Match Information
Location: McGuirk Arena - Mount Pleasant, MI
Day & Time: 03 JAN 20 at 7:00pm
Viewing: ESPN+ and in-person
Updates: Twitter @HokiesWrestling, and Trackwrestling
The Opponent: Central Michigan Chippewas
2018-2019 Season and Now
Central Michigan's dual record last year was 5-8 (3-4 MAC) which placed them in 5th for the Mid-Atlantic Conference during the regular season. The Chippewas would go on to improve by finishing third in their conference tournament though. This year's Central Michigan squad is quite experienced with six upperclassmen which earn the majority of the team's points. There are currently three ranked wrestlers for CMU: 125lber Drew Hildebrandt (#11), 157lbs Logan Parks (#16), and heavy weight Matt Stencel (#5). All three opponents that the team has faced were all ranked. They won against Lock Haven (#25) and Rider (#20). Their only loss was against Michigan (#19). This will be the first time, this season, that any Virginia Tech wrestler has faced a Central Michigan opponent. The Hokies are currently 2-0 of all time versus Central Michigan, with the last win coming in 2017.
Coach: Tom Borrelli
Coach Borrelli is the embodiment on Central Michigan wrestling and has been a figure within the wrestling community for decades. He has coached for an outstanding 31 years, 22 of which are with Central Michigan. Within his tenure he has won 13 regular season Mid-Atlantic Conference titles and placed 1st 11 times in the MAC tournament. He has coached only one national champion, Casey Cunningham at 157lbs in 1999, and 41 All-Americans.
Tom Borrelli's 329 dual wins currently places him 2nd among active coaches and earns him 17th all time within the NCAA. His best years seem to between 2002-2011, being the premier team in the MAC and earning himself National Coach of the year in 2008. Prior to coaching, he wrestled for Citadel from 1975 to 1979. His collegiate wrestling record is 58-27-2.
The Line-Up
125lbs: #11 Drew Hildebrandt (r-JR, Granger IN)
A stout wrestler with a 17-3 record. His only three losses have come against top 10 opponents, two of which just happened at the Midlands Tournament. He has only qualified for the NCAA tournament once, 2018, and has yet to become an All-American. His overall record is 79-39.
133lbs: Brock Bergelin (r-SO, Denmark WI)
Bergelin did not wrestle in CMU's first dual, but has taken the starting spot in the last two and winning both. Currently at 9-9 this season and 24-29 overall.
141lbs: Dresden Simon (r-JR, Dansville MI)
A wrestler that has been between 133lbs and 149lbs, finally splitting the difference in the 141lbs weight class. He is currently 18-9 this season and typically wrestles to seed and rank throughout. He is just outside of ranking on some sites. His career record so far is 65-47.
149lbs: Corbyn Munson (r-FR, Chelsea MI)
This is Munson's first regular season in the starting line up and is currently 13-7, winning all of his dual meets. Adding his redshirt win-loss record from last year, where he wrestled 149lbs, he is 29-16 so far in his career.
157lbs: #16 Logan Parks (r-SR, Taylor MI)
The lone senior starter in the Chippewas' line-up and known for his aggressive style. Last year he qualified for his first NCAA Tournament, going 1-2. His 2019-2020 record is 13-6, but against top 15 competition, he is 1-3. His overall record is 82-63.
165lbs: Tracy Hubbard (r-FR, Macomb MI)
Also in his first attached season for Central Michigan, Hubbard is more suited for 157lbs, but bumped up do to Parks being cemented at that weight. He currently sits at 10-8 this season and in total has a 24-19 record.
174lbs: Jake Lowell (r-SO, Glencoe IL)
Is the incumbent at the 174lb weight class, with a current record of 3-8. All three wins though have come against D2 level opponents. He has wrestled at 184lbs before. His collegiate record is 19-27. Overall, CMU does not have any good options at this weight class.
185lbs: Ben Cushman (r-FR, Flushing MI)
Cushman is the chosen starter as he has wrestled in all three dual meets, but he has lost each one. His season record is 8-10 while his career record is 23-21 including his redshirt record.
197lbs: Landon Pelham (r-JR, Tecumseh MI) or Aaron Bolo (r-SO, Iron Mountain MI)
Pelham is a starter, as he too has wrestled in all three of Central Michigan's dual meets. He does not have any upset wins, but his current record stands at 11-8 and a career record of 49-44.
Bolo's 2019-2020 record is 10-7, but does not account for how tough he has wrestled in his losing matches. He can pull off he occasional, low rank upset. He very well could be called upon.
HVY: #5 Matt Stencel (r-JR, Oregon, OH)
The star of this Chippewas team. He is a two time NCAA tournament qualifier and earned his first All-American status last year. His season record is 17-4, three of these losses came to Mason Parris of Michigan (#3) and one to Anthony Cassioppi of Iowa. (#4). For a big man, he has an impressive 11 pins thus far. His career record stands at 89-28.
