Central Michigan University Athletics
Thursday, March 18
St. Louis, Mo.
11 a.m.
Central Michigan University
at
NCAA Championships
Photo by: Sam Janicki
Day 1 A Roller Coaster Ride For Chippewa Wrestlers
3/19/2021 12:34:00 AM | Wrestling
Hildebrandt, Simon in quarterfinals; Stencel, Lovett in wrestlebacks
ST. LOUIS – The euphoria and the anguish.
Central Michigan felt them both Thursday on the opening day of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Enterprise Center.
The high? A perfect 4-0 start including a stunning upset by freshman Johnny Lovett, the 26th seed at 157 pounds. The low? A 2-1 second-round loss by two-time All-American and four-time Mid-American Conference champion Matt Stencel, the third seed at 285.
It put a damper on an otherwise solid day that saw two Chippewas, Drew Hildebrandt (124) and Dresden Simon (141), win two matches to advance to Friday's quarterfinals.
"We're 6-2 in the tournament right now," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "Our kids are really, really competitive. I just feel like we can do better.
"Obviously advancing in the tournament's real important, but I still feel like we haven't had anyone open up and really wrestle to their ability yet. I think we're focused on outcomes too much as opposed to wrestling, making things happen. And I realize you've got to have the outcome to advance, but the best way to do that is to go out and wrestle, make things happen, hope the other guy's wrestling tight.
"I think we can loosen up and wrestle better."
Lovett and Stencel are now in the wrestlebacks where they will need to win three-consecutive matches to guarantee a spot on the podium and earn All-America honors.
In championship-bracket quarterfinal matches scheduled for Friday morning, the fourth-seeded Hildebrandt will wrestle Brody Teske of Northern Iowa, the fifth seed; and Simon, the ninth seed, will take on top-seeded Jaydin Eierman of Iowa, who was a three-time All-American at Missouri before transferring.
"I think they're both capable of winning those matches," Borrelli said. "People might think I'm crazy saying that about Dresden and Eierman, but I see Dresden being able to compete with (Eierman) and certainly Hildebrandt's capable of beating Teske. Just go out and wrestle, take what you want. You win those matches you're in the semifinals – top four in the country."
Hildebrandt, a senior from Granger, Ind., opened on Thursday with a 3-0 victory over 29th-seed Zurich Storm of Campbell and then topped Nebraska's Liam Cronin, the 13th seed, 2-1, winning on a riding-time point.
Simon, a senior from Dansville, posted a dominant 18-6 major-decision victory over Lehigh's Connor McGonagle, the 24th seed, in his opening bout and then downed eighth-seeded Chad Red of Nebraska, 6-3.
"Dresden's probably the guy who's wrestling the best for us right now," Borrelli said. "He's scoring points. He scored six points against Chad Red and he scored 18 against (McGonagle). That's what you've got to do. Then you're not going to get beat."
Lovett, who hails from Miami, dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to Wyoming's Jacob Wright, the 23rd seed, on Thursday night. Lovett stunned Missouri's Jarrett Jacques, 3-2, in his opening bout, avenging two losses – including a 14-4 major decision just three weeks ago at the MAC Championships – to the Tiger junior, a two-time national qualifier.
Wright defeated Lovett, 10-4, earlier this season in a dual. Lovett is slated to take on Parker Kropman of Drexel, the 25th seed, on Friday morning.
The strides that Lovett has made this season are clearly evident, Borrelli said.
"I think there's huge improvement there," he said. "I think he's just starting to tap the surface. Johnny's got a ton of ability and he just needs to mature. Sky's the limit for him."
Stencel, a senior from Oregon, Ohio, dropped a 2-1 decision to Wisconsin's Trent Hillger on Thursday night. Stencel took a 1-0 lead with an escape early in the second period.
He started the third period on top and managed to ride Hillger until the Wisconsin junior scored a reversal on the edge of the mat with under 35 seconds remaining. At that point, Stencel was just 5 precious seconds from achieving a minute of riding time, which would have given him another point. Instead, he went down 2-1 with the reversal and could not manage an escape.
"I realize it's the NCAA Tournament, but when you're wrestling tight matches like that, crazy stuff happens," Borrelli said. "You can't put yourself in those positions. You've got to go get the guy, you've got to get a takedown, you've got to get off the bottom when you need to; he's 5 seconds from getting riding time and he gets reversed; he's got 30 seconds to get out and he can't get off the bottom.
"All of that was created because he didn't go out and get a takedown. He had a nice single-leg up in the air and didn't finish. Those little things make a huge difference in this tournament. He's got to win three matches to place; that's not easy to do in this tournament. It's tough."
Hillger is a two-time All-American. Stencel defeated him twice previously, including in the seventh-place match at the 2019 NCAA Championships, 3-1.
