Central Michigan University Athletics
Friday, March 22
Kansas City, Mo.
Noon/8 p.m.
Central Michigan University
at
NCAA Championships
Central Michigan's Alex Cramer has his arm raised after his victory over North Carolina State's Alex Faison on Friday at the NCAA Championships at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Photo by: Justin Hoch | jhoch.com
Lovett, Cramer Bow at NCAA Championships
3/22/2024 11:11:00 PM | Wrestling
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A win away.
Johnny Lovett made a valiant effort on Friday in turning a very, very tough trick: earning All-American wrestling honors after losing his opening bout in the NCAA Championships.
Alas, it was not to be.
Lovett, wrestling at 157 pounds, fell on a 13-5 major decision to Cornell's Meyer Shapiro, ending his run through the tournament. Had Lovett won, he would have been guaranteed a top-eight finish and All-American honors.
As it was, Lovett finished 3-2, a remarkable feat considering that he dropped his opening bout on Friday and then won three consecutive matches to put himself on the doorstep.
Earlier on Friday, CMU's Alex Cramer (174) fell, 5-2, to Iowa's Patrick Kennedy in a consolation-bracket match. Cramer finished 2-2 in the tournament.
"I thought that Johnny and Alex really wrestled their hearts out in this tournament," said CMU coach Tom Borrelli, who, after 33 years in charge of the program, is retiring. "I felt like they represented us the way we wanted to be represented and I'm proud of them.
"I really feel like our program is in a good spot. I think we've got a lot to build on. Both Johnny and Alex are coming back. I know the sting of not getting what they wanted is going to propel them and the whole team forward going into next year."
After dropping a 1-0 decision to seventh-seeded Peyten Kellar of Ohio, Lovett bounced back on Thursday night with a 4-1 sudden victory over Joey Blaze of Purdue.
On Friday, he scored another 4-1 sudden victory, this one over Michigan's Will Lewan, and then he posted a 3-1 win over Teague Travis of Oklahoma State.
Lovett, the 26th seed, scored wins over the 23rd-seeded Blaze, the ninth-seeded Lewan, and the 16th-seeded Travis. Cornell's Shapiro, the No. 3 seed, was the No. 1 wrestler in the nation in this year's freshman class and is now 25-3 on the season.
"I think Johnny was as good as (Shapiro) in certain positions, but he couldn't force those positions on him," Borrelli said. "(Shapiro) is really good with misdirection. He caught Johnny in a couple of misdirection things and then caught him on his back one time and when you give up back points it's really hard to come back against that caliber of kid."
Cramer went 1-1 on Thursday to open the tournament. His first loss came on a 2-1 decision to No. 3-seeded Edmond Ruth of Illinois in the second round. Cramer came back on Friday morning to post a dramatic 6-3 win over Alex Faisan of North Carolina State.
Cramer trailed, 3-2, entering the third period and rode Faisan for the entire period to earn the riding-time point and tie the match 3-3 and send it to sudden victory, where Cramer took down Faisan seconds into the extra session.
Cramer, who was seeded 19th and finished 24-9 on the season, then bowed to Kennedy, the 12th seed. Kennedy seized a 3-0 lead early and then controlled the match.
"I wouldn't say satisfied," Cramer said of his performance in the tournament. "Am I able to live with how I performed? Yes, because I think I wrestled as hard as I could and I think I wrestled smart matches I just need to get better at wrestling, point blank. I can live with how I competed because I think I competed as tough as I could.
"I learned that I can just continue to get in better shape, get stronger that's just going to continue to help me win the matches against the top-level guys because they're in peak condition and they're some of the strongest guys in the weight class."
Johnny Lovett made a valiant effort on Friday in turning a very, very tough trick: earning All-American wrestling honors after losing his opening bout in the NCAA Championships.
Alas, it was not to be.
Lovett, wrestling at 157 pounds, fell on a 13-5 major decision to Cornell's Meyer Shapiro, ending his run through the tournament. Had Lovett won, he would have been guaranteed a top-eight finish and All-American honors.
As it was, Lovett finished 3-2, a remarkable feat considering that he dropped his opening bout on Friday and then won three consecutive matches to put himself on the doorstep.
Earlier on Friday, CMU's Alex Cramer (174) fell, 5-2, to Iowa's Patrick Kennedy in a consolation-bracket match. Cramer finished 2-2 in the tournament.
"I thought that Johnny and Alex really wrestled their hearts out in this tournament," said CMU coach Tom Borrelli, who, after 33 years in charge of the program, is retiring. "I felt like they represented us the way we wanted to be represented and I'm proud of them.
"I really feel like our program is in a good spot. I think we've got a lot to build on. Both Johnny and Alex are coming back. I know the sting of not getting what they wanted is going to propel them and the whole team forward going into next year."
After dropping a 1-0 decision to seventh-seeded Peyten Kellar of Ohio, Lovett bounced back on Thursday night with a 4-1 sudden victory over Joey Blaze of Purdue.
On Friday, he scored another 4-1 sudden victory, this one over Michigan's Will Lewan, and then he posted a 3-1 win over Teague Travis of Oklahoma State.
Lovett, the 26th seed, scored wins over the 23rd-seeded Blaze, the ninth-seeded Lewan, and the 16th-seeded Travis. Cornell's Shapiro, the No. 3 seed, was the No. 1 wrestler in the nation in this year's freshman class and is now 25-3 on the season.
"I think Johnny was as good as (Shapiro) in certain positions, but he couldn't force those positions on him," Borrelli said. "(Shapiro) is really good with misdirection. He caught Johnny in a couple of misdirection things and then caught him on his back one time and when you give up back points it's really hard to come back against that caliber of kid."
Cramer went 1-1 on Thursday to open the tournament. His first loss came on a 2-1 decision to No. 3-seeded Edmond Ruth of Illinois in the second round. Cramer came back on Friday morning to post a dramatic 6-3 win over Alex Faisan of North Carolina State.
Cramer trailed, 3-2, entering the third period and rode Faisan for the entire period to earn the riding-time point and tie the match 3-3 and send it to sudden victory, where Cramer took down Faisan seconds into the extra session.
Cramer, who was seeded 19th and finished 24-9 on the season, then bowed to Kennedy, the 12th seed. Kennedy seized a 3-0 lead early and then controlled the match.
"I wouldn't say satisfied," Cramer said of his performance in the tournament. "Am I able to live with how I performed? Yes, because I think I wrestled as hard as I could and I think I wrestled smart matches I just need to get better at wrestling, point blank. I can live with how I competed because I think I competed as tough as I could.
"I learned that I can just continue to get in better shape, get stronger that's just going to continue to help me win the matches against the top-level guys because they're in peak condition and they're some of the strongest guys in the weight class."
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