Munson Leads CMU Wrestlers With First-Place Finish At Cleveland State

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Corbyn Munson claimed the championship at 149 pounds on Saturday to lead the Central Michigan wrestling team at the Cleveland State Open.

Munson, a junior, was one of five Chippewas to reach the title match in his weight class at the event, which was hosted by Cleveland State at the Vikings' Woodling Gymnasium.

Fifteen Chippewas posted a top-eight finish of the 25 who entered the tournament.

CMU's Ja'Kerion Merritt (133), Will Grater (141), Tracy Hubbard (165) and Aaron Bolo (197) each placed second, while the Chippewas' Drew Marten (141), Bret Fedewa (174) and Ben Cushman (184) each finished third.

CMU's Brock Bergelin (125) and Vince Perez (133) each finished fifth, while Sean Spidle (125) placed sixth. Chippewa wrestlers who placed eighth were Mason Breece (149), Trenton Wachter (157), Chandler Amaker (165) and Cade Dallwitz (197).

• Munson went 5-0 on the day, winning one match by pin, another by technical fall, and a third by major decision. He defeated Dan Mancini of Pittsburgh, 4-2, in the title match to improve to 11-3 on the season.

Munson opened with a 16-0 technical fall win over Purdue's Jaden Reynolds, and then downed Zac Cowan of Bellarmine, 8-6. Munson posted a 14-6 major decision over Chance Lamer of Michigan in the quarterfinals, and then pinned Brayden Roberts of West Virginia in 5:42 in the semifinals.

• Merritt, a sophomore, finished 3-1 on the day, falling 6-0 to Drew Mattin of Michigan in the title match at 133. Merritt opened with a 7-3 win over Wilford Tanefue and then posted a 3-2 victory over Caleb Svingala of Buffalo in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Merritt posted a 4-3 win over Purdue's Christian White.

• Grater, a sophomore, dropped a 7-3 decision to Michigan's Pat Nolan in the 141-pound final. He posted a 10-2 major-decision victory over Michael Leveille of Purdue in his opening bout, and then downed Aidan Waszak of Ohio, 7-2, in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Grater posted a 9-8 win over Vince Cornella (unattached).

• Hubbard, a junior, fell to Riley Smucker of Cleveland State, 6-4, in the final at 165. Hubbard posted a 10-5 victory over Stoney Buell of Purdue to open the tournament, and then downed Kent State's Najee Lockett, 5-3. In the quarterfinals, Hubbard topped Guy DeLeonardis of Millersville, 7-5 and then in the semifinals posted a 3-1 (SV-1) win over Buffalo's Marcus Petite.

• Bolo, a senior, dropped a 4-3 decision to Indiana's Nick Willham in the 197-title bout. Bolo opened with a 4-2 win over Tyler Bates and then took a 1-0 win over Robert Striggow of Michigan in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, Bolo topped Benjamin Smith of Cleveland State, 8-4.

• Marten, a senior, defeated Cornella, 5-2, in the third-place match at 141. Marten opened with an 11-2 major-decision victory over Mikey Lewarchick of Kent State and then downed Jimmy Ryan of Gannon, 6-3. Marten fell in the semifinals to Michigan's Nolan, 6-0.

• Fedewa, a senior, won by forfeit over Michigan's Joseph Walker in the third-place match at 174. Fedewa opened with a pin in 1:17 of Michigan State's Martin Larkin and then posted a 9-2 victory over Matthew McKenna. In the quarterfinals, Fedewa took an 8-3 decision from Dennis Robin of West Virginia and then fell to Michigan's Logan Massa, 10-5, in the semifinals.

• Cushman, a junior, defeated Pitt's Nicholas Meglino on a 13-3 major decision in the third-place match at 184. Cushman defeated Purdue's Macartney Parkinson, 5-0, in his opening bout and then won on a 14-4 major over James Lledo of Pitt in the quarterfinals. Cushman dropped a 6-2 decision to Colin McCracken of Kent State in the semifinals.

