Chippewa Wrestlers Head To Ohio For 2 MAC Duals

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – One month and five dual meets to go.

The Central Michigan wrestling team heads to Ohio this weekend for a pair of Mid-American Conference duals, the first on Friday (7 p.m.) against Ohio, and the second on Sunday (1 p.m.) against Cleveland State.

The Chippewas are 3-4, 3-2 MAC and coming off a 25-15 league victory over SIUE. That victory snapped a three-meet losing streak. Two of those three losses came to teams ranked in the top 25 nationally.

CMU is tied for second place in the MAC West with Ohio and Northern Illinois. Missouri, which is ranked 24^th, leads the West with a 7-0 record. Cleveland State is 7-3, 3-3 and fifth in the West.

"We're in a good spot health wise and I feel like our guys are turning the corner, developing," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "We'll see how we do against Ohio, but we're pretty happy with where we're at."

Rankings
The Chippewas are third as a team in the latest MAC coaches rankings. Ohio is ranked 13^th; Cleveland State is 15^th. Cleveland State is one of eight teams that joined the MAC this season as wrestling-only members. The Vikings are the only 'newcomer' in the West.

Four Chippewas are nationally ranked, led by 285-pounder Matt Stencel, who is fourth. Also for CMU, Drew Hildebrandt (125) is 11^th, Dresden Simon (141) is 13th, and Logan Parks (157) is 14^th. Hildebrandt and Stencel are both ranked No. 1 in the MAC, while Simon is second and Parks is fourth. CMU's Landon Pelham (197) is ranked fifth in the league.

Simon is tied for the national lead with 10 major-decision victories, while Stencel is tied for third in the nation with 11 pins.

Scouting
The Bobcats feature four MAC-ranked wrestlers and one, Zac Carson (157), who is ranked nationally.

Carson, who is a two-time NCAA qualifier, is ranked 24^th nationally and sixth in the MAC. Ohio's other MAC-ranked wrestlers are Mario Guillen (133), who is sixth; Alec Hagan (149), who is fourth; and Jordan Earnest (285), who is fourth.

Cleveland State has two MAC-ranked wrestlers, one of whom is ranked nationally. Evan Cheek (141) is fifth in the MAC and 19^th nationally. He is 29-3 and fourth in the nation in victories. The Vikings' Ben Smith is sixth at 197.

Next
The Chippewas return to McGuirk Arena for their final three duals of the season. They are scheduled to entertain Buffalo and Kent State on Feb. 7 and 9, respectively, in MAC duals.

CMU then closes the regular season with a home nonconference dual against Michigan State on Feb. 21.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Drew Hildebrandt

Logan Parks

Landon Pelham

Dresden Simon

Matt Stencel