Match Thoughts
Virginia Tech goes into this match with five ranked wrestlers, but not all will be wrestling: #12 Joey Prata (125lbs), #19 Mitch Moore (141lbs), #4 David McFadden (165lbs), #3 Hunter Bolen (183lbs), and #18 John Borst. Both Moore brothers will not be going to this dual, Mitch needs to heal up from an injury and Brent needs to figure it out that is causing him not to wrestle at his best. At 141lbs Josh Baier, a Roanoke native and graduate of Cave Spring High School, will be making his dual debut. For 149lbs Bryce Andonian will continue his quest to qualify for the NCAA tournament. The first match to pay attention too is obviously Prata vs Hildebrandt, as they could swap rankings. The two have different styles and it will be fun to see who imposes their will more. Secondly, I'm interested in watch LaPrade vs Parks. Laprade is always an upset waiting to happen, but Parks has yet to be blown out in any of his losses; also Parks has a few upsets under his belt.
Predictions
125: #11 Hildebrandt dec. #12 Prata (3-0 CMU)
133: Gerardi dec. Bergelin (3-3 tie)
141: Simon maj dec. Baier (7-3 CMU)
149: Andonian. dec. Munson (7-6 CMU)
157: #16 Parks dec. LaPrade (10-6 CMU)
165: #4 McFadden maj. dec. Hubbard (10-10 tie)
174: Hughes dec. Lowell (13-10 VT)
184: #3 Bolen maj dec. Cushman (17-10 VT)
197: Smeltzer dec. Pelham (20-10 VT)
285: #5 Stencel maj dec. #18 Borst (20-14 VT)
Virginia Tech is by far the superior team, but sometimes duals are closer when you account individual matches. Injuries and line up mismatches are gonna keep this dual close in my opinion. I think Prata's defensive style will not be useful against Hildebrandt high power offense because if he falls behind, that's it. Also, if Baier can prevent anything higher than a decision loss, Virginia Tech can breath easy the rest of the dual. Hughes has another great chance going against a lesser skilled opponent and being able to wrestle loose. The 197lbs match is a toss up where I'm more confident that Smeltzer can squeak it out. But I'm pessimistically predicting Stencel to major Borst, since he is much bigger and is able to turn guys easily, meaning lots of points.
Comments
I think Borst has a real shot of winning today
I hope that's true. I think he has a real chance of getting pinned, unfortunately. Watched the CMU kid wrestle at Midlands. Too big.
Edit: I stand corrected. Solid gameplan drawn up by the coaches. A little too obvious the need for a last second takedown, but really well done match all around (despite the loss).
man this is a solid breakdown...thanks a lot.
Go Hokies
As I was reading through their lineup, one of my first thoughts was that the matchup at 141 would be a good chance for Mitch to get a win against a borderline NCAA qualifier opponent so it was really disappointing to later find out he would not be wrestling. Most of the matchups still have an intriguing aspect though:
125 - big match for Prata against a similarly ranked opponent, especially considering Sam Latona's showing at the Southern Scuffle
133 - Gerardi should control the match with some potential for bonus points
141 - VT trying not to give up bonus points here
149 - Andonian should control the match if he's an NCAA qualifier
157 - fairly even matchup on paper, should be a very realistic opportunity for BC to get a ranked win
165 - DMF should be looking to pick up bonus points
174 - Hughes should control the match and even be looking to pick up bonus points
184 - Bolen should be looking to pick up bonus points
197 - even match on paper but Smeltzer needs to beat this level of opponent regularly if he has a future at 197
HWT - Borst is a heavy underdog but it's always a great opportunity when you face a top 5 opponent who isn't quite elite in the weight class
For some reason I feel like I feel a pin coming for McFadden. Let it be so.
That'd be awesome but seems unlikely as McFadden's last pin happened in March 2018.
Damn if it wasn't glorious that it came against Marinelli at the NCAAs though.
Yeah, it was a long shot. I dunno what turn they keep going for, but the coaches just need to 'X' that one, because they keep calling it potentially dangerous with the arm behind the back.
Joey loses in SV-1, 1-3
Thanks for posting. I can't pick it up to watch it.
Dont know your availability, but the teams twitter has updates by the score
Gerardi squeaks it out 7-6, whole bunch of reversals
Baier keeps it a maj decision loss, 4-18. CMU leads 7-4
Andonian wins 13-8. Showed great offense and getting to the back. But left some to be desired on shot offense in neutral
BCLP with the upset! 3-2 dec
DMF works over his opponent, takedown practice for the 22-9 major decision win
Hughes wins 7-4, looked good and confident
Bolen with the maj dec 18-4, VT locks up the dual at 20-7. Two matches to go
Sneltzer gets worked then gives up the fall.
IDK why they don't move Borst down to 197 and put a body in at HWT. He just isn't built to win there consistently currently.
