guy and they had the same type of high-paced match and Matt couldn't quite handle the pace (at that point) and he tried some things that were kind of out of character," Borrelli said. "He's learned how to handle that pace and how to keep his composure and continue to wrestle."
Hildebrandt (20-9), a sophomore who was seeded 13th, opened with a 6-0 win over 20th-seeded Gabe Townsell of Stanford, and then dropped a 5-3 decision to Oregon State senior Ronnie Bresser, the fourth seed, a four-time NCAA qualifier, and a returning All-American.
Parks (23-13), a junior who was seeded 18th, dropped a 5-3 decision to 15th-seeded Eric Barone of Illinois in his opening bout, and then rebounded with an 18-1 technical-fall victory over Benjamin Barton of Campbell.
Both Parks and Hildebrandt are wrestling in the NCAA Championships for the first time in their respective careers.
Parks (23-13) is slated to wrestle John Van Brill of Rutgers on Friday morning in a consolation-bracket match. Parks is 1-1 this season against Van Brill.
"Both of them handled it well," Borrelli said. "You can always do better in certain situations."
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