Central Michigan University Athletics
Friday, January 10
Cedar Falls, Iowa
11 a.m. ET
Central Michigan University
13
vs
20
South Dakota State
CMU's Alex Cramer posted a pair of victories over ranked wrestlers on Friday at the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals at Northern Iowa.
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Wrestlers Go 1-1 on Opening Day at National Duals
1/10/2025 7:47:00 PM | Wrestling
Cramer, Swiderski, Spidle go unbeaten; CMU will wrestle Wyoming on Saturday morning
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The Central Michigan wrestling team split its two dual meets on Friday on the opening day of the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals at the UNI Dome on the campus of Northern Iowa.
The Chippewas opened with a 20-13 loss to No. 14 South Dakota State and then bounced back on Friday night with a 34-3 victory over Mid-American Conference foe Ohio.
The win over Ohio was the Chippewas' first dual meet victory of the season. CMU (1-4) is scheduled to wrestle Wyoming (4-4) on Saturday (10 a.m.) ET for a spot in the fifth-place dual meet.
The CMU-Wyoming loser will wrestle in the seventh-place meet.
The fifth- and seventh-place duals are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday.
South Dakota State, Wyoming and Ohio are ranked in the NWCA Mid-Major Top 20. SDSU is third, Wyoming is eighth, and Ohio is 13th. The Chippewas are among others receiving votes in the poll.
"I think in that first dual (against SDSU), there were some guys who were probably disappointed in the way they wrestled and with the results they got, but they were able to refocus pretty well and went back out and competed well in (against Ohio)," first-year CMU coach Ben Bennett said. "These guys, they've got fight in them and I think they understand that you've got to be able to respond when things don't always go your way. I thought they did a really good job of that."
CMU's Sean Spidle (133 pounds), Tyler Swiderski (165) and Alex Cramer (174) each finished 2-0 on Friday.
Cramer, who entered the tournament ranked 21st nationally by FloWrestling, defeated a pair of top-10 wrestlers. He posted a 4-1 win over No. 7 Cade DeVos of South Dakota State and then defeated No. 9 Garrett Thompson of Ohio, 2-0.
It was Cramer's second win this season over Thompson, a redshirt junior. He posted a 4-1 sudden-victory win over Thompson at the season-opening Michigan State Open. Cramer is ranked No. 1 in the MAC, while Thompson is second.
Cramer lost on a pin to DeVos in the 2023 NCAA Championships. Both Cramer and DeVos are graduate students.
"He had a really big day for himself," Bennett said of Cramer. "Today should give him a lot of confidence. He's right there with a lot of the top guys in the country.
"He's Alex; he's just composed, really steady. He controlled the tempo of the matches and he was gritty. He's just composed all the time and he doesn't panic and that really, really helps him a lot. He knows he has the ability to wrestle when he's tired so even when the matches are tight late, he just never panics."
Spidle, who is ranked 26th, upset No. 20 Derrick Cardinal of South Dakota State, 10-3, and then posted a 16-1 technical fall victory over TJ England of Ohio.
Spidle, who placed fifth at the Midlands Championships, has won seven of his last nine bouts after a 3-5 start to the season.
"Sean had a good day today," Bennett said. "He's really kind of catching a groove right now. I think that started at the Midlands and he's just kind of figuring out what he wants to do when he goes out there to wrestle and he's really getting his gameplan down.
"I think at the beginning of the year he didn't really have that locked in the way he wanted to, and he didn't get the results he wanted to because of that. He's made some adjustments in his wrestling and it's really made a big difference."
Swiderski defeated Marcus Espinoza-Owens of South Dakota State, 7-3, and then posted a 12-4 major decision win over Robert Gaylord of Ohio.
Swiderski, a redshirt junior, has won seven of his eight matches since returning from injury.
"Ty wrestled well," Bennett said. "He hasn't missed a beat. You wouldn't even know he missed the first month of the season. He's going out there and wrestling hard and getting to his offense.
"He's doing a good job of getting off the bottom and he's riding better; his mat wrestling is developing and that was something we've been trying to hammer down with him, getting riding time and getting off the bottom. He's really coming along in his mat wrestling."
The Chippewas' other victory against South Dakota State came at 285, where Bryan Caves rolled to a 14-1 major over 26th-ranked Luke Rasmussen.
"He dominated him and wrestled a really good that match, wrestled really well in that match," Bennett said. "We were excited for him."
The Chippewas dominated Ohio, winning nine of the 10 matches. CMU got bonus-point wins from Spidle, Mason Shrader (149), Johnny Lovett (157) and Swiderski. Shrader posted a pin, his first of the season.
