Thursday, January 19
Durham, NC
7 p.m.
Central Michigan University
35
at
4
Duke
Redshirt freshman Sean Spidle set the tone on Thursday with a major-decision victory in the Chippewas' win at Duke.
Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography
Wrestlers Win 9 of 10 Matches in Rolling Past Duke for Third Consecutive Victory
1/19/2023 9:47:00 PM | Wrestling
CMU goes to Campbell on Sunday for second annual Chippewa Challenge
DURHAM, N.C. – The Central Michigan wrestling team won nine of the 10 matches on Thursday in rolling past Duke, 35-4, in a nonconference dual meet at the Blue Devils' Cameron Indoor Stadium.
It was the Chippewas' third consecutive victory as they improved to 3-5. They head to Buis Creek, N.C. on Sunday for the second annual Chippewa Challenge where they will face CSU Bakersfield, American and Campbell.
"We're starting to get better," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "The way we're training right now is paying off. Our conditioning showed in a lot of the matches tonight. We were going after bonus points, we wrestled well in the third period. Overall, we wrestled pretty hard, we hustled, and that's what you like to see.
"We're excited about the way we've been wrestling. Sunday will be a really good test for us."
Corbyn Munson recorded a pin, his third in his last five matches and his fourth of the season, at 157 pounds to highlight the Chippewas' victory over the Blue Devils (3-5).
Munson has won six consecutive matches and eight of his last 10 in improving to 18-8 on the season.
"He's one of the guys," Borrelli said, "whose conditioning's getting better and any time you have confidence in your conditioning, you feel like no matter what happens in the match you can keep pressing and keep pushing and good things are going to happen."
Duke avoided the shutout in the final bout of the night, when 22nd-ranked Jonah Niesenbaum scored an 11-3 major-decision victory over redshirt freshman Bryan Caves.
Outside of that match, in which Niesenbaum recorded five takedowns, the Chippewas dominated.
CMU allowed just two takedowns in the other eight matches that were wrestled while posting 15 of its own. The Chippewas' Vince Perez won by forfeit at 133.
Redshirt freshman Sean Spidle set the tone with an 8-0 major at 125 and then freshman Jimmy Nugent posted a 7-3 win at 141 to extend CMU's lead to 13-0. Spidle's win came over a junior, while Nugent defeated a graduate student.
It was the second straight bonus-point win for Spidle, who is rounding into shape after injuries hampered him early in the season. Nugent snapped a seven-match losing streak.
"(Spidle) hasn't been able to train consistently," Borrelli said. "Hopefully he'll be able to get consistent training in and continue to improve. (Nugent is) just learning how to pace himself in a wrestling match and learning composure. It's not easy for a true freshman. He's figuring some things out."
Johnny Lovett (149) scored a third-period escape to break a 5-5 tie and win, 6-5, in one of the night's most exciting matches.
After Munson's pin, Tracy Hubbard (165) scored 10-2 major-decision victory and then Alex Cramer (174) posted a convincing 8-2 win.
Ben Cushman (184) recorded a third-period takedown to break a 2-2 tie in posting a 5-3 victory and then CMU junior Cameron Wood got a takedown in overtime to win, 3-1, at 197.
Lovett, Cushman and Wood all put on display some mettle in winning their respective matches. All three matches were tied in the third period, while both Hubbard and Cramer scored multiple points in the third period to pad their leads.
"The third period's real important," Borrelli said. "In really tight matches it's going to come down to conditioning a lot of times and we feel like our training is helping us there."
Even in the lone match the Chippewas lost, at 285, there was a silver lining.
Caves, a redshirt freshman, wrestled his second straight match against a ranked opponent. He dropped a 5-0 decision last weekend to 17th-ranked Colton McKiernan of SIUE.
The combined record of Niesenbaum and McKiernan is 35-6. Caves, who has shown great promise as a redshirt freshman, is 15-10.
"Any time you can compete against those types of people at a young age and start to understand what it takes to be successful, those are all real good experiences," Borrelli said.
