MAC Championships Update: Five Chippewas Move on to Finals
Courtesy: Scott Rex/CMU Athletics
Release: 03/04/2012
Courtesy: Joel Bissell/Ohio University
Freshman Mike Ottinger works against Ohio's Miles Chapman in the first round of the MAC Championships on Sunday. Ottinger is one of five Chippewas who will wrestle for a MAC title Sunday night.
ATHENS, Ohio - Five Central Michigan wrestlers have advanced to the finals at the Mid-American Conference Championships.
Joe Roth (125 pounds), Zach Horan (133 pounds), Donnie Corby (157 pounds), Mike Ottinger (165 pounds) and Ben Bennett (184 pounds) all will wrestle for conference titles Sunday night.
Four other Chippewas—Scott Mattingly (141 pounds), Joey Kielbasa (149 pounds), Craig Kelliher (197 pounds) and Peter Sturgeon (heavyweight)—will wrestle for third place during Sunday's final session of competition.
Entering the final session, CMU leads the team standings with 50 points. Kent State is in second with 48, followed by Northern Illinois (35), Eastern Michigan (31), Ohio (25.5) and Buffalo (16.5).
Roth was the first of the Chippewas to advance to he finals. He led from start to finish in a 15-7 major decision over Northern Illinois' Nick Smith. Roth also has earned one of the MAC's four automatic bids at 125 pounds to the NCAA Championships.
Roth, the No. 2 seed, will face No. 1 seed Nic Bedelyon (Kent State) in the finals.
Horan followed Roth with a dramatic overtime victory in the semis at 133 pounds. Horan and Eastern Michigan's Andrew Novak, the No. 1 seed, finished regulation knotted at 1-1. The match remained tied through sudden victory after Horan just missed finishing a takedown on the edge of the mat in the closing seconds. Horan then escaped in the first 30-second tiebreaker period and rode out Novak in the second period to secure the 2-1 decision.
The 133-pound final will feature a pair of unseeded wrestlers when Horan faces Northern Illinois' Robert Jillard.
Corby rallied with late points to claim his victory in the 157-pound semifinals. After a scoreless first period, Corby rode Ohio's Harrison Hightower for nearly the entire second period. In the final seconds of the period, Hightower reversed Corby to take a 2-0 lead into the final period.
The pair remained neutral until Corby scored on a double-leg with 30 seconds remaining to tie the score; his 2:23 riding time advantage accounted for the decisive point in the 3-2 decision.
Corby, the No. 1 seed at 157, will meet the No. 2 seed, Eastern Michigan's Aaron Sulzer, in the finals.
Ottinger advanced to the 165-pound semifinals with an 8-3 decision over Eastern Michigan's Lester France. Ottinger took France to the mat once in each period and built a 1:52 riding time advantage en route to the victory.
The 165-pound final also will feature the top two seeds in Ottinger, the No. 1 seed, and Buffalo's Mark Lewandowski, the No. 2 seed.
At 184 pounds, Ben Bennett needed just 105 seconds to pin Ohio's Ryan Garringer. Bennett scored a takedown 20 seconds into the match, added three back points at the one-minute mark and put Garringer's shoulders to the mat 1:45 into the opening period. Bennett secured his third straight trip to the NCAA Championships with the semifinal victory.
The No. 1 seed at 184 pounds, Bennett will meet No. 2 Brad Dieckhaus (Northern Illinois) in the finals.
Central Michigan Complete Results
Top 4 seeded per weight class.
125 Pounds: No. 2 Joe Roth
First Round: W, dec. Max Soria (Buffalo), 9-3
Semifinals: W, maj. dec. No. 3 Nick Smith (Northern Illinois), 15-7
Finals: No. 1 Nic Bedelyon (Kent State)
133 Pounds: Zach Horan
First Round: W, pin No. 4 Justin Farmer (Buffalo) at 2:05
Semifinals: W, dec. No. 1 Andrew Novak (Eastern Michigan), 2-1 TB1
Finals: Robert Jillard (Northern Illinois)
141 Pounds: Scott Mattingly
First Round: L, dec. No. 4 Darrin Boing (Ohio), 8-4
Consolation Semifinals: W, dec. No. 2 Kevin Smith (Buffalo), 9-2
Consolation Finals: Corey Phillips (Eastern Michigan)
149 Pounds: No. 4 Joey Kielbasa
First Round: Bye
Semifinals: L, dec. No. 1 Ian Miller (Kent State), 12-8
Consolation Semifinals: W, dec. Shawn Fayette (Northern Illinois), 5-2
Consolation Finals: No. 3 Andrew Romanchik (Ohio)
157 Pounds: No. 1 Donnie Corby
First Round: W, maj. dec. Wally Maziarz (Buffalo), 9-1
Semifinals: W, dec. No. 4 Harrison Hightower (Ohio), 3-2
Finals: No. 2 Aaron Sulzer (Eastern Michigan)
165 Pounds: No. 1 Mike Ottinger
First Round: W, dec. Miles Chapman (Ohio), 8-6
Semifinals: W, dec. No. 4 Lester France (Eastern Michigan), 8-3
Finals: No. 2 Mark Lewandowski (Buffalo)
174 Pounds: Anthony Bill
First Round: W, dec. No. 4 Brandonn Johnson (Kent State), 4-0
Semifinals: L, dec. No. 1 Nick Purdue (Ohio), 9-2
Consolation Semifinals: L, dec. Caleb Busson (Northern Illinois), 3-2
184 Pounds: No. 1 Ben Bennett
First Round: Bye
Semifinals: W, pin No. 4 Ryan Garringer (Ohio) at 1:45
Finals: No. 2 Brad Dieckhaus (Northern Illinois)
197 Pounds: No. 3 Craig Kelliher
First Round: W, dec. Mike Lukowski (Northern Illinois), 5-2
Semifinals: L, dec. No. 2 Nick Whitenburg (Eastern Michigan), 5-2
Consolation Semifinals: W, maj. dec. Kyle Sanders (Ohio), 9-0
Consolation Finals: Mike Lukowski (Northern Illinois)
285 Pounds: No. 3 Peter Sturgeon
First Round: W, dec. Jared Torrence (Northern Illinois), 3-1 SV1
Semifinals: L, dec. No. 2 Brendan Barlow (Kent State), 3-1 SV2
Consolation Semifinals: W, dec. Jedd Mason (Buffalo), 4-2
Consolation Finals: No. 4 Wes Schroeder (Eastern Michigan)
