Final Team Standings
1. Central Michigan 106.5
2. Kent State 73.5
3. Northern Illinois 61.5
4. Ohio University 37.0
5. Eastern Michigan 29.5
6. Buffalo 16.5
Central Michigan Wins Sixth Consecutive MAC Wrestling Title
The Chippewas scored 106.50 team points as six grapplers placed first, one placed second and three came in third at this year’s championships.
Courtesy of Central Michigan Sports Information. Please download attached PDF for championship results.
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Six Central Michigan University wrestlers won individual titles to lead the Chippewas to their sixth consecutive Mid-American Conference Championships title.
CMU won the team title with 106.5 points. Kent State was second with 73.5 points.
Winning individual conference championships and earning automatic bids to the NCAA Championships were Eric Kruger (141 pounds), Mike Miller (165), Brandon Sinnott (174), Christian Sinnott (184), Wynn Michalak (197) and Bubba Gritter (285). Wild card bids to the national tournament will be announced later Sunday.
CMU also claimed three of the conference’s four specialty awards. Tom Borrelli was named MAC Coach of the Year for the fifth straight season and ninth time in his career. Miller was named MAC Freshman of the Year, becoming the ninth Chippewa to win the honor. Michalak was selected MAC Wrestler of the Year for the second year in a row. He joins 1999 national champion Casey Cunningham as Chippewas who have won the award twice.
Michalak also becomes the seventh CMU wrestler to win three individual MAC titles.
Kruger was the first Chippewa to punch his ticket to nationals, posting a convincing 10-1 major decision over Northern Illinois’ Dan Ruettiger in the finals at 141 pounds. Following a scoreless first period, Kruger scored a takedown and two back points to take a 4-0 lead into the third period. Kruger’s lead expanded to 7-0 with a takedown and stalling point, but Ruettiger escaped late in the third to cut the deficit to 7-1. Kruger answered with a takedown just before the final buzzer to ensure the major, then tacked on the riding time point with an advantage of 3:06.
Miller, a redshirt freshman, won a conference title in his first try at 165 pounds. Miller trailed 4-2 after the first period, but rallied with an escape and a takedown in the second period. Miller’s takedown came with less than 10 seconds remaining in the period. Galloway would even the score with an escape late in the third, but Miller’s 1:16 riding time advantage was the difference in his 6-5 decision.
Brandon and Christian Sinnott completed a sweep of Northern Illinois Danny and Duke Burk at 174 and 184 pounds, respectively. Brandon Sinnott won his second consecutive MAC title at 174 pounds with a 10-4 decision, while Christian Sinnott won his first conference championship with a 4-0 decision over Duke Burk. Both Sinnotts will make their second consecutive trip to the national championships.
Michalak won his third consecutive MAC title at 197 pounds with a methodical 7-2 decision over Eastern Michigan’s Tony Lyssiotis. Michalak scored a takedown in the first period, then rode Lyssiotis for nearly the duration of the second period. After starting in the down position, Michalak added an escape and a takedown in the third, then added the riding time point with an advantage of 3:43.
Gritter won his first MAC title by earning a 4-1 advantage over defending champion Jermail Porter at heavyweight. Gritter opened the scoring with an escape in the second period, then was the recipient of a point for Porter stalling. After a Porter escape in third, Gritter sealed the win with a takedown later in the period.
2. KENT STATE
Courtesy of Kent State Athletic Communications
Junior Kurt Gross (North Royalton, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) defended his 2006 Mid-American Conference championship at157 pounds by defeating Andy Keller of Central Michigan 7-3 at the 2007 MAC Wrestling Championships on Sunday (3/4) at the University of Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y. As a team, Kent State finished overall with a total of 73.5 points. Central Michigan defended its 2006 MAC Championship with a total of 106.5 points.
“I am very proud of how we performed,” said Kent State head coach Jim Andrassy. “We wrestled very, very hard in every match and never quit”
Gross was one of five Golden Flashes who wrestled in the championship finals. Seniors Chad Sportelli (Easton, Pa./Easton) and Jason McGee (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Cuyahoga Falls) and sophomores Danny Mitcheff (Lorain, Ohio/Elyria) and Jermail Porter (Akron, Ohio/Firestone) each finished second overall in their respective weight class.
Sportelli lost a 5-3 decision to Pat Castillo of Northern Illinois at 125 pounds. McGee dropped a 4-3 decision to Jermain Thompson of Eastern Michigan at 149 pounds. Mitcheff was defeated by Mark Budd of Buffalo 3-2 at 133 pounds. Porter lost a 4-1 decision to Bubba Gritter of Central Michigan at heavyweight.