• Bergelin, a senior, defeated teammate Sean Spidle, 7-2, in the fifth-place match at 125. Bergelin opened with an 11-2 major-decision victory over Dierre Clayton and then pinned Kade Orr of Kent State in 1:23 in the second round. Bergelin dropped a 7-6 decision to Jacob Moran of Indiana in the quarterfinals and then bounced back to win two consolation-bracket matches, the first a 15-0 technical fall of Clarion's Hunter Verge, and the second a 9-7 win over Brady Koontz of Ohio State.

• Perez, a sophomore, scored a 10-2 major-decision win over TJ England of Clarion in the fifth-place match at 133. Perez dropped his opening bout to Drew Mattin of Michigan on an 18-4 major decision, and then rebounded to win four consecutive matches, capped by his win over England. All three of Perez's wins en route to the fifth-place match came over wrestlers from Buffalo: 8-1 over Mason Bush; 9-2 over Andrew Lucinski; and 10-6 over Svingala.

• Spidle, a sophomore, opened with a 4-2 win over Edinboro's Zachary Soda and then fell, 2-0, to unattached Brett Ungar. Spidle bounced back with a 3-2 win over teammate Trey Bates and then downed Tommy Hopkins, 4-0, to reach the fifth-place match where he fell to Bergelin.

All four of the Chippewas – Breece (149), Wachter (157), Amaker (165) and Dallwitz (197) -- who placed eighth ended their respective days with a double forfeit in the seventh-place match.

• Breece, a junior, opened with a 9-3 win over North Carolina State's Luke Ahrberg and then pinned unattached Zach Snyer in 2:22. Breece dropped a 5-4 decision to Buffalo's Kaleb Burgess before downing unattached Nate Wade, 6-4. Breece then fell, 3-1, to Graham Rooks of Indiana to reach the seventh-place match.

• Wachter, a freshman, won by injury default over Fidel Mayora of Michigan in his opening bout and then fell, 4-2, to Daniel Patten of Cleveland State. Wachter came back for a 3-1 SV-1 win over Aiden Vandenbush of Northwestern and fell on a 16-7 major decision to Paddy Gallagher of Ohio State to reach the seven-place match.

• Amaker, a freshman, opened with a 3-2 victory over unattached Brody Oleksak and then pinned Ohio State's Cade Hepner in 6:48. Amaker was pinned in 1:05 by Cleveland State's Riley Smucker and then bounced back with a 5-3 win over Stoney Buell of Purdue. Amaker then dropped a 6-2 decision to Hayden Lohrey of Purdue to reach the seventh-place match.

• Dallwitz, sophomore, opened with a 1-0 win over Buffalo's Eli Sheeren and then dropped an 8-5 decision to Evan Bates of Northwestern. Dallwitz came back to post a 9-2 win over North Carolina State's Brock Del Signore and followed with a 3-0 victory over Brendin Yatooma of Michigan and then a 7-0 win over teammate Cameron Wood. In the consolation semifinals, Dallwitz was pinned by Northwestern's Evan Bates in 3:21 to land in the seventh-place match.

Central Michigan's other participants, their weight class, and their tournament won-loss record: Bates, 125, 1-2; Mason Shrader, 149, 2-2; Mitchel Christensen, 149 , 0-2; Alex Jacobs, 165, 0-2; Cody Brenner, 174, 2-2; Leonardo Galasso, 174, 0-2; Spencer Steiner, 184, 1-2; Cameron Wood, 197, 1-2; Bryan Caves, 285, 1-2; Simon Lato, 285, 0-2

Munson Leads CMU Wrestlers With First-Place Finish At Cleveland State

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Players Mentioned

Chandler Amaker

Trey Bates

Brock Bergelin

Aaron Bolo

Mason Breece

Cody Brenner

Bryan Caves

Mitchel Christensen

Ben Cushman

Cade Dallwitz

Bret Fedewa

Leonardo Galasso

Will Grater

Tracy Hubbard

Alex Jacobs

Simon Lato

Drew Marten

Ja’Kerion Merritt

Corbyn Munson

Vince Perez

Mason Shrader

Sean Spidle

Spencer Steiner

Trenton Wachter

Cameron Wood