CMU wrestling team dominates Buffalo
The CMU wrestling team took another step toward a Mid-American Conference championship with a 35-3 win against Buffalo Sunday.
The win stretches the team’s dual-match win streak to seven.
“We won the matches we needed to win to keep moving forward,” said coach Tom Borrelli.
Senior 149-pounder Tony D’Alie started with a 19-4 technical fall against freshman Chris Conti. The win was the first time D’Alie scored bonus points since Jan. 31 against Old Dominion.
“In the past couple matches, I have come out a bit hesitant,” D’Alie said. “And it was important for me to come out and really get my offense going.”
Senior 165-pounder Tyler Grayson earned the first pin of the match, taking down Buffalo sophomore John-Martin Cannon halfway through the final period.
Freshman 174-pounder Ben Bennett followed Grayson’s pin with a 16-0 technical fall against junior Brian Sheehan.
Also scoring bonus points was sophomore heavyweight Jarod Trice, with a 19-7 major decision against senior Jason Weber.
“We are still not getting the other guys’ legs as much as we need to,” Borrelli said. “But other than that, I think we have been looking pretty good.”
Senior 157-pounder Steve Brown returned to the mat after missing 10 dual matches with an injury. He narrowly defeated senior Andrew Stella with a 6-5 decision.
“Steve looked pretty good. We needed to get him back on the mat so he could start getting into a rhythm and getting used to match competition,” Borrelli said. “Wrestling in practice is not the same as wrestling in matches.”
Senior Eric Simaz also scored a one-point decision in a 5-4 win against junior Jimmy Hammel.
“It was a good win, but we still have the best two teams left in the conference,” Borrelli said. “We will have a lot better indication of the conference after those matches.”
No. 6 Central returns home Friday to take on Ohio, its last MAC opponent at Rose Arena. The team then travels to take on the defending regular-season champion, Kent State.
“We have two pretty big dual meets between Ohio and Kent,” Borrelli said. “We will have to get through those first before we can start focusing in on the tournament.”