Central Michigan 35, Duke 4
125: Sean Spidle (C) major dec. Logan Agin, 8-0
133: Vince Perez (C) won by forfeit
141: Jimmy Nugent (C) dec. Jarred Papcsy, 7-3
149: Johnny Lovett (C) dec. Patrick Rowland, 6-5
157: Corbyn Munson (C) pinned Preston Decker, 4:11
165: Tracy Hubbard (C) major dec. Gabe Dinette, 10-2
174: Alex Cramer (C) dec. Conor Becker, 8-2
184: Ben Cushman (C) dec. Luke Chakonis, 5-3
197: Cameron Wood (C) dec. Brayden Ray, 3-1
285: Jonah Niesenbaum (D) major dec. Bryan Caves, 11-3
It was the Chippewas' third consecutive victory as they improved to 3-5. They head to Buis Creek, N.C. on Sunday for the second annual Chippewa Challenge where they will face CSU Bakersfield, American and Campbell.
"We're starting to get better," CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. "The way we're training right now is paying off. Our conditioning showed in a lot of the matches tonight. We were going after bonus points, we wrestled well in the third period. Overall, we wrestled pretty hard, we hustled, and that's what you like to see.
"We're excited about the way we've been wrestling. Sunday will be a really good test for us."
Corbyn Munson recorded a pin, his third in his last five matches and his fourth of the season, at 157 pounds to highlight the Chippewas' victory over the Blue Devils (3-5).
Munson has won six consecutive matches and eight of his last 10 in improving to 18-8 on the season.
"He's one of the guys," Borrelli said, "whose conditioning's getting better and any time you have confidence in your conditioning, you feel like no matter what happens in the match you can keep pressing and keep pushing and good things are going to happen."
Duke avoided the shutout in the final bout of the night, when 22nd-ranked Jonah Niesenbaum scored an 11-3 major-decision victory over redshirt freshman Bryan Caves.
Outside of that match, in which Niesenbaum recorded five takedowns, the Chippewas dominated.
CMU allowed just two takedowns in the other eight matches that were wrestled while posting 15 of its own. The Chippewas' Vince Perez won by forfeit at 133.
Redshirt freshman Sean Spidle set the tone with an 8-0 major at 125 and then freshman Jimmy Nugent posted a 7-3 win at 141 to extend CMU's lead to 13-0. Spidle's win came over a junior, while Nugent defeated a graduate student.
It was the second straight bonus-point win for Spidle, who is rounding into shape after injuries hampered him early in the season. Nugent snapped a seven-match losing streak.
"(Spidle) hasn't been able to train consistently," Borrelli said. "Hopefully he'll be able to get consistent training in and continue to improve. (Nugent is) just learning how to pace himself in a wrestling match and learning composure. It's not easy for a true freshman. He's figuring some things out."
Johnny Lovett (149) scored a third-period escape to break a 5-5 tie and win, 6-5, in one of the night's most exciting matches.
After Munson's pin, Tracy Hubbard (165) scored 10-2 major-decision victory and then Alex Cramer (174) posted a convincing 8-2 win.
Ben Cushman (184) recorded a third-period takedown to break a 2-2 tie in posting a 5-3 victory and then CMU junior Cameron Wood got a takedown in overtime to win, 3-1, at 197.
Lovett, Cushman and Wood all put on display some mettle in winning their respective matches. All three matches were tied in the third period, while both Hubbard and Cramer scored multiple points in the third period to pad their leads.
"The third period's real important," Borrelli said. "In really tight matches it's going to come down to conditioning a lot of times and we feel like our training is helping us there."
Even in the lone match the Chippewas lost, at 285, there was a silver lining.
Caves, a redshirt freshman, wrestled his second straight match against a ranked opponent. He dropped a 5-0 decision last weekend to 17th-ranked Colton McKiernan of SIUE.
The combined record of Niesenbaum and McKiernan is 35-6. Caves, who has shown great promise as a redshirt freshman, is 15-10.
"Any time you can compete against those types of people at a young age and start to understand what it takes to be successful, those are all real good experiences," Borrelli said.
Central Michigan 35, Duke 4
125: Sean Spidle (C) major dec. Logan Agin, 8-0
133: Vince Perez (C) won by forfeit
141: Jimmy Nugent (C) dec. Jarred Papcsy, 7-3
149: Johnny Lovett (C) dec. Patrick Rowland, 6-5
157: Corbyn Munson (C) pinned Preston Decker, 4:11
165: Tracy Hubbard (C) major dec. Gabe Dinette, 10-2
174: Alex Cramer (C) dec. Conor Becker, 8-2
184: Ben Cushman (C) dec. Luke Chakonis, 5-3
197: Cameron Wood (C) dec. Brayden Ray, 3-1
285: Jonah Niesenbaum (D) major dec. Bryan Caves, 11-3
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