Central Michigan University Athletics
Friday, January 30
7 p.m.
Central Michigan University
23
vs
10
Ohio
CMU's Mason Shrader rolls Ohio's Derek Raike over to his back on Friday in his dramatic 11-7 victory at McGuirk Arena. Shrader overcame a late 7-3 deficit in posting the victory which helped propel the Chippewas to the dual meet victory.
Photo by: Lauren Verellen
Shrader's Dramatic Comeback Win Highlights CMU's Dual Victory Over Ohio
1/30/2026 11:10:00 PM | Wrestling
Austin, Caves post major decision victories; CMU welcomes Buffalo on Sunday for MAC dual
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Bonus points in its first win and its last, and a dramatic come-from-behind victory midway through lifted the Central Michigan wrestling team to a 23-10 Mid-American Conference dual victory over Ohio on Friday at McGuirk Arena.
The win lifted CMU to 7-4, 1-1 MAC. The Chippewas welcome Buffalo (2-9, 1-3) on Sunday (2 p.m.) for another league dual.
The Chippewas got major decision victories from Andrew Austin (133 pounds) and Bryan Caves (285) and a dramatic 11-7 win from Mason Shrader (157) in Friday's win over Ohio (4-4, 1-3).
CMU won seven matches on the night, many of them tightly contested battles.
"Our top wrestling won us some of those matches, being tough on top, riding guys tough and getting riding time points was the difference in a couple of those matches," CMU coach Ben Bennett said. "A couple of our guys won close matches, and that's always important."
No match was closer, more dramatic, and meant more than Shrader's victory over Derek Raike in the only match of the night in which both wrestlers came in ranked nationally.
Shrader is ranked 22nd by InterMat, 26th by FloWrestling. Raike is 27th and 31st. Shrader is ranked second in the MAC, while Raike is fourth.
Raike held a 7-3 lead late in the third period when things turned in Shrader's favor, first when he was awarded a point when Raike was called for stalling. That made it 7-4. Shrader then scored a takedown with under 15 seconds remaining and rolled Raike to his back for a four-point near fall as time expired.
That brought the crowd to its feet and extended CMU's lead to 13-4.
"My best period is always the third period," said Shrader, who improved to 17-5, 8-1 in duals, and 5-3 against ranked opponents. "My sense of urgency goes up in the third period, especially when I'm down. I know that I've just got to go. … just keep pushing the pace and it's something I'm still learning. I just felt (Raike) kind of wear out and I knew I had to go with short time and I just kept taking shots.
"This part of the season gets hard, it's long. The big thing is, don't quit, keep wrestling as hard as you can and good things happen. That match kind of showed that whole idea of what coach Bennett's been teaching us the whole year. Keep wrestling, focus on the next thing in front of you, and good things will happen and that was, I guess, a perfect example of what we work on in the room every single day."
CMU's Chandler Amaker (165) rode the wave of momentum, following Shrader's victory with a gritty 5-1 win over Jack Lledo to extend the Chippewa lead to 16-4.
It was a critical win considering that Ohio's next two wrestlers entered the dual ranked nationally, and both won their bouts to draw the Bobcats to 16-10 with two matches remaining.
Lledo had won both previous meetings with Amaker, including a 7-2 win just three weeks ago in the National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Lledo is ranked ninth in the MAC, while Amaker is 10th.
"I think that (Shrader win) gave Chandler a lot of confidence," Bennett said. "That guy's beaten him the last two times they wrestled, but it's always a really tight match and this time (Amaker) found a way to finish his takedown.
"That's been the difference the last couple times they wrestled, can (Amaker) finish his shot? And he was able to finish his takedown this time, and he rode tough."
The Chippewas won similar close matches at 141 (Nick Blackburn) and 149 (Jimmy Nugent). Blackburn took a 4-1 decision and Nugent won, 2-1, getting the winning point with riding time.
It was Nugent's seventh consecutive win – he has scored bonus points in four of those wins – as he improved to 16-7. Blackburn (8-11) won for the fourth time in his last eight matches.
The bonus point wins for Austin and Caves were their sixth and fifth such victories, respectively, on the season.
CMU's other win came from Luke Cochran (197) and gave the Chippewas an insurmountable 19-10 lead heading into the final bout of the night.
Cochran, a redshirt sophomore, improved to 17-8 and won for the seventh time in his last eight bouts. He improved to 9-2 in duals.
Central Michigan 23, Ohio 10
Friday, Jan. 30, 2026
At McGuirk Arena, Mount Pleasant, Mich.
125: Brayden Teunissen (O) major dec. Colton Camacho, 11-3, Ohio 4, CMU 0
133: Andrew Austin (C) major dec. Ryan Meek, 13-4, CMU 4, Ohio 4
141: Nick Blackburn (C) dec. Kolten Baker, 4-1, CMU 7, Ohio 4
149: Jimmy Nugent (C) dec. Paul Woo, 2-1, CMU 10, Ohio 4
157: No. 22/26 Mason Shrader (C) dec. No. 27/31 Derek Raike, 11-7, CMU 13, Ohio 4
165: Chandler Amaker (C) dec. Jack Lledo, 5-1, CMU 16, Ohio 4
174: No. 22/23 Garrett Thompson (O) dec. Cody Brenner, 5-1, CMU 16, Ohio 7
184: No. 16/19 Sal Perrine (O) dec. Adrien Cramer, 8-3, CMU 16, Ohio 10
197: Luke Cochran (C) dec. Evan Wingrove, 7-3, CMU 19, Ohio 10
285: Bryan Caves (C) major dec. Wyatt Schmitt, 14-2, CMU 23, Ohio 10
*Rankings by InterMat/FloWrestling
The win lifted CMU to 7-4, 1-1 MAC. The Chippewas welcome Buffalo (2-9, 1-3) on Sunday (2 p.m.) for another league dual.
