Central Michigan University Athletics
Friday, February 6
Edwardsville, Ill.
7 p.m. ET
Central Michigan University
21
at
14
SIUE
Redshirt senior Tyler Swiderski returned to the CMU lineup on Friday and posted a big 5-4 victory in CMU's 21-14 win at SIUE.
Photo by: Madison Davidson '25 - @_mld.jpeg
Wrestlers Upend SIUE, 21-14
2/6/2026 10:13:00 PM | Wrestling
Freshman Archer Anderson opens dual meet with his first career pin; Chippewas win three of final four bouts to hand Cougars their first MAC loss
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Central Michigan got off to a fast start and never trailed, winning six matches on Friday in taking a 21-14 victory from SIU Edwardsville in a Mid-American Conference dual meet at the Cougars' First Community Arena.
The win lifted the Chippewas to 8-5, 2-2 MAC as they handed the Cougars (9-2, 3-1) their first conference dual loss. SIUE is ranked 17th in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Mid-Major Poll; the Chippewas are 17th.
CMU, which goes to Kent State on Friday, Feb. 13 and then entertains George Mason on Sunday, Feb. 15, rebounded from a disappointing 19-14 loss to Buffalo last weekend.
"That's a good team," CMU coach Ben Bennett said. "SIUE has a heck of a team, and they're tough all the way through their lineup. I knew it was going to be a battle at every weight.
"My challenge to them was, just go out and compete. Go out and try to dominate and wrestle with the right effort and the right attitude. Focus on executing, doing the things we work on every day. We did a better job of that tonight, responded the right way. They picked themselves up. They didn't give up, they kept fighting, and I know when our guys do that, they're capable of a lot."
Freshman Archer Anderson set the tone with a pin of Drew Davis in the night's opening bout at 125 pounds. Anderson trailed, 13-3, when he caught Davis – a sophomore who finished third in the MAC Championships last season – in a headlock, leading to the pin and giving the Chippewas a jolt.
It was Anderson's first career pin.
"The thing with Archer is he just keeps wrestling," Bennett said. "He doesn't quit wrestling. You just keep wrestling and you end up putting yourself in a good position. You don't know what's going to happen, whether you're winning or losing, and that was just a good example of what happens when you keep fighting, when you don't give up.
"Any time you get a pin in a dual meet, that's huge. I mean, bonus points in dual meets can be the difference a lot of times. You start out with a pin, that's huge momentum."
The Chippewas then got decision victories from Nick Blackburn (141) and Mason Shrader (157), and took losses at 133, 149 and 165, leaving the Chippewas holding a 12-11 lead heading into 174, where Tyler Swiderski got a third-period takedown and then held on for a gritty 5-4 win over Dominic Lopez in a hotly contested matched.
It was just the second match of the season for Swiderski (2-0), a redshirt senior who has battled through an injury that prematurely ended his season a year ago.
"The tough part is (Swiderski) probably hasn't been able to train the way he really wants to train," Bennett said. "He's still been able to do stuff, but probably not at the level he wants to. He's been through a lot. He really wants to wrestle, he wants to compete, he wants to be out there for his teammates.
"He's just tough. He went out there and found a way to get that takedown to win the match. That's just guts, willpower."
Swiderski's win upped CMU's lead to 15-11, but an SIUE victory at 184 drew the Cougars back to within a point, 15-14.
That set the stage for the final two bouts, both of which went to CMU. Luke Cochran posted a dominant 9-3 win at 197, and then Bryan Caves closed the dual with a 5-0 victory.
"We told them, 'Don't get caught up in the team score, don't get caught up in what's going on around you, just go wrestle your match, just go be yourself, do what you're good at and wrestle your match,'" Bennett said. "When those guys do that, they're really tough to beat, and both of those guys did a good job with that. They just went out there and wrestled their matches and they wrestled hard and they wrestled smart. They both showed good composure."
Central Michigan 21, SIUE 14
Friday, Feb. 6, 2026
Edwardsville, Ill
125: Archer Anderson (C) fall Drew Davis, 4:09, CMU 6, SIUE 0
133: No. 20/24 Marcel Lopez (SIUE) dec. Andrew Austin, 5-1, CMU 6, SIUE 3
141: Nick Blackburn (C) dec. Ben Lunn, 6-2, CMU 9, SIUE 3
149: No. 3/3 Caleb Tyus (SIUE) major dec. Jimmy Nugent, 8-0, CMU 9, SIUE 7
157: No. 23/25 Mason Shrader (C) dec. Hayden Whidden, 7-1, CMU 12, SIUE 7
165: No. 29/30 Brock Woodcock (SIUE) major dec. Chandler Amaker, 15-3, CMU 12, SIUE 11
174: Tyler Swiderski (C) dec. Dominic Lopez, 5-4, CMU 15, SIUE 11
184: Deron Pulliam (SIUE) dec. Adrien Cramer, 7-3, CMU 15, SIUE 14
197: Luke Cochran (C) dec. Nick Nosler, 9-3, CMU 18, SIUE 14
285: No. 31/UR Bryan Caves (C) dec. No. 32/UR Bryson Buhk, 5-0, CMU 21, SIUE 14
*Rankings by InterMat/FloWrestling
The win lifted the Chippewas to 8-5, 2-2 MAC as they handed the Cougars (9-2, 3-1) their first conference dual loss. SIUE is ranked 17th in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Mid-Major Poll; the Chippewas are 17th.
