Horan wins weight class, wrestling places fifth during MAC Championships
The 2015 Mid-American Conference wrestling championship was won by the University of Missouri. The Tigers had a total team score of 139.5. Central Michigan University finished fifth with 74.5 points during the two-day tournament.
CMU junior Zach Horan won the 141-pound championship. Horan (No.1) defeated Chris Mecate (No.3) of Old Dominion University 5-3 in overtime on Sunday, and secured a spot in the NCAA tournament.
Along with Horan, Chippewas Tyler Keselring, Colin Heffernan and Jordan Ellingwood qualified for the national tournament later this month.
Keselring finished second in the MAC's 133-pound weight class. He lost a tightly-contested match for the category's championship, falling 4-2 against Missouri’s Zach Synon. The U-M wrestler recorded a takedown in the third period to take the lead and secure championship.
Six CMU wrestlers battled in the consolation semi-final rounds on Sunday. Four Chippewas won their matches earning a third-place finish.
Fleetwood, a freshman, won 4-2 in the consolation semi-finals at 125-pounds over Old Dominion’s Brandon Jeske. Fleetwood finished fourth in his weight class after losing to Derek Elmore from Northern Illinois University.
Heffernan placed fifth in 149-pounds. He won the fifth-place match in a tie-breaker 6-5.
Ellingwood finished the MAC championship third in the 179-pound weight class. Ellingwood took down Kent State University’s Caleb Marsh 4-3 to seal the third slot.
After winning the consolation semi-final 6-5 with a last-second takedown, freshman Cody LeCount fell to Spartak Chino from Ohio University. LeCount placed fourth in the 157-pound weight class.
Day 1
The Chippewas finished day one of the MAC championship in fifth place with 54.5 points.
The No. 1 seeded Horan reached the final round by defeating Ohio’s Joel Shump by major decision 18-3 in the quarterfinals. Then in the semi-finals, Horan defeated Northern Iowa’s Jake Hodges 5-3.
On Saturday, Horan added 13.5 points to CMU’s overall team score.
