Friday, February 26
Trenton, N.J.
11 a.m.
Central Michigan University
at
MAC Championships
MAC Championships Await Chippewa Wrestlers
2/25/2021 5:53:00 PM | Wrestling
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Three Central Michigan wrestlers are looking to repeat as champions this weekend and every participant is seeking to land a coveted spot in the national tournament at the Mid-American Conference Championships in Trenton, N.J.
The Chippewas will join their 13 MAC brethren at Cure Insurance Arena for the tournament, which begins on Friday and concludes on Saturday. The champion in each of the 10 weight classes advances to the NCAA Championships, which are scheduled for March 18-20 in St. Louis.
Each weight class also carries with it additional national-qualifying spots and it varies from weight class to weight class. The MAC is allotted four additional national qualifiers at 133 pounds and just one at 165. In the other eight weight classes, the MAC has two or three additional qualifying spots.
CMU's Drew Hildebrandt (125), Matt Stencel (285) and Dresden Simon (141) are the defending champions in their respective weight classes. They are three of the six Chippewas who emerged from last year's MAC Championships with a berth in the national tournament, which was cancelled because of COVID.
Drew Marten (133) and Landon Pelham (197) were two of those qualifiers and both are back this season, hoping not only to qualify for the nationals, but to get the opportunity to compete on the sport's biggest and brightest stage.
Hildebrandt and Stencel are seeded No. 1 for the MAC Tournament, while Simon is No. 2 behind Allen Hart of Missouri. Hart handed Simon his only loss of the season, 4-2, in a dual meet in Columbia, Mo. in early January.
Simon is 5-1 on the season, which was cut significantly short by COVID. Both Stencel and Hildebrandt are 7-0 and ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, by flowrestling. Hildebrandt is ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation by other ranking services. Simon, who earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award at the 2020 MAC Championships, is ranked 11th by flowrestling.
"It's really difficult to know where everybody stands because you don't have much to gauge this year on," said veteran CMU coach Tom Borrelli, who last year earned his record 13th MAC Coach of the Year Award after leading the Chippewas to a runner-up finish behind Missouri at the league tournament. "You've just got to win the matches; you've just got to beat the guy that's in front of you. That's all there is to it."
Six other Chippewas are seeded, led by Marten (133), who is third. Corbyn Munson (149) is seventh, Johnny Lovett (157) is sixth, and Alex Cramer (165) and Pelham (197) are both fifth. CMU is unseeded at 174 and at 184.
The MAC has two additional national qualifying spots at 174, 184, 197 and 285; and three at 125, 141 and 149. Hildebrandt, Marten, Simon and Stencel are seeded in what would be considered a qualifying spot.
"If you look at the seeds we're going to have to overachieve to do well," Borrelli said. "Right now on paper we've got four guys going to nationals and I think we can do a lot better than that if we show up and wrestle."
The Chippewas had just seven competitions – all dual meets – during the season, which did not start until January, more than a month after it would in a typical season. But CMU is no different in that respect from any of the other 13 teams against which it will compete this weekend.
That factor likely swings the advantage to the veterans, Borrelli said.
"For our older, more-experienced guys, that's definitely a plus," he said. "The guys who have been through this before, they have a pretty good idea of how they need to wrestle and what they have to do."
Stencel, the 2020 MAC Wrestler of the Year, is gunning for his fourth-consecutive MAC title. He would be just the ninth man to accomplish that feat, and the third Chippewa. CMU's Wynn Michalak did it from 2005-08 and current Chippewa assistant coach Ben Bennett did it from 2010-13.
Missouri, which is ranked fifth nationally, is seeking its ninth consecutive team title. Mizzou wrestlers are seeded first at four weight classes and second in five others.
CMU is ranked 21st nationally while Rider, 24th, is the only other MAC team in the top 25. The Chippewas finished 5-2 in duals and closed the regular season with a flurry, winning 18 of 20 matches and scoring bonus points in 10 of those victories in downing Edinboro and Buffalo in dual meets.
The Chippewas will join their 13 MAC brethren at Cure Insurance Arena for the tournament, which begins on Friday and concludes on Saturday. The champion in each of the 10 weight classes advances to the NCAA Championships, which are scheduled for March 18-20 in St. Louis.
Each weight class also carries with it additional national-qualifying spots and it varies from weight class to weight class. The MAC is allotted four additional national qualifiers at 133 pounds and just one at 165. In the other eight weight classes, the MAC has two or three additional qualifying spots.
CMU's Drew Hildebrandt (125), Matt Stencel (285) and Dresden Simon (141) are the defending champions in their respective weight classes. They are three of the six Chippewas who emerged from last year's MAC Championships with a berth in the national tournament, which was cancelled because of COVID.
Drew Marten (133) and Landon Pelham (197) were two of those qualifiers and both are back this season, hoping not only to qualify for the nationals, but to get the opportunity to compete on the sport's biggest and brightest stage.
Hildebrandt and Stencel are seeded No. 1 for the MAC Tournament, while Simon is No. 2 behind Allen Hart of Missouri. Hart handed Simon his only loss of the season, 4-2, in a dual meet in Columbia, Mo. in early January.
Simon is 5-1 on the season, which was cut significantly short by COVID. Both Stencel and Hildebrandt are 7-0 and ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, by flowrestling. Hildebrandt is ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation by other ranking services. Simon, who earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award at the 2020 MAC Championships, is ranked 11th by flowrestling.
"It's really difficult to know where everybody stands because you don't have much to gauge this year on," said veteran CMU coach Tom Borrelli, who last year earned his record 13th MAC Coach of the Year Award after leading the Chippewas to a runner-up finish behind Missouri at the league tournament. "You've just got to win the matches; you've just got to beat the guy that's in front of you. That's all there is to it."
Six other Chippewas are seeded, led by Marten (133), who is third. Corbyn Munson (149) is seventh, Johnny Lovett (157) is sixth, and Alex Cramer (165) and Pelham (197) are both fifth. CMU is unseeded at 174 and at 184.
The MAC has two additional national qualifying spots at 174, 184, 197 and 285; and three at 125, 141 and 149. Hildebrandt, Marten, Simon and Stencel are seeded in what would be considered a qualifying spot.
"If you look at the seeds we're going to have to overachieve to do well," Borrelli said. "Right now on paper we've got four guys going to nationals and I think we can do a lot better than that if we show up and wrestle."
The Chippewas had just seven competitions – all dual meets – during the season, which did not start until January, more than a month after it would in a typical season. But CMU is no different in that respect from any of the other 13 teams against which it will compete this weekend.
That factor likely swings the advantage to the veterans, Borrelli said.
"For our older, more-experienced guys, that's definitely a plus," he said. "The guys who have been through this before, they have a pretty good idea of how they need to wrestle and what they have to do."
Stencel, the 2020 MAC Wrestler of the Year, is gunning for his fourth-consecutive MAC title. He would be just the ninth man to accomplish that feat, and the third Chippewa. CMU's Wynn Michalak did it from 2005-08 and current Chippewa assistant coach Ben Bennett did it from 2010-13.
Missouri, which is ranked fifth nationally, is seeking its ninth consecutive team title. Mizzou wrestlers are seeded first at four weight classes and second in five others.
CMU is ranked 21st nationally while Rider, 24th, is the only other MAC team in the top 25. The Chippewas finished 5-2 in duals and closed the regular season with a flurry, winning 18 of 20 matches and scoring bonus points in 10 of those victories in downing Edinboro and Buffalo in dual meets.
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