Wrestling takes down Kent State
Pushing its home winning streak to three matches, the Central Michigan University wrestling team (7-5, 5-1) topped Kent State University (7-11, 3-3), 19-13 on Sunday at McGuirk Arena.
CMU's Jordan Wolhfert's overtime win in the 165-pound weight class sealed the victory for the Chippewas.
In the first match, CMU freshman Brent Fleetwood set the tone with a major decision victory 11-2. Fleetwood improved to 12-9 on the year in the 125-pound weight class with his win.
Head Coach Tom Borrelli said Fleetwood's win was among the most important of the season.
"Momentum is real big in duel-meets," Borrelli said. "Your guys are on the bench gaining confidence while the other team is getting nervous."
The Chippewas took the first four matches against the Golden Flashes. CMU Senior Tyler Keselring upset KSU wrestler Mack McGuire by a score of 5-2. McGuire came into Sunday's match ranked No.18 in the country for 133-pound weight class.
"I wrestled him last year and won, so I knew I could do it again," Keselring said. "I just tried to stay fundamental and focused throughout the match."
After KSU won it's first match of the day in the 157-pound weight class, Wohlfert's victory kept the team's confidence high. Wohlfert took KSU's Tyler Buckwalter to overtime where he recorded the takedown for the win.
"I knew he was getting tired (in overtime)," he said. "I was feeding off that."
The overtime victory by Wohlfert earned him his 11th win of the season.
Coming into Sunday, KSU wrestler Caleb Marsh was ranked No.14 in the 174-pound weight class. Marsh will likely fall in the rankings, as CMU's Jordan Ellingwood shut him out 7-0 in the match. Ellingwood's win earned CMU three more points to push the score to 19-3.
"We needed guys to step up (after the loss in 157). Wohlfert and Ellingwood did," Borrelli said.