No. 14 South Dakota State 20, Central Michigan 13
125: No. 12 Tanner Jordan (SDS) tech. fall Kaden Chinavare, 15-0, SDSU 5, CMU 0
133: No. 26 Sean Spidle (C) dec. No. 20 Derrick Cardinal, 10-3, SDSU 5, CMU 3
141: Caleb Gross (SDS) dec. Kellan Aure, 5-0, SDSU 8, CMU 3
149: Avery Allen (SDS) dec. No. 31 Mason Shrader, 8-4, SDSU 11, CMU 3
157: Moses Espinoza-Owens (SDS) dec. No. 20 Johnny Lovett, 5-2, SV, SDSU 14, CMU 3
165: Tyler Swiderski (C) dec. Marcus Espinoza-Owens, 7-3, SDSU 14, CMU 6
174: No. 21 Alex Cramer (C) dec. No. 7 Cade DeVos, 4-1, SDSU 14, CMU 9
184: No. 6 Bennett Berge (SDS) dec. Adrien Cramer, 11-5, SDSU 17, CMU 9
197: Thomas Dineen (SDS) dec. Luke Cochran, 4-2, SDSU 20, CMU 9
285: Bryan Caves (C) major dec. No. 26 Luke Rasmussen, 14-1, SDSU 20, CMU 13
Central Michigan 34, Ohio 3
125: Kaden Chinavare (C) dec. Logan Dean, 9-4, CMU 3, Ohio 0
133: No. 26 Sean Spidle (C) tech. fall TJ England, 16-1, CMU 8, Ohio 0
141: Kellan Aure (C) dec. Kaden Jett, 4-1, CMU 11, Ohio 0
149: No. 31 Mason Shrader (C) fall Jake Necessary, 2:27, CMU 17, Ohio 0
157: No. 20 Johnny Lovett (C) major dec. Logan Cravatas, 19-7, CMU 21, Ohio 0
165: Tyler Swiderski (C) major dec. Robert Gaylord, 12-4, CMU 25, Ohio 0
174: No. 21 Alex Cramer (C) dec. No. 9 Garrett Thompson, 2-0, CMU 28, Ohio 0
184: Adrien Cramer (C) dec. Jeremy Olszko, 4-3, CMU 31, Ohio 0
197: Luke Cochran (C) dec. Max Ray, 4-2, CMU 34, Ohio 0
285: No. 27 Jordan Greer (O) dec. Bryan Caves, 5-1, CMU 34, Ohio 3
*Rankings by FloWrestling
The Chippewas opened with a 20-13 loss to No. 14 South Dakota State and then bounced back on Friday night with a 34-3 victory over Mid-American Conference foe Ohio.
The win over Ohio was the Chippewas' first dual meet victory of the season. CMU (1-4) is scheduled to wrestle Wyoming (4-4) on Saturday (10 a.m.) ET for a spot in the fifth-place dual meet.
The CMU-Wyoming loser will wrestle in the seventh-place meet.
The fifth- and seventh-place duals are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday.
South Dakota State, Wyoming and Ohio are ranked in the NWCA Mid-Major Top 20. SDSU is third, Wyoming is eighth, and Ohio is 13th. The Chippewas are among others receiving votes in the poll.
"I think in that first dual (against SDSU), there were some guys who were probably disappointed in the way they wrestled and with the results they got, but they were able to refocus pretty well and went back out and competed well in (against Ohio)," first-year CMU coach Ben Bennett said. "These guys, they've got fight in them and I think they understand that you've got to be able to respond when things don't always go your way. I thought they did a really good job of that."
CMU's Sean Spidle (133 pounds), Tyler Swiderski (165) and Alex Cramer (174) each finished 2-0 on Friday.
Cramer, who entered the tournament ranked 21st nationally by FloWrestling, defeated a pair of top-10 wrestlers. He posted a 4-1 win over No. 7 Cade DeVos of South Dakota State and then defeated No. 9 Garrett Thompson of Ohio, 2-0.
It was Cramer's second win this season over Thompson, a redshirt junior. He posted a 4-1 sudden-victory win over Thompson at the season-opening Michigan State Open. Cramer is ranked No. 1 in the MAC, while Thompson is second.
Cramer lost on a pin to DeVos in the 2023 NCAA Championships. Both Cramer and DeVos are graduate students.
"He had a really big day for himself," Bennett said of Cramer. "Today should give him a lot of confidence. He's right there with a lot of the top guys in the country.
