CMU ranked No. 17 in wrestling poll
With a veteran roster and up-and-coming underclassmen, the wrestling team is poised to win its third consecutive MAC Tournament Championship.
In the preseason coaches poll, CMU was picked to win the tournament with Ohio and Northern Illinois tabbed to finish second and third.
“Those are our goals and we expect to do well, so it doesn’t seem anything out of the ordinary,” CMU coach Tom Borrelli said. “The poll says our program is where we want it to be, and the conference schedule is more about getting guys to the national tournament.”
Sophomore Kyle Stoffer was picked to win at 125 pounds and senior Jordan Webster was picked to win at 133 pounds after redshirting a season ago.
“I think Jordan’s fully recovered,” Borrelli said. “It has been a year since he had the surgery, and he doesn’t seem to be having any problems.”
Returning All-American Jason Mester was a pick to win the title at 141 pounds, and seniors Kevin Carr and Bill Stouffer were picked to win at 165 pounds and heavyweight, respectively.
The Chippewas were ranked No. 17 in a national preseason poll conducted on Thewrestlingmall.com.
“Our non-conference schedule is very good, because we wrestle three of the top 10 teams in Michigan, Michigan State and Lehigh,” Borrelli said. “We are also in the National Duals, which includes the top 16 teams in the country. Our non-conference schedule is about getting us ready for the national tournament.”
Nine freshmen join Chippewas
For the first time, the Chippewas will have all Michigan freshmen wrestlers.
“We are really excited about the freshmen this year — there are a lot of good athletes in this class,” Borrelli said. “They still have to develop into college wrestlers, and we are really happy with their attitudes.”
Ryan “Bubba” Gritter will wrestle heavyweight, after winning three state titles at Grandville. Keith Skabis from Sparta will wrestle at 141 pounds, and has won two state titles.
Eric Neil comes in at 157 pounds, after going 210-9 in high school. Neil was named Macomb County “Wrestler of the Year” twice.
Wynn Michalak of Caro will wrestle at 197 pounds after winning two state titles.
Brandon Carter of Swartz Creek comes to CMU after winning a state title his senior year. John Ostlund of Traverse City won a state title and will be at 165 pounds. Ben Kelto (184 pounds) won two titles at the Upper Peninsula championships.
Rounding out the class is twin brothers Brandon and Christian Sinnott of Allen Park. Brandon won a state title in his senior year. Christian took second at the state tournament twice.