In addition, senior Ardian Ramadani (Garfield, New Jersey/Garfield) and sophomore Drew Lashaway (Bowling Green, Ohio/Bowling Green) each earned a second place finish after at 197 pounds and 141 pounds respectively.
Gross will be joined by Sportelli, Mitcheff, McGee, and Porter at the NCAA Championships in Detroit, Michigan (March 15-17).
“For the second consecutive year, we are sending five wrestlers to the Nationals.” Andrassy said. “That speaks volumes about where we are as a program and how bright our future is.”
3. NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Courtesy of Northern Illinois Athletic Communications
Buffalo, N.Y. - The Huskies wrestling squad wrapped up the 2007 MAC Championships on Sunday with a third place finish by compiling a total of 61.5 points. The Huskies sent five wrestlers to the finals with seven wrestlers placing in the top four and one individual conference championship won by Pat Castillo who was named Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament. The Huskies will be sending a total of four wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in Detroit after picking up three at large births for Johnny Galloway, Duke Burk and Danny Burk.
"I'm proud of our guys, they wrestled hard and we had five guys in the finals and we placed seven," Said head coach Dave Grant of his teams performance on Sunday, "We had a couple matches that could have gone either way and we've got four guys going to the Nationals in Detroit."
Pat Castillo came into the MAC Championships as the number one seed at 125-pounds and walked away with his first MAC Championship after earning a 5-3 decision over Chad Sportelli of KSU in the finals. With the victory Castillo picked up the automatic bid for the NCAA Championships which will be Castillo's second consecutive appearance. Castillo was also named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament and was named first team All-MAC.
Johnny Galloway's bid for a second straight MAC Championship at 165-pounds ended in the finals as he was upset by Mike Miller of Central Michigan in a tightly contested match that ended in a 6-5 decision for Miller. In the match for second place Galloway defeated Jacob Ison of OU to finish the championships in second place. Galloway will be joining Pat Castillo at the NCAA Championships in Detroit after picking up an at-large bid. It will also be Galloway's second consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament and he earned first team All-MAC honors as well.
The Burk brothers could not overcome the highly ranked Sinnott brothers of Central Michigan as Brandon Sinnott bested Danny Burk at 174-pounds, then Duke Burk was unable to get the better of Christian Sinnott at 185-pounds. Danny and Duke Burk each finished the MAC Championships in second place and both Burks will be headed to the NCAA Championships for the first time as they each earned at-large bids. Duke Burk also garnered first team All-MAC honors.
Dan Ruettiger's unlikely bid for a MAC title ended in the finals as Eric Kruger of Central Michigan bested Ruettiger with a final score of 10-1. In the battle for second place Ruettiger came up short, but he did earn a third place finish as a freshman in his first trip to the MAC Championships.
Nick McClone and Dave Benner each finished in fourth-place after falling in the first round of the Consolation Finals. Just competing in the second day was a great achievement for these wrestlers and both juniors are certain to be back to compete in the tournament next year.
The next competition for those wrestlers that qualified will be the NCAA Championships in Detroit, Mich. on March 15, 16 and 17.
For more information, contact Matt Stiles, NIU Media Relations, at niuwrestlingsid@yahoo.com.
4. OHIO
Courtesy of Ohio Media Relations
Buffalo, N.Y. - Sophomore Jake Frerichs earned a wildcard birth to the NCAA Championship and redshirt freshman Jacob Ison was named a second alternate as the Ohio wrestling team finished in fourth place at the Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championship Sunday at Alumni Arena.
"I'm darn proud of the guys on this team," Head Coach Joel Greenlee said. "We didn't have as great a MAC Championship that we could have, but I thought we rebounded nicely in the second day. We're preparing to send both (Frerichs and Ison) to the national tournament."
The Bobcats took fourth place out of six teams with a total of 37.00 team points. Central Michigan earned its sixth-consecutive MAC Championship title with 106.50 points. Kent State took second place followed by Northern Illinois, Ohio, Eastern Michigan, and Buffalo.
Frerichs (Uniontown, Ohio) posted the best finish for the Bobcats as he earned second place at the event at 157 pounds. He opened his day with a 4-2 win over Eastern Michigan's Corey Mancuso in the third-place match and then won a wrestle-back over Central Michigan's Andy Keller by a score of 2-0 to take second place. Frerichs was named a wildcard for the NCAA Championship and will wrestle at the event in Auburn Hills, Mich. March 15-17. He is now 19-8 on the season.
"Jake is the kind of guy where the bigger the competition is the better he does," Greenlee said. "He's smart and he's been in big competitions before. I think he can go (to nationals) and win matches."