I rather have a chance of winning a match at heavyweight than getting TF or Pinned
The plan is probably have Borst 97 next year and Catka will start at 285
Maybe, depends if coaches think Catka is ready collegiately.
197 was the original plan for Borst (which I think he needs to go down to) until Dunn left
Catka is more than ready
Unless he is ready to make a run at All American I don't see displacing your current heavyweight, who is winning plenty of matches, for a true freshman.
He's pretty competitive at HWT and other smaller HWT wrestlers have had tons of success recently. I get the desire for everyone to win big now but he's still a sophomore and has been extremely competitive with top 15 and now top 5 level talent at HWT.
Everyone seems to forget that Kyle Snyder was always a really small heavyweight. You don't have to be the biggest guy to win.
Snyder is also freakishly strong and has the cleanest shot fake
This is correct. Other examples for small heavyweights that won a ton of matches are Ty Walz and Jacob Kasper. All three were highly successful in college and now wrestle at 97 Kg in freestyle.
Borst loses 3-1. Hokies win 20-16. I got the final score right, but a few matches wrong. Thank goodness for the BC upset
That was a very good prediction. Go Hokies!
Lucky guess really. It's so hard to predict a pin, feel sorry for Stan cause that was a match he could have had.
Honestly, I know nothing about wrestling, but I jumped onto Twitter to follow what was going on for a while. Weird to see a top 5 VT team. Hopefully these guys can knock off the corn fed big boys in the spring.
VPI! thanks for doing all of this. I love wrestling but am too retired / lazy to put this together!
Lawd only knows how many stories I have about Mt. Pleasant and the whole Mid MI area.!
We have a top 5 wresting program! 95 out of a hundred TPKers will not give this notice. Rather complain about football or BB or rave on it. This guy is the best athlete on campus! BTW. he and Walz have qualified for the Olympic trials.
Lewis
And he's a freshman!
And we made the top 5 while he takes an Olympic redshirt.
While I don't understand much of the talk, I do appreciate you giving the team props. I read up on all of it to try and understand more. Always great to see Hokies doing great things!
The 2016 VT wrestling team really set the bar when they finished 4th in the NCAA tournament. Also worth noting, that team was the first ACC team to ever get a trophy (awarded to the top 4 teams) at the NCAAs.
This year's team skyrocketed into the top 5 in the dual rankings after an upset victory over Ohio State in Columbus; however, dual and tournament formats are completely different and this year's team likely does not have the top level talent necessary for a top 5 finish at the NCAA tournament.
Not trying to be a debbie downer but wanted to give a warning to anyone gaining interest due to the current top 5 ranking as to avoid any disappointment with a lower finish at the NCAA tournament.
I guess we just matched up very well against Ohio State both times we beat them in wrestling duals.
Also, the fourth place was even more impressive considering we only had one finalist. To place you generally need multiple finalists, and to get the top 2 you need multiple champions. Wrestling is tough when you go against Ohio State, Iowa, Penn State, Ok State every year in the NCAAs.
Very true, though it certainly helped to have Zach Epperly go HAM through the consolation bracket.
Granted.
Shakeit is probably correct on the high end talent pool this year. But, let's enjoy this and run through the ACC like shit through a goose! NCSU will be tough but ...............
I'm glad to be talking wrestling on here. I'd love to see McFadden and/or Bolen bring home a championship and neither is out the realm of possibility. I just don't want people to think we choked if we finish 10th or higher and only have a couple All-Americans at NCAAs.
While I'm at it, I want to point out what I'll be paying attention to for the rest of the year at each weight class, if anyone cares.
125: Joey Prata is much improved and a legit Top 15 wrestler at the weight but Sam Latona had a hell of a showing at the Southern Scuffle. We probably ride with Prata but it's a tough decision.
133: Can Gerardi show improvement or will he plateau as a borderline NCAA qualifier this year?
141: Mitch Moore can rack up pins against inferior opponents but he still needs to start grinding out wins against Top 20 opponents.
149: Andonian is a highly talented true freshman but needs to make up some ground to be more than a borderline NCAA qualifier.
157: It feels like BC can compete with anyone but also lose to anyone. Can he improve his consistency and make any noise at NCAAs?
165: We could see a championship run from McFadden but consistency, especially with scoring, remains a question mark.
174: Was Hughes' win over Rocky Jordan a fluke or can he put some wins together in ACC matches?
184: How does Bolen stack up with Hidlay, Bonaccorsi, and DePrez? Can he solidify a top 3 seed in NCAAs?
197: Smeltzer clearly gives it his all but will that start to translate to more success on the mat?
HWT: Borst has potential but his remaining schedule is fairly weak. Can he show enough to become more than a borderline NCAA qualifier?
Bolen is 2-0 against Deprez so far i see bolen finishing between 2-5 at the ncaa tournament
Also might see sam at 33 next year