Wrestling wins fifth MAC Tourney in six years
Wrestling Head Coach Tom Borrelli is accustomed to winning, but said Sunday’s MAC Championship ranks among his favorite victories.
“This is the one that is the most special, because it was at home, and because of all the support we got from the university,” Borrelli said.
No. 21 Central led the tournament throughout to win its fifth MAC Championship in the past six seasons. CMU beat second-place Northern Illinois with a score of 93-70.5 in the final standings.
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All 10 Central wrestlers placed in the top three of their weight classes, and seven will move on to the March 20-22 NCAA Tournament in St. Louis. Three wrestlers won league championships.
“Placing all 10 is huge, and that balance is why we are so successful each year in this tournament,” Borrelli said.
Redshirt freshman Kyle Stoffer went into the tournament seeded third at 125 pounds. He won both of his matches against higher-seeded opponents en route to the championship. Junior Jason Mester and senior Brett Faustman both swept through their weight classes for titles after being seeded No. 1 at 141 and 197 pounds, respectively.
Stoffer started off Sunday’s matches with a 4-1 decision over Kent State No. 1 seed Jared Opfer in the finals.
“Our guys kind of rallied around Kyle. When you have a freshman doing those things, it gets everyone else excited. If a freshman can do it, everyone else can do it,” Borrelli said.
Stoffer also was named MAC Freshman of the Year Sunday.
No. 5 Mester dominated his competition, going 3-0, including an 11-6 finals victory against NIU freshman Josh Wooten. Mester’s only loss this season was to Wooton in a Jan. 31 dual at NIU.
Faustman, the team’s only senior, won his first MAC Championship going 2-0 with a technical fall in the semi-finals and a 15-7 major decision over NIU’s James Oliva in the final.
CMU also gained four wildcard entries into the NCAAs. They are junior Ty Morgan at 149 pounds, sophomore David Bolyard at 157 pounds, junior Kevin Carr at 165 pounds, and sophomore Russ Vanderheyden at 184 pounds. All of those athletes earned second place finishes, except for Morgan who was third. He forfeited a second-place match because of an injury suffered in the finals against Ohio’s Jake Percival.
Percival and NIU senior Scott Owen were dominant in their weight classes. Percival was named MAC Regular Season Wrestler of the Year after the meet, and No. 2 Owen scoring a pin, a major decision, and a technical fall on the way to his second consecutive MAC Tournament Outstanding Wrester title. Owen may be seeded first at the NCAAs.
Borrelli was named Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his career.
Heading to nationals, Borrelli will rest the team more than usual because of how hard the team worked during the last couple weeks.
“The guys have responded to everything so far this season, and I think we need to rest them,” Borrelli said.