Ison (Batavia, Ohio) finished the day 1-1 and took third place at 165 pounds. He defeated Eastern Michigan's Nick Conklin 8-5 in the third place match and lost a wrestle-back with Northern Illinois' Johnny Galloway, 5-3, for second place. Ison was named a second alternate for national competition. He is 31-12 in his first season of varsity competition.
"(Ison) had a great year," Greenlee said. "He ended up winning more than 30 matches. I think he deserves to go to the national tournament."
Senior heavyweight Marcus Adelman (Alliance, Ohio) also finished with a third place finish in the final match of his Bobcat career. Adelman won decisively over Northern Illinois' Dave Benner, earning an 11-0 major decision victory. He finished the season with a 21-9 overall record and went 13-2 since Dec. 29. Adelman posted a 53-39 record in his career with Ohio.
"I'm happy to see him finish his career on a high note," Greenlee said. "Obviously I would have liked to see him get to the national tournament. I think if he had been able to wrestle a full season, other than this year, he would have won this tournament. He really turned it on the second half of the season. In 2007, he has lost only two matches. That's pretty darn good."
Junior Antione Love (Gahanna, Ohio) won his only match of the day to earn third place in the 174-pound bracket. Love defeated Josh Lewis of Eastern Michigan 5-3. He posted a 23-8 record on the season.
Sophomore Terry Jackson (Uhrichsville, Ohio), redshirt freshman Clay Tucker (Martins Ferry, Ohio) and true freshman Seth Morton (Canal Winchester, Ohio) each lost their only match of the day to finish in fourth place in their respective brackets. Jackson took fourth place at 133 pounds, Tucker at 149 pounds and Morton at 125 pounds.
Next up for Ohio will be the NCAA Championship on March 15-17 in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Complete Ohio Results
125: Luke Smith (CMU) maj. dec. Seth Morton (Ohio), 9-0
133: Conor Beebe (CMU) dec. Terry Jackson (Ohio), 12-6
149: Brandon Carter (CMU) dec. Clay Tucker (Ohio), 9-5
157: Jake Frerichs (Ohio) dec. Corey Mancuso (EMU), 4-2
Jake Frerichs (Ohio) dec. Andy Keller (CMU), 2-0
165: Jacob Ison (Ohio) dec. Nick Conklin (EMU), 8-5
Johnny Galloway (NIU) dec. Jacob Ison (Ohio), 5-3
174: Antione Love (Ohio) dec. Josh Lewis (EMU), 5-3
HWT: Marcus Adelman (Ohio) maj. dec. Dave Benner (NIU), 11-0
5. EASTERN MICHIGAN
Courtesy of Eastern Michigan Media Relations
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Eastern Michigan University wrestling team completed action at the Mid-American Conference tournament here at Alumni Arena in Buffalo, N.Y. today, finishing in fifth place with 29.5 points. Defending champion Central Michigan would retain its championship for the sixth straight year.
The Eagles had six wrestlers on the mat today, Jermain Thompson (149) and Tony Lyssiotis (197) in the finals, and Zach Donofrio (141), Cory Mancuso (157), Nick Conklin (165) and Josh Lewis (174) in the consolation bracket.
In the 141 lbs. contest Donofrio trailed Drew Lashaway (Kent State) the entire match and was unable to overcome an early 2-0 defecit, falling 7-4, finishing in fourth place.
Senior Jermain Thompson squared-off against Jason McGee (Kent State) in the 149 lbs. championship match. Just like his semi-final match, Thompson struck first, earning two points for a takedown with 1:31 remaining in the first period. McGee would earn one point each on escapes to end the first and second period, tying the match at 2-2 heading into the final period. A Thompson reversal less than a minute into the third period brought the score to 4-2. McGee would add another escape point to make it 4-3, but was kept in check for the remainder of the match, as Thompson would earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with his winning performance in the 149 lbs. championship match.
After a scoreless first period in the 157 lbs. match, junior Cory Mancuso fell into a 7-2 hole during the second period against Jacob Frerichs (Ohio) and could not battle back, dropping the consolation match 11-4, taking fourth place.
In what would prove to be his final match wearing an Eastern Michigan uniform, senior Nick Conklin would fall to Jacob Ison (Ohio) by a 8-5 decision in the last seconds of the third period. With seconds remaining in the final period, Ison would escape and earn two points for a takedown, giving him the consolation victory.
In a see-saw battle between Josh Lewis and Antoine Love (Ohio), Love would prevail, earning a 5-3 decision, giving Lewis, a red-shirt freshman, a fourth place finish in his first MAC tournament appearance.
Senior Tony Lyssiotis, for the second time this season, fell victim to two-time All-American and defending 197 lbs. MAC champion Wynn Michalak (Central Michigan), dropping the championship match 7-2. Michalak controlled the match from the start, with Lyssiotis only being able to earn points on escapes.
