Central Michigan University Athletics
Photo by: Allissa Rusco
Stencel, Hildebrandt Earn Title Shots
3/8/2019 10:02:00 PM | Wrestling
Several Chippewas remain in the hunt for NCAA berths
NORFOLK, Va. – Two Central Michigan wrestlers will wrestle for Mid-American Conference titles on Saturday at the Mid-American Conference Championships at Old Dominion's Ted Constant Convocation Center.
Drew Hildebrandt (125 pounds) and Matt Stencel (285), both sophomores, punched their ticket to the championship match in their respective weight classes by finishing 2-0 on Friday on Day 1 of the Championships.
Six other Chippewas – Deven Perez (133), Drew Marten (141), Dresden Simon (149), Logan Parks (157), Collin Lieber (174) and Jordan Atienza (184) – are in the consolation bracket and each could finish as high as third place. Two more Chippewas, Bret Fedewa (165) and Landon Pelham (197), will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday.
Both Hildebrandt and Stencel have already punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships, which are scheduled for March 21-23 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
The day played out almost according to Hoyle for the Chippewas, all of whom wrestled to their seeds.
"It's kind of how our season's gone all year," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "A little bit frustrated sometimes, excited sometimes. We made a lot of the same mistakes we made during the season; those are things we've just got to get better at over the next year or so."
Stencel, the defending champion at 285 and the top seed, will wrestle Colton McKiernan of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in Saturday's final. Hildebrandt, who was seeded second, will wrestle top-seeded Michael McGee of Old Dominion for the title at 125.
STENCEL
Stencel held off Ohio's Zack Parker, 3-2, in his opening bout, and then pinned Caleb Gossett of Northern Illinois in 1:52 in the semifinals. He pinned McKiernan, who was seeded sixth, in a dual meet earlier this season.
"I've just got to wrestle smart, score points, and I shouldn't have an issue," said Stencel, who has won 15 consecutive matches and is 26-4 on the season. "I've been there, but you still get those butterflies, still get worried a little bit. I'm still confident every time I step out there."
Stencel's opening match with Parker, on paper, was surprisingly close. But not surprising to Borrelli.
"Even though (Parker) is the eighth seed, he's the toughest guy in our conference for Matt to wrestle," Borrelli said. "He's hard for Matt to score on. He keeps the match close, he doesn't go to his back. Matt got in on a shot in the first period and came up and body locked him and the kid right away bellied down. Matt usually takes guys to their back from that. He's smart enough to stay in the match."
HILDEBRANDT
Hildebrandt pinned Kent State's Jacob Ferri in 2:09 in his opening match, and then downed Bryce West of Northern Illinois, 6-2, in the semifinals.
Hildebrandt is 0-3 lifetime against McGee, the defending champion at 125 who last year earned the MAC Freshman of the Year Award. McGee defeated Hildebrandt, 7-4, in a dual meet earlier this season; topped him 7-3 in a semifinal match at last year's MAC Championships; and defeated him during a dual, 3-2, in the 2017-18 season.
"I'm going to wrestle my match," Hildebrandt said. "I feel like I'm a lot better this year, a lot better even from when I wrestled him the first time. I'm going to wrestle hard, wrestle my match."
Hildebrandt's two Friday victories upped his record to 19-7 and ran his win streak to eight.
CONSOLATIONS
• Perez will wrestle Kent State's Tim Rooney in a consolation semifinal at 133 pounds. Perez will have to finish third, meaning he will have to beat Rooney and then win his next match, in order to make the NCAA Championships.
Perez opened the tournament on Friday with a 5-2 loss to Ohio's Mario Guillen, and then won, 7-4 TB-1, over Trevon Majette of Old Dominion.
• Marten is scheduled to wrestle Cory Simpson of Kent State in a consolation semifinal at 141 pounds. The Marten-Simpson winner is guaranteed to finish no worse than fourth, and would therefore punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships. The MAC is allotted four spots at the weight class for the NCAAs.
Marten defeated Simpson, 14-8, in a dual meet a month ago.
Marten opened the tournament on Friday with a 6-1 loss to Sa'Derian Perry of Old Dominion, and then defeated Lucas Bernal of SIUE on a 16-1 technical fall, Marten's first of the season.
