Sunday Wrestling results
Lock Haven vs. Lock Haven Open
Rider 32, Clarion 11
Binghamton 29, Buffalo 10
Central Michigan 26, SIU Edwardsville 6
American 19, George Mason 17
Recaps courtesy of Athletic Communications Departments
Central Michigan 26, SIU Edwardsville 6
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – One goal down, and they did it in a very Central Michigan wrestling-like way.
The Chippewas won eight of 10 matches on Sunday in downing SIU Edwardsville, 26-6, in a Mid-American Conference dual meet at McGuirk Arena. The win, CMU's fourth straight, gave the Chippewas the MAC West crown, their 16
th MAC regular season title and their third in the last four years.
The Chippewas improved to 8-9 and finished 6-1 in league duals.
CMU wrestles its in-state Big Ten rivals, Michigan State and Michigan, next weekend to close the regular season and then goes to the MAC Championships (March 7-8) and the NCAA Championships (March 20-22).
The Chippewas placed first last March in the MAC Championships after finishing second in the MAC West.
"These guys have put in a lot of work," said first-year CMU coach
Ben Bennett. "There's always a list of things you want to accomplish every year, and the regular season championship is always on that list so we can check that box.
"It's not over, we've got two dual meets left and then two tournaments at the end of the year."
SIUE (7-7, 4-2) won the opening match at 125 pounds and then CMU's
Sean Spidle set the tone with a 1-0 victory over Marcel Lopez at 133.
Spidle, who has won 10 consecutive matches, scored the lone point with a second-period escape and then, starting on top in the third, rode Lopez for the entire two-minute period.
That workmanlike effort evened the dual at 3-3 and the Chippewas went on to win seven of the final eight bouts, all but one relatively close. In each case, the CMU wrestler scored the first takedown and never trailed.
The outlier among the Chippewa wins was
Alex Cramer's technical fall victory at 174.
Andrew Austin, a redshirt sophomore, posted a 12-6 win at 141 over sophomore Danny Martinez to give the Chippewas a 6-3 lead.
It was another chapter in what is unfolding as an amazing season for Austin, who won for the sixth straight time and for the eighth time in his last nine bouts.
Austin, unranked in the MAC, built an 8-1 lead in the first period with two takedowns and a reversal against the league's fourth-ranked wrestler. In the last month, Austin, now 17-8 on the season, has beaten the third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-ranked wrestlers in the league.
Mason Shrader (149),
Johnny Lovett (157) and
Chandler Amaker (165) followed with decision wins to extend CMU's lead to 15-3. In all three cases, the Chippewa wrestler recorded a first-period takedown and never trailed.
Alex Cramer's tech fall expanded the Chippewas' lead to 20-3. It was Cramer's 13
th win in his last 14 bouts, and it was his team-leading 11
th bonus-point win of the season.
CMU's
Luke Cochran then won going away at 197, getting two third-period takedowns and an escape for a 9-3 win to clinch the victory.
The Chippewas'
Bryan Caves allowed a late escape but pulled out the 2-1 victory at 285 with a riding time point. It was Caves' fourth straight win.
Lovett ran his win streak to 13 and has won 17 of his last 18 matches. It was his 127
th career victory, which ties him for sixth in program history.
The Chippewas entertain Michigan State on Friday, Feb. 21 (7 p.m.) in a nonconference dual at McGuirk Arena. It is the Chippewas' Senior Night. CMU closes the regular season with a dual at No. 19 Michigan on Sunday, Feb. 23 (5 p.m.).
Rider 32, Clarion 11
CLARION, PA — Seven Broncs secured victories as Rider dominated Clarion in a 32–11 win, closing out their final road dual of the season on Sunday afternoon.
The Broncs built early momentum with back-to-back falls at 125 lbs and 133 lbs, courtesy of
Noah Michaels and
Will Betancourt.
The Golden Eagles took 141 lbs and 149 lbs but
Colton Washleski earned a dominant second period 19-4 tech fall over John Altieri at 157 lbs, moving the team score to 17-8.
Cole McComas met with Wesley Barnes at 165 lbs in the most exciting bout of the afternoon. A scoreless opening period ended with a McComas escape in the second period. Trailing 1-0, Barnes chose bottom to start the third period. A Barnes escape tied the score at 1-1, forcing extra time. McComas then secured a late takedown to clinch a 4-1 sudden victory win.
At 174 lbs,
Michael Wilson had a stellar match, earning four takedowns in the opening three minutes. Wilson continued to push the pace, securing two more takedowns in the second period along with a ten point third period to route to a 25-10 tech fall.
No. 15
Isaac Dean (184 lbs) and
Brock Zurawski (197 lbs) each picked up wins, helping Rider secure a commanding 32–11 victory over Clarion in their final road dual of the season.
The Broncs return to action on Feb. 22 to close out the regular season against Cleveland St.
The match is set for 1 p.m
Lock Haven vs. Lock Haven Open
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Lock Haven men's wrestling team hosted the Mat-Town Open II Tournament today (Sunday, Feb. 16) in Thomas Fieldhouse. The late-season tournament featured over 150 wrestlers from 20-plus schools, and the action included 24 Bald Eagles, all of whom competed unattached.
Leading the way for The Haven was individual champions -
Lucas Kapusta,
Nick Stampoulos and nationally-ranked
Avery Bassett.
Both
Eric Alderfer and
Cole Bartram finished second at their respective weight class to round out the Bald Eagles' long list of impressive finishes.
Behind a 4-0 day, Kapusta claimed top honors in the 149B weight class. He had two tech falls, a pin and a major decision.
Stampoulos claimed gold in the 157B bracket, thanks to a perfect 4-0 day that included two tech falls, a pin and a major decision.
Bassett, ranked No. 27
th nationally at 174 pounds, won the championship at 174 pounds after going 4-0 with a tech fall and two major decisions.
Alderfer was second in the 157A bracket. He was 3-1 on the day.
Bartram placed second at 184 pounds after going 2-1 with a tech fall.
Hunter Gould picked up four wins (4-1) including three tech falls and a major at 133, while
Griff Walizer picked up three wins on the day in the 149B bracket.
James Lledo had three wins including two pins and a tech at 174 to round out Lock Haven's notable performances.
Today's (Sunday, Feb. 16) action capped another busy week as the 2024-25 regular season winds down. On Thursday (Feb. 13), Lock Haven picked up another lopsided victory in Mid-American Conference (MAC) action, downing Cleveland State 28-14 to extend the Bald Eagles' win streak to nine.
Lock Haven will close out the 2024-25 regular season at home in Thomas Fieldhouse on Thursday, Feb. 20 vs. Edinboro. The MAC dual is set for a 7 p.m. start.
The Bald Eagles will enter the final dual meet of the season with Edinboro (Feb. 20) with a 13-5 record. The 13 wins are the most in a season since Lock Haven won 17 (17-4) duals during the 2001-02 season. Lock Haven is also perfect in MAC duals this season with a 6-0 mark and the Bald Eagles have not lost at home this season (5-0).
