Central Michigan University Athletics
Sunday, January 3
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
2 p.m.
Central Michigan University
vs
Olivet
CMU redshirt freshman Johnny Lovett battles redshirt sophomore Tracy Hubbard (left) during the 157-pound match in CMU's Maroon & Gold Intrasquad dual last week.
Photo by: Benjamin Suddendorf
Wrestling Preview: High Expectations As CMU Returns 3 All-Americans
1/2/2021 9:48:00 AM | Wrestling
CMU welcomes Olivet for season-opening dual
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Talented, experienced, deep. Plenty of potential and high expectations tempered by the unknown that COVID may bring.
The Central Michigan wrestling team hits the mat – finally – for real on Sunday, Jan. 3 (2 p.m.) when it wrestles Olivet College in a nonconference dual meet at McGuirk Arena.
The opener comes two months later than it would in a typical season as the Chippewas, like the everybody in the country, deals with life during a pandemic. COVID prompted the cancellation last March of the NCAA Championships.
"At the beginning it was certainly strange, and you didn't know what was going to happen," said senior Drew Hildebrandt, CMU's 125-pounder and one of six Chippewas who qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2020. "But then as time went on and after having things taken away from you last year, you start to be grateful and that's kind of how I approach the season and these challenges.
"I'm just grateful for every practice I get, happy to be there. If I have to test at 9 a.m. every day, who cares. At least I'm wrestling and I get to represent the school."
Hildebrandt is among a number of Chippewas who have indeed represented the maroon and gold quite well and harbor high hopes as CMU kicks it off on Sunday with an eye toward the Mid-American Conference Championships on the last weekend of February followed by the NCAA Championships in St. Louis in mid-March.
Five of those six NCAA qualifiers return this season, led by Hildebrandt, Matt Stencel (285) and Dresden Simon (141). Those three are also returning MAC champions and last season Stencel and Hildebrandt earned First Team All-America recognition and Simon was named a second teamer by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
Landon Pelham (197) and Drew Marten (133) also return. Both were NCAA qualifiers last year. Hildebrandt, Pelham, Simon and Stencel are seniors, while Marten is a junior. Under NCAA COVID rules, all four of those seniors have the option to return in the 2021-22 season.
Hildebrandt, who finished 31-3 a year ago, and Stencel (30-4), the reigning MAC Wrestler of the Year, "are to the point where they need to be thinking about being in the NCAA finals and winning national championships," coach Tom Borrelli said, adding that Simon, who earned the Wrestler of the Meet Award at the 2020 MAC Championships, is "very capable of being in the top three or four in the country, maybe even making the NCAA finals with those guys."
Both Pelham and Marten, along with Simon, came on strong as the 2019-20 season progressed and perhaps exceeded expectations.
"Those guys surely have high expectations for themselves," Borrelli said. "I think all those guys are very capable if they continue to improve and believe in themselves and believe that they can accomplish those things."
Stencel is ranked fourth nationally by flowrestling.org, while Hildebrandt is seventh, Simon is 11th, and Marten is 19th. All four are ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes in the MAC, while Pelham is ranked third in the league.
CMU also returns starters at 149 (sophomore Corbyn Munson), at 174 (junior Jake Lowell), and at 184 (sophomore Ben Cushman).
It's at 157 and 165 where things are most competitive. Redshirt sophomore Tracy Hubbard, last year's starter at 165, dropped to 157 – his more natural weight – this season and is being pushed for the starting spot by redshirt freshman Johnny Lovett. At 165, redshirt junior Bret Fedewa, who started at 165 in 2018-19 and then missed the entire '19-20 season with an injury, is back and is battling sophomore Alex Cramer, a transfer from Old Dominion.
Cramer finished 19-20 at 174 last year at Old Dominion, which dropped its program after the season. Cramer finished eighth at the MAC Championships last season and is ranked seventh in the league heading into '20-21.