• Simon (149) dropped a highly competitive 6-3 TB-1 decision to Old Dominion's Kevin Budock in his opening match on Friday, and then rebounded with an 11-3 major decision win over Kody Komara of Kent State.
Simon is slated to wrestle Tyshawn Williams of SIUE in a consolation semifinal on Saturday. The MAC has just one guaranteed NCAA Championships berth in the weight class, and that will go to the champion.
• Parks (157) opened with an 8-1 over Justin Ruffin of SIUE on Friday, and then fell, 3-1, to top-seeded Larry Early of Old Dominion. Parks is scheduled to wrestle Ohio's Zac Carson in a consolation semifinal on Saturday. Carson has won both meetings with Parks this season.
Parks needs a fifth-place-or-better finish in order to earn a berth in the NCAA Championships. The league has five NCAA berths in the weight class.
• Lieber (174) opened the tournament with a 5-0 victory over Kade Byland of Kent State, and then fell to the No. 1 seed, Missouri's Daniel Lewis, on a second-period pin. Lieber is scheduled to wrestle Jake Lanning of Buffalo in the consolation semifinals on Saturday.
The MAC has just two NCAA-qualifying spots in the weight class.
• Atienza (184) posted a 17-0 technical-fall victory over Will Feldkamp of Northern Illinois in his opening bout, and then was pinned in the third period by Missouri's Dylan Wisman, the top seed.
Atienza is scheduled to wrestle Hunter Yeargan of Ohio in a consolation semifinal on Saturday. The MAC has just two NCAA-qualifying spots at 184.
• Fedewa (165) and Pelham (197) both went 0-2 on Friday. Fedewa will wrestle Kenny Moore of Northern Illinois on Saturday, and Pelham will take on Shane Mast of Kent State.
On Friday, Fedewa was pinned in the first period by Missouri's Connor Flynn, the top seed, and then fell to Kent State's Isaac Bast, 10-6. Pelham opened the tournament with a 13-7 loss to Old Dominion's Timothy Young, and then fell, 3-2, to Max Ihry of Northern Illinois.
TEAM STANDINGS
Missouri, which is ranked fifth nationally, leads the team standings with 127.5 points. Buffalo is second with 94.5, followed by Old Dominion, 92.5; the Chippewas, 82.5; Ohio, 76; Northern Illinois, 71; SIUE, 59.5; and Kent State, 56.5.
Drew Hildebrandt (125 pounds) and Matt Stencel (285), both sophomores, punched their ticket to the championship match in their respective weight classes by finishing 2-0 on Friday on Day 1 of the Championships.
Six other Chippewas – Deven Perez (133), Drew Marten (141), Dresden Simon (149), Logan Parks (157), Collin Lieber (174) and Jordan Atienza (184) – are in the consolation bracket and each could finish as high as third place. Two more Chippewas, Bret Fedewa (165) and Landon Pelham (197), will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday.
Both Hildebrandt and Stencel have already punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships, which are scheduled for March 21-23 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.
The day played out almost according to Hoyle for the Chippewas, all of whom wrestled to their seeds.
"It's kind of how our season's gone all year," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "A little bit frustrated sometimes, excited sometimes. We made a lot of the same mistakes we made during the season; those are things we've just got to get better at over the next year or so."
Stencel, the defending champion at 285 and the top seed, will wrestle Colton McKiernan of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in Saturday's final. Hildebrandt, who was seeded second, will wrestle top-seeded Michael McGee of Old Dominion for the title at 125.
STENCEL
Stencel held off Ohio's Zack Parker, 3-2, in his opening bout, and then pinned Caleb Gossett of Northern Illinois in 1:52 in the semifinals. He pinned McKiernan, who was seeded sixth, in a dual meet earlier this season.
"I've just got to wrestle smart, score points, and I shouldn't have an issue," said Stencel, who has won 15 consecutive matches and is 26-4 on the season. "I've been there, but you still get those butterflies, still get worried a little bit. I'm still confident every time I step out there."
Stencel's opening match with Parker, on paper, was surprisingly close. But not surprising to Borrelli.
"Even though (Parker) is the eighth seed, he's the toughest guy in our conference for Matt to wrestle," Borrelli said. "He's hard for Matt to score on. He keeps the match close, he doesn't go to his back. Matt got in on a shot in the first period and came up and body locked him and the kid right away bellied down. Matt usually takes guys to their back from that. He's smart enough to stay in the match."
