Three All-Americans eliminated in consolation bracket
OMAHA, Neb. — The CMU wrestling team finished its NCAA Tournament today with all three All-Americans losing in their consolation matches.
Redshirt freshman Ben Bennett started the day with a loss to Virginia's No. 3 Chris Henrich, 5-3.
With the loss, Bennett moved into the fifth-place match where he was unable to secure a takedown and fell 3-2 to Illinois' Joe Blanton. Blanton also knocked Bennett out of the Championship side of the bracket on Thursday.
“I think I learned a lot about things and areas I need to work on in order to come back next year and win it,” he said.
In his final match, senior Steve Brown said he did not have enough energy and lost to Northern Colorado's Justin Gaethje 12-7.
“There isn't really any excuse I can make,” he said. “I just didn't prepare for the third day like I should have, and my body just got really tired.”
Brown still took eighth for his first All-America honors of his career.
Sophomore heavyweight Jarod Trice ended things taking eighth as well, losing to Iowa's No. 5 Dan Erekson 8-2 in the final match for the Chippewas.
As a team, the Chippewas sit tied for 12th with the Championship bouts tonight.
The three All-Americans are one more than Central had last year when then-sophomore Mike Miller placed runner-up at 174 pounds and then-freshman Scotti Sentes took seventh at 125 pounds.