Stencel is scheduled to 29th-seeded Austin Harris of Oklahoma State on Friday morning.
Central Michigan felt them both Thursday on the opening day of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Enterprise Center.
The high? A perfect 4-0 start including a stunning upset by freshman Johnny Lovett, the 26th seed at 157 pounds. The low? A 2-1 second-round loss by two-time All-American and four-time Mid-American Conference champion Matt Stencel, the third seed at 285.
It put a damper on an otherwise solid day that saw two Chippewas, Drew Hildebrandt (124) and Dresden Simon (141), win two matches to advance to Friday's quarterfinals.
"We're 6-2 in the tournament right now," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "Our kids are really, really competitive. I just feel like we can do better.
"Obviously advancing in the tournament's real important, but I still feel like we haven't had anyone open up and really wrestle to their ability yet. I think we're focused on outcomes too much as opposed to wrestling, making things happen. And I realize you've got to have the outcome to advance, but the best way to do that is to go out and wrestle, make things happen, hope the other guy's wrestling tight.
"I think we can loosen up and wrestle better."
Lovett and Stencel are now in the wrestlebacks where they will need to win three-consecutive matches to guarantee a spot on the podium and earn All-America honors.
In championship-bracket quarterfinal matches scheduled for Friday morning, the fourth-seeded Hildebrandt will wrestle Brody Teske of Northern Iowa, the fifth seed; and Simon, the ninth seed, will take on top-seeded Jaydin Eierman of Iowa, who was a three-time All-American at Missouri before transferring.
"I think they're both capable of winning those matches," Borrelli said. "People might think I'm crazy saying that about Dresden and Eierman, but I see Dresden being able to compete with (Eierman) and certainly Hildebrandt's capable of beating Teske. Just go out and wrestle, take what you want. You win those matches you're in the semifinals – top four in the country."
Hildebrandt, a senior from Granger, Ind., opened on Thursday with a 3-0 victory over 29th-seed Zurich Storm of Campbell and then topped Nebraska's Liam Cronin, the 13th seed, 2-1, winning on a riding-time point.
Simon, a senior from Dansville, posted a dominant 18-6 major-decision victory over Lehigh's Connor McGonagle, the 24th seed, in his opening bout and then downed eighth-seeded Chad Red of Nebraska, 6-3.
"Dresden's probably the guy who's wrestling the best for us right now," Borrelli said. "He's scoring points. He scored six points against Chad Red and he scored 18 against (McGonagle). That's what you've got to do. Then you're not going to get beat."
Lovett, who hails from Miami, dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to Wyoming's Jacob Wright, the 23rd seed, on Thursday night. Lovett stunned Missouri's Jarrett Jacques, 3-2, in his opening bout, avenging two losses – including a 14-4 major decision just three weeks ago at the MAC Championships – to the Tiger junior, a two-time national qualifier.
Wright defeated Lovett, 10-4, earlier this season in a dual. Lovett is slated to take on Parker Kropman of Drexel, the 25th seed, on Friday morning.
The strides that Lovett has made this season are clearly evident, Borrelli said.
"I think there's huge improvement there," he said. "I think he's just starting to tap the surface. Johnny's got a ton of ability and he just needs to mature. Sky's the limit for him."
Stencel, a senior from Oregon, Ohio, dropped a 2-1 decision to Wisconsin's Trent Hillger on Thursday night. Stencel took a 1-0 lead with an escape early in the second period.
He started the third period on top and managed to ride Hillger until the Wisconsin junior scored a reversal on the edge of the mat with under 35 seconds remaining. At that point, Stencel was just 5 precious seconds from achieving a minute of riding time, which would have given him another point. Instead, he went down 2-1 with the reversal and could not manage an escape.
"I realize it's the NCAA Tournament, but when you're wrestling tight matches like that, crazy stuff happens," Borrelli said. "You can't put yourself in those positions. You've got to go get the guy, you've got to get a takedown, you've got to get off the bottom when you need to; he's 5 seconds from getting riding time and he gets reversed; he's got 30 seconds to get out and he can't get off the bottom.
"All of that was created because he didn't go out and get a takedown. He had a nice single-leg up in the air and didn't finish. Those little things make a huge difference in this tournament. He's got to win three matches to place; that's not easy to do in this tournament. It's tough."
Hillger is a two-time All-American. Stencel defeated him twice previously, including in the seventh-place match at the 2019 NCAA Championships, 3-1.
Stencel is scheduled to 29th-seeded Austin Harris of Oklahoma State on Friday morning.
Players Mentioned
Chatting Chippewas - Ben Bennett
Wednesday, March 04
Wrestling Insider - 1.8.26
Thursday, January 08
Wrestling vs Northern Illinois
Friday, January 17
Ben Bennett Insider - 11.15.24
Friday, November 15