Central Michigan University Athletics
Photo by: Julia Bice '22,M'24 - @jb.jpg10
CMU Legend Tom Borrelli to Enter MAC Hall of Fame
3/13/2026 2:20:00 PM | General, Wrestling
Former wrestling coach will be CMU's 12th representative in prestigous hall
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – One of the giants in Central Michigan Athletics history and one of the most respected names in amateur wrestling circles, Tom Borrelli will take his rightful place among Mid-American Conference greats.
Borrelli, who retired in 2024 after leading CMU wrestling for three-plus decades, has been elected to the MAC Hall of Fame, the league announced today.
"I looked at the Hall of Fame, who's in the Hall of Fame from Central Michigan," Borrelli said this week. "They're amazing people. It's really humbling to me to be included with those people, and I had the opportunity to work with most of them, and learn from them, and try to emulate them and their character."
Borrelli will be inducted into the prestigious hall in a ceremony in on May 30 at Hotel Cleveland. He becomes the 12th CMU representative in the hall after softball coach Margo Jonker, inducted in 2020; track and field athlete Bruno Pauletto, 2019; basketball player Dan Majerle, 2017; coach/administrator Marcy Weston, 2016; wrestler Casey Cunningham, 2015; basketball coach Charlie Coles, 2014; baseball coach/administrator Dave Keilitz, 2013; football coach Herb Deromedi, 2012; football player Gary Hogeboom, 1994; basketball player Dan Roundfield, 1990; and athlete/coach/administrator Ted Kjolhede, 1988.
Borrelli is the third wrestling coach to join the hall after Kent State's Joe Begala, a 1991 inductee, and Ohio's Harry Houska (2014).
"To be included with those people, it's very humbling, both from a wrestling standpoint and from a CMU standpoint," Borrelli said.
One of the sport's all-time winningest coaches and an iconic name among his peers, Borrelli led CMU to 30 MAC team titles during his distinguished 33 years in charge of the program.
Fifteen of those crowns came at the MAC Championships and the other 15 came during the regular season. He was named the MAC Coach of the Year 15 times. All three numbers are league records.
"Tom Borrelli is rightfully among the most respected and admired men in college wrestling and Central Michigan Athletics history," Zyzelewski Family Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics Amy Folan said. "He has meant everything to not only Central Michigan Wrestling, but to the athletic department, and the university community. His program was very, very successful and more than that, he is class and dignity personified."
Borrelli amassed a remarkable 368-179 dual meet record at CMU including an extraordinary 154-36 in MAC duals.
Twenty-eight times in Borrelli's 33 seasons CMU finished .500 or better in all duals, a mark made all the more exceptional by the fact that his teams annually went head to head in duals with top-25 programs, including the likes of Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan.
Borrelli coached one national champion, 45 All-Americans, 10 MAC Wrestler of the Year honorees, 10 wrestlers who earned the MAC Freshman of the Year Award, seven who were named the Outstanding Wrestler Award at the MAC Championships, 93 MAC champions, 61 National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-Americans, 79 Academic All-MAC selections, and two Academic All-Americans.
Ben Bennett who earned four All-America honors while wrestling for Borrelli at CMU, succeeded Borrelli as the Chippewas' coach when Borrelli retired after leading CMU to the MAC title in 2024.
"To me it's the impact he made on the student-athletes, all of us who came through the program over his 33 years here as the head coach," said Bennett, who served for 11 seasons as an assistant under Borrelli. "What he was able to get us to accomplish, the way he was able to push us and challenge us and just help us get the best out of ourselves, the most out of ourselves.
"He always did whatever he could do to help anyone -- anyone in the program, it didn't matter who you were. This honor, more than anything, it tells you what kind of person he is, and it tells you about the effort the he put into all of us and the commitment he made in helping us realize what we were capable of accomplishing."
Borrelli, who was inducted into the Marcy Weston Central Michigan Athletics Hall of Fame just months after he retired from coaching, guided Cunningham to the 157-pound NCAA title in 1999.
The CMU Hall includes 26 members, Cunningham and Bennett among them, who were associated with the wrestling program, the vast majority of them wrestlers who were mentored by Borrelli.
"Obviously you're not a good coach unless you have great athletes, that's all there is to it," Borrelli said. "We had some great athletes while I was there. And not only great athletes, but great people who were able to motivate the people around them and raise the people around them, raise everybody's level and that's what made great teams.
"And then I had some great help, too, as far as assistant coaches, some amazing people around me who have tremendous accomplishments in the sport too."
Cunningham and Bennett are among the myriad former Chippewa wrestlers and former Borrelli assistants now in the coaching ranks at any number of levels, from college to high school to youth.
"First and foremost, the Nick Saban quote hits it on the head: most student-athletes don't care how much you know until they know you care, and that's the truth with Tom," said Mitch Hancock, who wrestled for Borrelli at CMU from 2001-05 and is now the coach at Detroit Catholic Central, leading it two weeks ago to its 12th state championship in the last 17 years.
"Tom's got an incredible ability to connect with athletes and let athletes know that he cares about them as a person before an athlete. Once you recognize that, and that comes very early in your career, just through his demeanor and his approach, you start to want to train a little bit harder, be a little bit better on the mats and off the mats to make him proud.