CMU, which goes to Kent State on Friday, Feb. 13 and then entertains George Mason on Sunday, Feb. 15, rebounded from a disappointing 19-14 loss to Buffalo last weekend.
"That's a good team," CMU coach Ben Bennett said. "SIUE has a heck of a team, and they're tough all the way through their lineup. I knew it was going to be a battle at every weight.
"My challenge to them was, just go out and compete. Go out and try to dominate and wrestle with the right effort and the right attitude. Focus on executing, doing the things we work on every day. We did a better job of that tonight, responded the right way. They picked themselves up. They didn't give up, they kept fighting, and I know when our guys do that, they're capable of a lot."
Freshman Archer Anderson set the tone with a pin of Drew Davis in the night's opening bout at 125 pounds. Anderson trailed, 13-3, when he caught Davis – a sophomore who finished third in the MAC Championships last season – in a headlock, leading to the pin and giving the Chippewas a jolt.
It was Anderson's first career pin.
"The thing with Archer is he just keeps wrestling," Bennett said. "He doesn't quit wrestling. You just keep wrestling and you end up putting yourself in a good position. You don't know what's going to happen, whether you're winning or losing, and that was just a good example of what happens when you keep fighting, when you don't give up.
"Any time you get a pin in a dual meet, that's huge. I mean, bonus points in dual meets can be the difference a lot of times. You start out with a pin, that's huge momentum."
The Chippewas then got decision victories from Nick Blackburn (141) and Mason Shrader (157), and took losses at 133, 149 and 165, leaving the Chippewas holding a 12-11 lead heading into 174, where Tyler Swiderski got a third-period takedown and then held on for a gritty 5-4 win over Dominic Lopez in a hotly contested matched.
It was just the second match of the season for Swiderski (2-0), a redshirt senior who has battled through an injury that prematurely ended his season a year ago.
"The tough part is (Swiderski) probably hasn't been able to train the way he really wants to train," Bennett said. "He's still been able to do stuff, but probably not at the level he wants to. He's been through a lot. He really wants to wrestle, he wants to compete, he wants to be out there for his teammates.
"He's just tough. He went out there and found a way to get that takedown to win the match. That's just guts, willpower."
Swiderski's win upped CMU's lead to 15-11, but an SIUE victory at 184 drew the Cougars back to within a point, 15-14.
That set the stage for the final two bouts, both of which went to CMU. Luke Cochran posted a dominant 9-3 win at 197, and then Bryan Caves closed the dual with a 5-0 victory.
"We told them, 'Don't get caught up in the team score, don't get caught up in what's going on around you, just go wrestle your match, just go be yourself, do what you're good at and wrestle your match,'" Bennett said. "When those guys do that, they're really tough to beat, and both of those guys did a good job with that. They just went out there and wrestled their matches and they wrestled hard and they wrestled smart. They both showed good composure."
Central Michigan 21, SIUE 14
Friday, Feb. 6, 2026
Edwardsville, Ill
125: Archer Anderson (C) fall Drew Davis, 4:09, CMU 6, SIUE 0
133: No. 20/24 Marcel Lopez (SIUE) dec. Andrew Austin, 5-1, CMU 6, SIUE 3
141: Nick Blackburn (C) dec. Ben Lunn, 6-2, CMU 9, SIUE 3
149: No. 3/3 Caleb Tyus (SIUE) major dec. Jimmy Nugent, 8-0, CMU 9, SIUE 7
157: No. 23/25 Mason Shrader (C) dec. Hayden Whidden, 7-1, CMU 12, SIUE 7
165: No. 29/30 Brock Woodcock (SIUE) major dec. Chandler Amaker, 15-3, CMU 12, SIUE 11
174: Tyler Swiderski (C) dec. Dominic Lopez, 5-4, CMU 15, SIUE 11
184: Deron Pulliam (SIUE) dec. Adrien Cramer, 7-3, CMU 15, SIUE 14
197: Luke Cochran (C) dec. Nick Nosler, 9-3, CMU 18, SIUE 14
285: No. 31/UR Bryan Caves (C) dec. No. 32/UR Bryson Buhk, 5-0, CMU 21, SIUE 14
*Rankings by InterMat/FloWrestling
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