HILDEBRANDT
Hildebrandt pinned Kent State's Jacob Ferri in 2:09 in his opening match, and then downed Bryce West of Northern Illinois, 6-2, in the semifinals.
Hildebrandt is 0-3 lifetime against McGee, the defending champion at 125 who last year earned the MAC Freshman of the Year Award. McGee defeated Hildebrandt, 7-4, in a dual meet earlier this season; topped him 7-3 in a semifinal match at last year's MAC Championships; and defeated him during a dual, 3-2, in the 2017-18 season.
"I'm going to wrestle my match," Hildebrandt said. "I feel like I'm a lot better this year, a lot better even from when I wrestled him the first time. I'm going to wrestle hard, wrestle my match."
Hildebrandt's two Friday victories upped his record to 19-7 and ran his win streak to eight.
CONSOLATIONS
• Perez will wrestle Kent State's Tim Rooney in a consolation semifinal at 133 pounds. Perez will have to finish third, meaning he will have to beat Rooney and then win his next match, in order to make the NCAA Championships.
Perez opened the tournament on Friday with a 5-2 loss to Ohio's Mario Guillen, and then won, 7-4 TB-1, over Trevon Majette of Old Dominion.
• Marten is scheduled to wrestle Cory Simpson of Kent State in a consolation semifinal at 141 pounds. The Marten-Simpson winner is guaranteed to finish no worse than fourth, and would therefore punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships. The MAC is allotted four spots at the weight class for the NCAAs.
Marten defeated Simpson, 14-8, in a dual meet a month ago.
Marten opened the tournament on Friday with a 6-1 loss to Sa'Derian Perry of Old Dominion, and then defeated Lucas Bernal of SIUE on a 16-1 technical fall, Marten's first of the season.
• Simon (149) dropped a highly competitive 6-3 TB-1 decision to Old Dominion's Kevin Budock in his opening match on Friday, and then rebounded with an 11-3 major decision win over Kody Komara of Kent State.
Simon is slated to wrestle Tyshawn Williams of SIUE in a consolation semifinal on Saturday. The MAC has just one guaranteed NCAA Championships berth in the weight class, and that will go to the champion.
• Parks (157) opened with an 8-1 over Justin Ruffin of SIUE on Friday, and then fell, 3-1, to top-seeded Larry Early of Old Dominion. Parks is scheduled to wrestle Ohio's Zac Carson in a consolation semifinal on Saturday. Carson has won both meetings with Parks this season.
Parks needs a fifth-place-or-better finish in order to earn a berth in the NCAA Championships. The league has five NCAA berths in the weight class.
• Lieber (174) opened the tournament with a 5-0 victory over Kade Byland of Kent State, and then fell to the No. 1 seed, Missouri's Daniel Lewis, on a second-period pin. Lieber is scheduled to wrestle Jake Lanning of Buffalo in the consolation semifinals on Saturday.
The MAC has just two NCAA-qualifying spots in the weight class.
• Atienza (184) posted a 17-0 technical-fall victory over Will Feldkamp of Northern Illinois in his opening bout, and then was pinned in the third period by Missouri's Dylan Wisman, the top seed.
Atienza is scheduled to wrestle Hunter Yeargan of Ohio in a consolation semifinal on Saturday. The MAC has just two NCAA-qualifying spots at 184.
• Fedewa (165) and Pelham (197) both went 0-2 on Friday. Fedewa will wrestle Kenny Moore of Northern Illinois on Saturday, and Pelham will take on Shane Mast of Kent State.
On Friday, Fedewa was pinned in the first period by Missouri's Connor Flynn, the top seed, and then fell to Kent State's Isaac Bast, 10-6. Pelham opened the tournament with a 13-7 loss to Old Dominion's Timothy Young, and then fell, 3-2, to Max Ihry of Northern Illinois.
TEAM STANDINGS
Missouri, which is ranked fifth nationally, leads the team standings with 127.5 points. Buffalo is second with 94.5, followed by Old Dominion, 92.5; the Chippewas, 82.5; Ohio, 76; Northern Illinois, 71; SIUE, 59.5; and Kent State, 56.5.
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