"He's almost like a second father to so many of us. Well, he is a second father to so many of us. It all starts with that. He cared."
Borrelli, who retired in 2024 after leading CMU wrestling for three-plus decades, has been elected to the MAC Hall of Fame, the league announced today.
"I looked at the Hall of Fame, who's in the Hall of Fame from Central Michigan," Borrelli said this week. "They're amazing people. It's really humbling to me to be included with those people, and I had the opportunity to work with most of them, and learn from them, and try to emulate them and their character."
Borrelli will be inducted into the prestigious hall in a ceremony in on May 30 at Hotel Cleveland. He becomes the 12th CMU representative in the hall after softball coach Margo Jonker, inducted in 2020; track and field athlete Bruno Pauletto, 2019; basketball player Dan Majerle, 2017; coach/administrator Marcy Weston, 2016; wrestler Casey Cunningham, 2015; basketball coach Charlie Coles, 2014; baseball coach/administrator Dave Keilitz, 2013; football coach Herb Deromedi, 2012; football player Gary Hogeboom, 1994; basketball player Dan Roundfield, 1990; and athlete/coach/administrator Ted Kjolhede, 1988.
Borrelli is the third wrestling coach to join the hall after Kent State's Joe Begala, a 1991 inductee, and Ohio's Harry Houska (2014).
"To be included with those people, it's very humbling, both from a wrestling standpoint and from a CMU standpoint," Borrelli said.
One of the sport's all-time winningest coaches and an iconic name among his peers, Borrelli led CMU to 30 MAC team titles during his distinguished 33 years in charge of the program.
Fifteen of those crowns came at the MAC Championships and the other 15 came during the regular season. He was named the MAC Coach of the Year 15 times. All three numbers are league records.
"Tom Borrelli is rightfully among the most respected and admired men in college wrestling and Central Michigan Athletics history," Zyzelewski Family Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics Amy Folan said. "He has meant everything to not only Central Michigan Wrestling, but to the athletic department, and the university community. His program was very, very successful and more than that, he is class and dignity personified."
Borrelli amassed a remarkable 368-179 dual meet record at CMU including an extraordinary 154-36 in MAC duals.
Twenty-eight times in Borrelli's 33 seasons CMU finished .500 or better in all duals, a mark made all the more exceptional by the fact that his teams annually went head to head in duals with top-25 programs, including the likes of Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan.
Borrelli coached one national champion, 45 All-Americans, 10 MAC Wrestler of the Year honorees, 10 wrestlers who earned the MAC Freshman of the Year Award, seven who were named the Outstanding Wrestler Award at the MAC Championships, 93 MAC champions, 61 National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-Americans, 79 Academic All-MAC selections, and two Academic All-Americans.
Ben Bennett who earned four All-America honors while wrestling for Borrelli at CMU, succeeded Borrelli as the Chippewas' coach when Borrelli retired after leading CMU to the MAC title in 2024.
"To me it's the impact he made on the student-athletes, all of us who came through the program over his 33 years here as the head coach," said Bennett, who served for 11 seasons as an assistant under Borrelli. "What he was able to get us to accomplish, the way he was able to push us and challenge us and just help us get the best out of ourselves, the most out of ourselves.
"He always did whatever he could do to help anyone -- anyone in the program, it didn't matter who you were. This honor, more than anything, it tells you what kind of person he is, and it tells you about the effort the he put into all of us and the commitment he made in helping us realize what we were capable of accomplishing."
Borrelli, who was inducted into the Marcy Weston Central Michigan Athletics Hall of Fame just months after he retired from coaching, guided Cunningham to the 157-pound NCAA title in 1999.
The CMU Hall includes 26 members, Cunningham and Bennett among them, who were associated with the wrestling program, the vast majority of them wrestlers who were mentored by Borrelli.
"Obviously you're not a good coach unless you have great athletes, that's all there is to it," Borrelli said. "We had some great athletes while I was there. And not only great athletes, but great people who were able to motivate the people around them and raise the people around them, raise everybody's level and that's what made great teams.
"And then I had some great help, too, as far as assistant coaches, some amazing people around me who have tremendous accomplishments in the sport too."
Cunningham and Bennett are among the myriad former Chippewa wrestlers and former Borrelli assistants now in the coaching ranks at any number of levels, from college to high school to youth.
"First and foremost, the Nick Saban quote hits it on the head: most student-athletes don't care how much you know until they know you care, and that's the truth with Tom," said Mitch Hancock, who wrestled for Borrelli at CMU from 2001-05 and is now the coach at Detroit Catholic Central, leading it two weeks ago to its 12th state championship in the last 17 years.
"Tom's got an incredible ability to connect with athletes and let athletes know that he cares about them as a person before an athlete. Once you recognize that, and that comes very early in your career, just through his demeanor and his approach, you start to want to train a little bit harder, be a little bit better on the mats and off the mats to make him proud.
"He's almost like a second father to so many of us. Well, he is a second father to so many of us. It all starts with that. He cared."
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