The Chippewas got major decision victories from Andrew Austin (133 pounds) and Bryan Caves (285) and a dramatic 11-7 win from Mason Shrader (157) in Friday's win over Ohio (4-4, 1-3).
CMU won seven matches on the night, many of them tightly contested battles.
"Our top wrestling won us some of those matches, being tough on top, riding guys tough and getting riding time points was the difference in a couple of those matches," CMU coach Ben Bennett said. "A couple of our guys won close matches, and that's always important."
No match was closer, more dramatic, and meant more than Shrader's victory over Derek Raike in the only match of the night in which both wrestlers came in ranked nationally.
Shrader is ranked 22nd by InterMat, 26th by FloWrestling. Raike is 27th and 31st. Shrader is ranked second in the MAC, while Raike is fourth.
Raike held a 7-3 lead late in the third period when things turned in Shrader's favor, first when he was awarded a point when Raike was called for stalling. That made it 7-4. Shrader then scored a takedown with under 15 seconds remaining and rolled Raike to his back for a four-point near fall as time expired.
That brought the crowd to its feet and extended CMU's lead to 13-4.
"My best period is always the third period," said Shrader, who improved to 17-5, 8-1 in duals, and 5-3 against ranked opponents. "My sense of urgency goes up in the third period, especially when I'm down. I know that I've just got to go. … just keep pushing the pace and it's something I'm still learning. I just felt (Raike) kind of wear out and I knew I had to go with short time and I just kept taking shots.
"This part of the season gets hard, it's long. The big thing is, don't quit, keep wrestling as hard as you can and good things happen. That match kind of showed that whole idea of what coach Bennett's been teaching us the whole year. Keep wrestling, focus on the next thing in front of you, and good things will happen and that was, I guess, a perfect example of what we work on in the room every single day."
CMU's Chandler Amaker (165) rode the wave of momentum, following Shrader's victory with a gritty 5-1 win over Jack Lledo to extend the Chippewa lead to 16-4.
It was a critical win considering that Ohio's next two wrestlers entered the dual ranked nationally, and both won their bouts to draw the Bobcats to 16-10 with two matches remaining.
Lledo had won both previous meetings with Amaker, including a 7-2 win just three weeks ago in the National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Lledo is ranked ninth in the MAC, while Amaker is 10th.
"I think that (Shrader win) gave Chandler a lot of confidence," Bennett said. "That guy's beaten him the last two times they wrestled, but it's always a really tight match and this time (Amaker) found a way to finish his takedown.
"That's been the difference the last couple times they wrestled, can (Amaker) finish his shot? And he was able to finish his takedown this time, and he rode tough."
The Chippewas won similar close matches at 141 (Nick Blackburn) and 149 (Jimmy Nugent). Blackburn took a 4-1 decision and Nugent won, 2-1, getting the winning point with riding time.
It was Nugent's seventh consecutive win – he has scored bonus points in four of those wins – as he improved to 16-7. Blackburn (8-11) won for the fourth time in his last eight matches.
The bonus point wins for Austin and Caves were their sixth and fifth such victories, respectively, on the season.
CMU's other win came from Luke Cochran (197) and gave the Chippewas an insurmountable 19-10 lead heading into the final bout of the night.
Cochran, a redshirt sophomore, improved to 17-8 and won for the seventh time in his last eight bouts. He improved to 9-2 in duals.
Central Michigan 23, Ohio 10
Friday, Jan. 30, 2026
At McGuirk Arena, Mount Pleasant, Mich.
125: Brayden Teunissen (O) major dec. Colton Camacho, 11-3, Ohio 4, CMU 0
133: Andrew Austin (C) major dec. Ryan Meek, 13-4, CMU 4, Ohio 4
141: Nick Blackburn (C) dec. Kolten Baker, 4-1, CMU 7, Ohio 4
149: Jimmy Nugent (C) dec. Paul Woo, 2-1, CMU 10, Ohio 4
157: No. 22/26 Mason Shrader (C) dec. No. 27/31 Derek Raike, 11-7, CMU 13, Ohio 4
165: Chandler Amaker (C) dec. Jack Lledo, 5-1, CMU 16, Ohio 4
174: No. 22/23 Garrett Thompson (O) dec. Cody Brenner, 5-1, CMU 16, Ohio 7
184: No. 16/19 Sal Perrine (O) dec. Adrien Cramer, 8-3, CMU 16, Ohio 10
197: Luke Cochran (C) dec. Evan Wingrove, 7-3, CMU 19, Ohio 10
285: Bryan Caves (C) major dec. Wyatt Schmitt, 14-2, CMU 23, Ohio 10
*Rankings by InterMat/FloWrestling
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