Three Chippewas Earn Title Shots At MAC Championships

TRENTON, N.J. – In a year unlike any other, at least a few things remain dependably constant.

Three Central Michigan wrestlers are in position to repeat as champions on Saturday at the Mid-American Conference Championships at Cure Insurance Arena.

Those three – Drew Hildebrandt (125 pounds), Dresden Simon (141) and Matt Stencel (285) – are looking to not only repeat as the best in the MAC, but also to punch their ticket to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.

All 10 Chippewa wrestlers are still alive in the tournament after Friday's session, and the 21^st-ranked Chippewas are second in the team standings with 96.5 points. CMU leads third-placed Rider, which is ranked 25^th, by one-half point.

Eight-time defending champion Missouri, which is ranked fifth, is in first with 161.5.

"Even though we've got three guys in the finals, I just feel like the whole situation with COVID has affected our training and we're just not where we want to be," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "We're competitive but we could be better.

"The silver lining is we've got 10 guys still wrestling, no one's eliminated from the tournament yet. We have an opportunity for three champions. Who knows how (Saturday's) going to go as far as the guys in the wrestlebacks. We've got 10 guys alive still and we couldn't say that last year at this time.

"We're in a dogfight right now for second. We match up with Rider four times (on Saturday) so that's going to determine who finishes second and third. Those are the matches that we have to win if we want to salvage a little pride here."

• Stencel, last year's MAC Wrestler of the Year and a two-time All-American, is vying for his fourth-consecutive MAC crown. He would be just the ninth man to accomplish that feat and the third in CMU history after Wynn Michalak (2005-08) and Ben Bennett (2010-13).

Stencel, who is ranked fourth nationally by flowrestling and is No. 1 seed in the tournament, will face Ethan Laird of Rider in the title match. Stencel opened the tournament on Friday with a pin in 1:32 of Tyler Bagoly of Clarion, and then took a 2-0 decision from Jon Spaulding of Edinboro in a semifinal match.

• Hildebrandt, who is ranked fifth nationally and, like Stencel, is seeded No. 1 in his weight class, will wrestle Missouri's Noah Surtin in the title bout. Hildebrandt opened the tournament with a 12-0 major-decision win over Tristan Daugherty of Buffalo and then defeated Jonathan Tropea of Rider, 3-2, in a semifinal.

• Simon, who is ranked 11^th and was the No. 2 seed, will meet Rider's McKenzie Bell for the championship. Bell upset top-seeded Allan Hart of Missouri, 8-6, in their semifinal match. Simon, who earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award at the 2020 MAC Championships, pinned Cleveland State's Jack Gorman in 6:18 in his opening bout, and then posted a 14-3 major decision over Kyle Schickel of Clarion to reach the semifinals, where to downed Saul Ervin of SIUE, 8-4.

• CMU's Drew Marten (133) lost his opening match, 7-1, to Richie Koehler of Rider. Marten, a national qualifier in 2020, rebounded with a 12-0 major-decision victory over Tye Varndell of Edinboro and is scheduled to meet Aaron Schulist of SIUE on Saturday morning in a consolation-bracket match. Koehler will wrestle on Saturday for the 133-pound title.

• CMU's Corbyn Munson (149) dropped his opening bout, 11-6, to Cardeionte Wilson of SIUE and then came back to beat Alex Mosconi of Ohio on a pin in 4:33. Munson is scheduled to wrestle Rider's Wyatt McCarthy in a consolation-bracket match on Saturday morning.

• CMU's Johnny Lovett (157) opened with a 10-4 win over Jonathan Ross of Lock Haven and then won by injury default over Justin Ruffin of SIUE. Lovett then fell to second-seeded Jarret Jacques of Missouri, 14-4, in the semifinal. Lovett is set to wrestle Daniel Segura of George Mason or Michael Petite of Buffalo for a spot in the third-place match.

• The Chippewas' Alex Cramer (165) opened with a 4-2 win over Jake Silverstein of Rider and then dropped a 13-2 major decision to Missouri's Keegan O'Toole, the No. 1 seed. Cramer is scheduled to wrestler Kolby Ho of Clarion or Colt Yinger of Ohio on Saturday for a berth in the third-place match.

• CMU's Jake Lowell (174) topped Anthony Rice of Cleveland State, 8-5, in his opening bout and then fell, 9-4, to No. 2-seeded Peyton Mocco of Missouri. Lowell rebounded with an 8-1 win over Buffalo's Jake Lanning and is slated to wrestle Mason Kauffman of Northern Illinois on Saturday in a consolation-bracket match.

• Central's Ben Cushman downed Tyler Bats of Kent State, 5-2, in his opening bout and then dropped an 8-5 decision to Missouri's Jeremiah Kent, the No. 2 seed. Cushman rebounded with an 18-7 major-decision victory over Giuseppe Hoose of Buffalo and is set to face Ethan Ducca of Edinboro in a consolation-bracket match on Saturday.

• CMU's Landon Pelham, a national qualifier last season, pinned Parker McClellan of Lock Haven in 1:01 to open the tournament and then dropped a 3-2 decision to Ben Smith of Cleveland State. Pelham began his journey through the consolation bracket with a 14-3 major-decision win over Kent State's Colin McCracken. Pelham is scheduled to wrestle Matt Correnti of Rider on Saturday. If he wins that, he will face Ohio's Jake Walker for a berth in the third-place match.

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Players Mentioned

Alex Cramer

Ben Cushman

Drew Hildebrandt

Johnny Lovett

Jake Lowell

Drew Marten

Corbyn Munson

Landon Pelham

Dresden Simon

Matt Stencel