Friday, January 13
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
7 p.m.
Central Michigan University
23
vs
18
Northern Illinois
CMU's Cameron Wood gets in on a shot in his 197-pound bout on Friday at McGuirk Arena. Wood's 5-3 overtime victory proved pivotal in the Chippewas' win.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Wrestlers Rally, Deliver Dramatic Victory Over NIU
1/13/2023 10:16:00 PM | Wrestling
Chippewas win six of final seven matches to capture 23-18 win at McGuirk Arena
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The veterans struck the match; the youngsters brought it home.
Central Michigan won six of the final seven matches on Friday in taking a thrilling 23-18 victory from Northern Illinois in a Mid-American Conference wrestling dual at McGuirk Arena.
It was the first victory of the season for CMU, which improved to 1-5, 1-1 MAC. The Huskies are 5-4, 2-1. CMU entertains SIU Edwardsville on Sunday (2 p.m.) in a MAC dual.
"A lot of people think we're having a down year," CMU's Corbyn Munson said. "We had a rough start; I will say that. But I think we're proving that we're more than what people think we are.
"I think it has a lot to do with showing up and doing what we're expected to do. We're supposed to come in here and defend our home turf."
The Chippewas proved an awful lot on Friday against an NIU team that came in ranked 16thin the National Wrestling Coaches Association mid-major poll.
NIU won the first three matches to put CMU in a 12-0 deficit.
CMU junior Johnny Lovett began the turnaround with a 15-7 major decision victory at 149 pounds, and then Munson, a redshirt senior, followed with a first-period pin at 157, drawing CMU to 12-10 and bringing the crowd into the battle.
"This is a hard place to wrestle," veteran CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "It always has been a hard place to wrestle. I don't care who comes in here. The fans are right on top of you. It's a perfect venue for wrestling, it really is. And when the fans are getting into it, it really gives our guys a lot of energy."
NIU temporarily stopped CMU's momentum with a pin by 13th-ranked Izzy Olejnik at 165, upping the Huskie lead to 18-10.
But it was all CMU after that.
Chippewa junior Alex Cramer delivered a major-decision victory at 174 and then senior Ben Cushman posted a gritty 6-2 win at 184 to pull CMU within a point, 18-17.
Then, it was the youngsters' turn. Cameron Wood, a junior who in 2022-23 is seeing his first regular action in CMU's dual-meet lineup, posted a thrilling 5-3 overtime victory when he took down his opponent 56 seconds into sudden victory.
"That was the biggest match of the dual meet," Borrelli said. "You don't win that, you can't win the dual meet."
That put the Chippewas in front, 20-18. Heavyweight Bryan Caves, a redshirt freshman, finished it off with a 6-2 win over senior Terrese Aaron.
"The dual meet was riding on (Wood) and Caves," Borrelli said. "We've been trying to figure out how to have grit, how to wrestle for a full seven minutes, and figure out how to win those matches. Maybe they turned the corner."
It was Caves' ninth win in his last 12 matches as he improved to 15-8.
"That was probably (Caves') first dual-on-the-line type match and now he's starting to get that experience," Munson said. "He came up and he showed out. He won for us; that's huge."
There were plenty of heroes on this night for CMU. Perhaps none bigger than Lovett, a two-time NCAA Championships qualifier who has struggled at times during the season after dropping from 157 pounds to 149.
On Friday, he wrestled an inspired, high-energy match in overcoming an early 4-0 deficit. He tied it 4-4 with an escape early in the third period, and then won going away, trading takedowns for his opponent escapes to get the all-important major.
"Momentum's huge in a dual meet," Borrelli said. "We had to have somebody get us started. Johnny had a lot of energy. He was down 4-0 and he ends up majoring the kid. That's a huge comeback in and of itself.
"It started in practice; everything starts in practice, and this was the first week (Lovett) really committed to managing his weight. That's where the energy comes from. Doing everything right, getting yourself ready, and having enough energy that when bad things happen, you can overcome it."
Munson's pin came midway through the first period after he trailed, 2-0.
"Johnny's match was huge," Munson said, "He had to dig deep, come back from a deficit. … And it fired me up to go out there.
"It comes down to the older guys trying to shift momentum."
Central Michigan 23, Northern Illinois 18
125: Blake West (NIU) dec. Sean Spidle, 4-3
133: Lucien Brink (NIU) dec. Vince Perez, 9-2
141: Jacob Brya (NIU) pinned Jimmy Nugent, 5:49
149: Johnny Lovett (C) major dec. Kavan Troy, 15-7
157: Corbyn Munson (C) pinned Anthony Gibson, 1:29
165: Izzy Olejnik (NIU) pinned Chandler Amaker, 2:06
174: Alex Cramer (C) major dec. Hayden Pummel, 16-8
184: Ben Cushman (C) dec. Matt Zuber, 6-2
197: Cameron Wood (C) dec. Jacob Christensen, 5-3, SV-1
285: Bryan Caves (C) dec. Terrese Aaron, 6-2
Central Michigan won six of the final seven matches on Friday in taking a thrilling 23-18 victory from Northern Illinois in a Mid-American Conference wrestling dual at McGuirk Arena.
