Wrestling blanks MSU in home opener, remains undefeated
After rolling past Northern Illinois Thursday in their Mid-American Conference opener, the Central Michigan wrestling team continued its momentum by dismantling Michigan State on Sunday.
The 22nd-ranked Chippewas (4-0) won the meet 33-0 and the performance on the mat reflected the score.
Sophomore Brent Fleetwood (125 pounds) got things started for CMU by defeating Mitch Rogaliner 3-2. Junior Corey Keener (133) then beat MSU’s Jordan Gasca 21-6. Keener was the aggressor the whole match and had five takedowns.
Senior Zach Horan (141) beat Garth Yenter 4-3 in a match that came down to the final seconds. Junior Colin Heffernan (149) defeated Mark Bozzo 4-1. Senior Lucas Smith (157) beat Joe Johnson 5-0. Head Coach Tom Borreli decided to go with Sophomore Jordan Atienza (165), who defeated Travis Curley, instead of junior Jordan Wohlfert.
“Wohlfert was a high school teammate of Curley’s so we decided to use Atienza today,” Borrelli said. “We are also experimenting with our lineup a little bit and trying different things.”
Senior Mike Ottinger then defeated Shane Shadaia 6-2. Things got chippy during the match, which led to pushing after the final whistle. Senior Jackson Lewis (197) may have had the most impressive performance of the day as he got a late takedown to tie the match 5-5, then had back-to-back near falls to win 13-5 against MSU’s Jacob Cooper. He received a standing ovation from the crowd. Junior Newton Smerchek (285) won the final match against Dimitrius Renfroe 2-0 to seal the 33-0 victory.
During the match it was evident that MSU was content on playing defense and trying to keep the score as low as possible, which led to many warnings from the referee. CMU dominated from the get-go and continued throughout the meet. Although the team has looked great to start the season, Borrelli said he knows it is still early.
“I am happy with where we are at, but I also know what’s in front of us. We’ve got some things we really need to work on,” he said. “I’m always looking forward and we have two big tournaments coming up this month and the first of January. We’ll face six ranked teams in January, so we have a lot in front of us to get ready for.”
Members of the 1985-86 team were honored before the meet. Sunday marked the 30th anniversary of the team that won CMU’s first wrestling MAC championship.
The Chippewas now have two weeks to prepare for the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 20 in Reno, Nevada.