"He's Alex; he's just composed, really steady. He controlled the tempo of the matches and he was gritty. He's just composed all the time and he doesn't panic and that really, really helps him a lot. He knows he has the ability to wrestle when he's tired so even when the matches are tight late, he just never panics."
Spidle, who is ranked 26th, upset No. 20 Derrick Cardinal of South Dakota State, 10-3, and then posted a 16-1 technical fall victory over TJ England of Ohio.
Spidle, who placed fifth at the Midlands Championships, has won seven of his last nine bouts after a 3-5 start to the season.
"Sean had a good day today," Bennett said. "He's really kind of catching a groove right now. I think that started at the Midlands and he's just kind of figuring out what he wants to do when he goes out there to wrestle and he's really getting his gameplan down.
"I think at the beginning of the year he didn't really have that locked in the way he wanted to, and he didn't get the results he wanted to because of that. He's made some adjustments in his wrestling and it's really made a big difference."
Swiderski defeated Marcus Espinoza-Owens of South Dakota State, 7-3, and then posted a 12-4 major decision win over Robert Gaylord of Ohio.
Swiderski, a redshirt junior, has won seven of his eight matches since returning from injury.
"Ty wrestled well," Bennett said. "He hasn't missed a beat. You wouldn't even know he missed the first month of the season. He's going out there and wrestling hard and getting to his offense.
"He's doing a good job of getting off the bottom and he's riding better; his mat wrestling is developing and that was something we've been trying to hammer down with him, getting riding time and getting off the bottom. He's really coming along in his mat wrestling."
The Chippewas' other victory against South Dakota State came at 285, where Bryan Caves rolled to a 14-1 major over 26th-ranked Luke Rasmussen.
"He dominated him and wrestled a really good that match, wrestled really well in that match," Bennett said. "We were excited for him."
The Chippewas dominated Ohio, winning nine of the 10 matches. CMU got bonus-point wins from Spidle, Mason Shrader (149), Johnny Lovett (157) and Swiderski. Shrader posted a pin, his first of the season.
No. 14 South Dakota State 20, Central Michigan 13
125: No. 12 Tanner Jordan (SDS) tech. fall Kaden Chinavare, 15-0, SDSU 5, CMU 0
133: No. 26 Sean Spidle (C) dec. No. 20 Derrick Cardinal, 10-3, SDSU 5, CMU 3
141: Caleb Gross (SDS) dec. Kellan Aure, 5-0, SDSU 8, CMU 3
149: Avery Allen (SDS) dec. No. 31 Mason Shrader, 8-4, SDSU 11, CMU 3
157: Moses Espinoza-Owens (SDS) dec. No. 20 Johnny Lovett, 5-2, SV, SDSU 14, CMU 3
165: Tyler Swiderski (C) dec. Marcus Espinoza-Owens, 7-3, SDSU 14, CMU 6
174: No. 21 Alex Cramer (C) dec. No. 7 Cade DeVos, 4-1, SDSU 14, CMU 9
184: No. 6 Bennett Berge (SDS) dec. Adrien Cramer, 11-5, SDSU 17, CMU 9
197: Thomas Dineen (SDS) dec. Luke Cochran, 4-2, SDSU 20, CMU 9
285: Bryan Caves (C) major dec. No. 26 Luke Rasmussen, 14-1, SDSU 20, CMU 13
Central Michigan 34, Ohio 3
125: Kaden Chinavare (C) dec. Logan Dean, 9-4, CMU 3, Ohio 0
133: No. 26 Sean Spidle (C) tech. fall TJ England, 16-1, CMU 8, Ohio 0
141: Kellan Aure (C) dec. Kaden Jett, 4-1, CMU 11, Ohio 0
149: No. 31 Mason Shrader (C) fall Jake Necessary, 2:27, CMU 17, Ohio 0
157: No. 20 Johnny Lovett (C) major dec. Logan Cravatas, 19-7, CMU 21, Ohio 0
165: Tyler Swiderski (C) major dec. Robert Gaylord, 12-4, CMU 25, Ohio 0
174: No. 21 Alex Cramer (C) dec. No. 9 Garrett Thompson, 2-0, CMU 28, Ohio 0
184: Adrien Cramer (C) dec. Jeremy Olszko, 4-3, CMU 31, Ohio 0
197: Luke Cochran (C) dec. Max Ray, 4-2, CMU 34, Ohio 0
285: No. 27 Jordan Greer (O) dec. Bryan Caves, 5-1, CMU 34, Ohio 3
*Rankings by FloWrestling
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