In the match to determine true second, Lyssiotis met Ardian Ramadani (Kent State) for the second time this season. In their first meeting Lyssiotis would earn a 6-5 decision. Today however, Ramadani would settle the score with a 14-6 decision over the Eagle senior, giving Lyssiotis a third place finish.
Central Michigan would nearly sweep the season-ending awards, taking Coach of the Year (Tom Borrelli), Freshman of the Year (Mike Miller), and Wrestler of the Year (Wynn Michalak) honors. Northern Illinois’ Pat Castillo would garner Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament.
Senior Jermain Thompson will be in action at the NCAA Tournament in Auburn Hills, Mich., Mar. 15-17. Seeding will be announced by the NCAA prior to the tournament.
6. BUFFALO
Courtesy of Buffalo Athletic Communications
Buffalo, N.Y. -- For the second consecutive season, senior Mark Budd (Orrville,OH/Orrville) was crowned conference champion at the 2007 Mid-American Conference Championships held at Alumni Arena on Sunday. Budd is the third grappler in UB history to win two conference titles, as he has now qualified for the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Detroit, Michigan on March 15-17.
Central Michigan took top team honors, generating 106.5 team points. The Chippewas claimed six individual titles en route to their sixth straight MAC Championship title. Kent State was second with 73.5 points, Northern Illinois finished third with 61.5 points, then followed by Ohio with 37 points, Eastern Michigan with 29.5, and Buffalo with 16.5.
Budd began the morning having downed both opponents faced in the first round and semifinals the day before. In the championship round, the reigning 133-pound champion drew Kent State's Danny Mitcheff, an opponent who he defeated 9-0 in February. This time around, Budd was challenged a bit more with the chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships lingering in the wings for both competitors. The match began with a takedown for Budd, which was immediately thwarted with a Mitcheff escape. An escape gave Budd a 3-1 advantage, as the match would remain close to the bitter end. An escape scored by Mitcheff to start the third period would be the last score in the match, with Budd pulling out the tight victory. With his championship performance, Budd earned All-MAC First Team honors.
Senior Ray Lamb (Vineland, NJ/Absegami) was the second and last Bull to place at the conference tournament, as he earned a spot in the third-place match against Kent State's Eric Chine. Unfortunately for Lamb, the nationally-ranked Chine was too much, taking the major decision, 19-6.
Budd will next compete at the NCAA Wrestling Championships held in Detroit, Michigan on March 15-17.
Complete Buffalo Results
125 - Dan Bishop
First round: L, maj. dec. Chad Sportelli (Kent State), 8-0
Consolations: L, dec. Seth Morton (Ohio), 9-5
133 - Mark Budd - 1st place
First round: W, dec. Chris Jenkins (Eastern Michigan), 6-4
Semifinals: W, dec. Conor Beebe (Central Michigan), 6-4 (ot)
Finals: W, dec. Danny Mitcheff (Kent State), 3-2
141 - Andrew Stella
First round: L, fall to Dan Ruettiger (Northern Illinois), at 3:33
Consolations: L, dec. Drew Lashaway (Kent State), 6-3
149 - Jason Hilliard
First round: L, fall to Mike Grimes (Northern Illinois), at 6:55
Consolations: L, maj. dec. Clay ucker (Ohio), 15-6
157 - Scott Rendos
First round: L, dec. Jacob Frerichs (Ohio), 7-2
Consolations: L, dec. Cory Mancuso (Eastern Michigan), 4-2
165 - Mike Ragusa
First round: L, dec. Nick Conkliin (Eastern Michigan), 7-4
Consolations: L, dec. Jacob Ison (Ohio), 8-7
174 - Nate Rock
First round: L, maj. dec. Brandon Sinnott (Central Michigan), 15-5
Consolations: L, fall to Antione Love (Ohio), at 4:55
184 - Ray Lamb - 4th place
First round: W, dec. John McClure (Eastern Michigan), 12-5
Semifinals: L, maj. dec. Christian Sinnott (Central Michigan), 15-5
Consolations: W, dec. Nick Terbay (Ohio), 3-2
Third place match: L, maj. dec. Eric Chine (Kent State), 19-6
197 - Jake Blowers
First round: L, fall to Wynn Michalak (Central Michigan), at 2:04
Consolations: L, fall to Nick McClone (Northern Illinois), at 1:53
285 - Jeff Parker
First round: W, dec. Charlie Walker (Eastern Michigan), 10-4
Semifinals: L, maj. dec. Bubba Gritter (Central Michigan), 10-2
Consolations: L, dec. David Benner (Northern Illinois), 6-5
