Last weekend's NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals, on the campus of Northern Iowa, featured an impressive show for one Mid-American Conference wrestling squad but was a disappointment for two others.
The No. 7 Central Michigan team was one of 16 Division I schools in the tournament, in which they finished sixth last year.
The Chippewas overwhelmed the host school in the first round, and later scored an upset by taking down No. 3 Oklahoma, pushing them into the semifinals for the first time in the program's history.
Central Michigan went on to lose 20-15 to No. 2 Minnesota and 21-10 to No. 14 Nebraska, but their coach of 15 years, Tom Borrelli, was very pleased overall with his wrestlers. The fourth-place finish was the school's highest ever in the event.
I was really happy with the way that some of our younger guys stepped up
Borrelli said.
If their strong finish wasn't enough, the Chippewas have six wrestlers ranked nationally, including redshirt sophomore Wynn Michalak, who is No. 1 in the country at 197 pounds and a 2005 MAC Champion at the same weight.
MAC teams struggle
Losing once in a day hurts, but two losses became just shocking for the No. 23 Huskies Saturday at National Duals.
Northern Illinois lost to No. 5 Michigan and No. 6 Iowa by scores of 34-4 and 24-6 respectively.
Huskies head coach Dave Grant said it was a good experience, but a tough one to fathom.
We wrestled better than the score showed he said. There were six or seven matches that could have gone either way.
The Kent State wrestling team's first ever taste of the National Duals was somewhat bitter Saturday, as they did not fare any better than Northern Illinois.
In their first season in the 16-team event, Kent State drew the daunting task of facing the three-time defending national champion Oklahoma State.
The Golden Flashes lost to the No. 1 Cowboys 37-6 and then to No. 9 Missouri 22-15.
Oklahoma State advanced to the finals, only to lose to No. 2 Minnesota for the championship.
Four unbeaten teams left in MAC basketball conference play
Almost halfway through the basketball season, and four MAC teams remain undefeated in conference play - and they're all in the East Division.
The only unbeaten teams left are Miami (5-0), Ohio (4-0), Akron (4-0), and Kent State (4-0).
The Bobcats know what they have to do to remain at the top of the standings.
If we can win some big games on the road said junior guard Whitney Davis, we will really distinguish ourselves as one
if not the best
team in the MAC.
Davis was nominated for East Division Player of the Week honors after scoring a career-best 17 points against Central Michigan Saturday.
17
Archives
Sara Normand