It was the first victory of the season for CMU, which improved to 1-5, 1-1 MAC. The Huskies are 5-4, 2-1. CMU entertains SIU Edwardsville on Sunday (2 p.m.) in a MAC dual.
"A lot of people think we're having a down year," CMU's Corbyn Munson said. "We had a rough start; I will say that. But I think we're proving that we're more than what people think we are.
"I think it has a lot to do with showing up and doing what we're expected to do. We're supposed to come in here and defend our home turf."
The Chippewas proved an awful lot on Friday against an NIU team that came in ranked 16thin the National Wrestling Coaches Association mid-major poll.
NIU won the first three matches to put CMU in a 12-0 deficit.
CMU junior Johnny Lovett began the turnaround with a 15-7 major decision victory at 149 pounds, and then Munson, a redshirt senior, followed with a first-period pin at 157, drawing CMU to 12-10 and bringing the crowd into the battle.
"This is a hard place to wrestle," veteran CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "It always has been a hard place to wrestle. I don't care who comes in here. The fans are right on top of you. It's a perfect venue for wrestling, it really is. And when the fans are getting into it, it really gives our guys a lot of energy."
NIU temporarily stopped CMU's momentum with a pin by 13th-ranked Izzy Olejnik at 165, upping the Huskie lead to 18-10.
But it was all CMU after that.
Chippewa junior Alex Cramer delivered a major-decision victory at 174 and then senior Ben Cushman posted a gritty 6-2 win at 184 to pull CMU within a point, 18-17.
Then, it was the youngsters' turn. Cameron Wood, a junior who in 2022-23 is seeing his first regular action in CMU's dual-meet lineup, posted a thrilling 5-3 overtime victory when he took down his opponent 56 seconds into sudden victory.
"That was the biggest match of the dual meet," Borrelli said. "You don't win that, you can't win the dual meet."
That put the Chippewas in front, 20-18. Heavyweight Bryan Caves, a redshirt freshman, finished it off with a 6-2 win over senior Terrese Aaron.
"The dual meet was riding on (Wood) and Caves," Borrelli said. "We've been trying to figure out how to have grit, how to wrestle for a full seven minutes, and figure out how to win those matches. Maybe they turned the corner."
It was Caves' ninth win in his last 12 matches as he improved to 15-8.
"That was probably (Caves') first dual-on-the-line type match and now he's starting to get that experience," Munson said. "He came up and he showed out. He won for us; that's huge."
There were plenty of heroes on this night for CMU. Perhaps none bigger than Lovett, a two-time NCAA Championships qualifier who has struggled at times during the season after dropping from 157 pounds to 149.
On Friday, he wrestled an inspired, high-energy match in overcoming an early 4-0 deficit. He tied it 4-4 with an escape early in the third period, and then won going away, trading takedowns for his opponent escapes to get the all-important major.
"Momentum's huge in a dual meet," Borrelli said. "We had to have somebody get us started. Johnny had a lot of energy. He was down 4-0 and he ends up majoring the kid. That's a huge comeback in and of itself.
"It started in practice; everything starts in practice, and this was the first week (Lovett) really committed to managing his weight. That's where the energy comes from. Doing everything right, getting yourself ready, and having enough energy that when bad things happen, you can overcome it."
Munson's pin came midway through the first period after he trailed, 2-0.
"Johnny's match was huge," Munson said, "He had to dig deep, come back from a deficit. … And it fired me up to go out there.
"It comes down to the older guys trying to shift momentum."
Central Michigan 23, Northern Illinois 18
125: Blake West (NIU) dec. Sean Spidle, 4-3
133: Lucien Brink (NIU) dec. Vince Perez, 9-2
141: Jacob Brya (NIU) pinned Jimmy Nugent, 5:49
149: Johnny Lovett (C) major dec. Kavan Troy, 15-7
157: Corbyn Munson (C) pinned Anthony Gibson, 1:29
165: Izzy Olejnik (NIU) pinned Chandler Amaker, 2:06
174: Alex Cramer (C) major dec. Hayden Pummel, 16-8
184: Ben Cushman (C) dec. Matt Zuber, 6-2
197: Cameron Wood (C) dec. Jacob Christensen, 5-3, SV-1
285: Bryan Caves (C) dec. Terrese Aaron, 6-2
Players Mentioned
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