It was difficult on the Chippewas, as it has been on all concerned, dealing with delays and the unknowns wrought by COVID. But the season is here and Borrelli knows that the make-or-break events – the league and NCAA tournaments – will be here before anyone realizes it.
"There's a lot of variables that you have to manage and try to keep guys motivated and try to keep them thinking the right way," he said.
The Central Michigan wrestling team hits the mat – finally – for real on Sunday, Jan. 3 (2 p.m.) when it wrestles Olivet College in a nonconference dual meet at McGuirk Arena.
The opener comes two months later than it would in a typical season as the Chippewas, like the everybody in the country, deals with life during a pandemic. COVID prompted the cancellation last March of the NCAA Championships.
"At the beginning it was certainly strange, and you didn't know what was going to happen," said senior Drew Hildebrandt, CMU's 125-pounder and one of six Chippewas who qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2020. "But then as time went on and after having things taken away from you last year, you start to be grateful and that's kind of how I approach the season and these challenges.
"I'm just grateful for every practice I get, happy to be there. If I have to test at 9 a.m. every day, who cares. At least I'm wrestling and I get to represent the school."
Hildebrandt is among a number of Chippewas who have indeed represented the maroon and gold quite well and harbor high hopes as CMU kicks it off on Sunday with an eye toward the Mid-American Conference Championships on the last weekend of February followed by the NCAA Championships in St. Louis in mid-March.
Five of those six NCAA qualifiers return this season, led by Hildebrandt, Matt Stencel (285) and Dresden Simon (141). Those three are also returning MAC champions and last season Stencel and Hildebrandt earned First Team All-America recognition and Simon was named a second teamer by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.
Landon Pelham (197) and Drew Marten (133) also return. Both were NCAA qualifiers last year. Hildebrandt, Pelham, Simon and Stencel are seniors, while Marten is a junior. Under NCAA COVID rules, all four of those seniors have the option to return in the 2021-22 season.
Hildebrandt, who finished 31-3 a year ago, and Stencel (30-4), the reigning MAC Wrestler of the Year, "are to the point where they need to be thinking about being in the NCAA finals and winning national championships," coach Tom Borrelli said, adding that Simon, who earned the Wrestler of the Meet Award at the 2020 MAC Championships, is "very capable of being in the top three or four in the country, maybe even making the NCAA finals with those guys."
Both Pelham and Marten, along with Simon, came on strong as the 2019-20 season progressed and perhaps exceeded expectations.
"Those guys surely have high expectations for themselves," Borrelli said. "I think all those guys are very capable if they continue to improve and believe in themselves and believe that they can accomplish those things."
Stencel is ranked fourth nationally by flowrestling.org, while Hildebrandt is seventh, Simon is 11th, and Marten is 19th. All four are ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes in the MAC, while Pelham is ranked third in the league.
CMU also returns starters at 149 (sophomore Corbyn Munson), at 174 (junior Jake Lowell), and at 184 (sophomore Ben Cushman).
It's at 157 and 165 where things are most competitive. Redshirt sophomore Tracy Hubbard, last year's starter at 165, dropped to 157 – his more natural weight – this season and is being pushed for the starting spot by redshirt freshman Johnny Lovett. At 165, redshirt junior Bret Fedewa, who started at 165 in 2018-19 and then missed the entire '19-20 season with an injury, is back and is battling sophomore Alex Cramer, a transfer from Old Dominion.
Cramer finished 19-20 at 174 last year at Old Dominion, which dropped its program after the season. Cramer finished eighth at the MAC Championships last season and is ranked seventh in the league heading into '20-21.
It was difficult on the Chippewas, as it has been on all concerned, dealing with delays and the unknowns wrought by COVID. But the season is here and Borrelli knows that the make-or-break events – the league and NCAA tournaments – will be here before anyone realizes it.
"There's a lot of variables that you have to manage and try to keep guys motivated and try to keep them thinking the right way," he said.
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