“We expect to finish in the Top 10 and produce All-Americans and national champions,” said Head Coach Tom Borrelli. “These are two of our goals, and we haven’t accomplished them either of the last two years.”

Mester will compete in the 141-pound weight class and will wrestle Clarion’s Frank Edgar in the first round. The two athletes wrestled on Feb. 16 at Clarion and Mester won a 5-2 decision over the sophomore.

No. 18 CMU finished 39th last year and had only one athlete finish with a winning record. Jordan Webster was 3-2 but lost in the consolation quarterfinals. Webster did not compete this season because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament but will wrestle next year, his senior season.

Tom Borrelli was disapppointed with the team’s performance last season.

“We worked hard all year to do well in this tournament but when we got there we were totally unprepared mentally,” Borrelli said after the meet.

Out of the seven wrestlers competing this weekend, three are at the NCAAs for the first time in their career. Freshman Kyle Stoffer will wrestle at 125 pounds, junior Kevin Carr will compete at 165 pounds and sophomore Russ Vanderheyden will wrestle at 184 pounds.

Stoffer is coming off of two upset victories at the MAC Championships to capture the title. He is matched up with No. 4 A.J. Grant from Michigan. The two wrestled on Jan. 5 with Grant recording a 7-2 decision.

Carr will wrestle junior Jason Gilligan of Lock Haven in the first round. Gilligan was a national qualifier two years ago at 157 pounds.

Central Competitors

125: Kyle Stoffer vs. #4 A.J. Grant, Michigan

141: #4 Jason Mester vs. Frank Edgar, Clarion

149: Ty Morgan vs. Ryan Churella, Michigan

157: David Bolyard vs. Clovis Crane, Purdue

165: #12 Kevin Carr vs. Jason Gilligan, Lock Haven

184: Russ Vanderheyden vs. #5 Mark Becks, Penn State

197: Brett Faustman vs. #11 Mark Greenberg, Cornell

NCAA Wrestling Championships

March 20-22 •
Kemper Arena •

Seven CMU and 18 MAC wrestlers competing

Vanderheyden will wrestle No. 5 Mark Becks of Penn State. Becks finished second at the Big Ten Championshps, losing to Iowa’s Jessman Smith in the finals.

Sophomore David Bolyard will compete at 157 pounds after going 0-2 at that weight last season. He will face Purdue unranked senior Clovis Crane.

Junior Ty Morgan has recovered from the knee injury that made him forfeit his second-place match at MACs. He is a two-time NCAA qualifier and is 2-4 in his career at the tournament. Morgan will wrestle Michigan’s Ryan Churella. The Northville redshirt freshman had three pins at the NCAAs but did not compete against Morgan in the dual because of an injury.

Senior Brett Faustman will wrestle No. 11 Mark Greenberg of Cornell at 197 pounds. Greenberg finished second in the EIWA Championships March 8.

The Chippewas are sending the seven wrestlers to Kansas City because of a strong performance in last week’s MAC Championships. Central, who hosted the event, won the conference tournament for the fifth time in six years.

“Even with all the adversity our team faced, they persevered and won when many people doubted us. This is a special team because it works hard and never gives in.”

While the performances in the MAC Championships were a positive sign, Borrelli still thinks the team needs a strong showing at Nationals.

“Conference honors are important, but doing well in the NCAA Tournament will get our program the attention and respect we deserve,” he said.

Matches begin Thursday at 11 a.m. at Kansas City’s Kemper Arena.