Central Wins the Mitten

For the first time in three seasons, Central Michigan lays claim to the mitten state aka the greatest territory in the history of the world. Okay, I might be a little biased. It was a 19-18 slobber-knocker that saw the matches split 5-5, and each team had to fight really hard just to get to their five. 

At 141, the funky Mason Smith hit a 6-point jones tilt to defeat Profaci 8-0, which turned an all-important swing match into a major. Combining this with Fleetwood knocking off Youtsey to start the dual, this put Michigan on its heels. 

The visiting Wolverines would get back in as Brian Murphy created a scramble in sudden victory to knock off #7 Collin Heffernan 4-2. After Logan Massa took care of business with a tech, things had tightened up. 

However, Jordan Ellingwood got a double-over tie up for a throw and pin in just 62 seconds for the bonus points that would put the Chippewas over the top in the dual. Ellingwood was favored in the match, but Calderon usually battles seven minutes making the pin a welcome surprise for the home crowd. 

Jackson Striggow continued his hot streak with a win over #14 Severn 3-1. That made the dual come down to heavyweight when McFarland threw out Ayoola Olapo for the first time in a dual this season. Olapo, who missed last season with injury, has only been used as a backup 184/197 prior to Thursday night. He fired off several attacks but the larger Smerchek held position to get a 1-0 win that gave the dual to the host Chippewas. 

125 -- Brent Fleetwood (CMU) dec. #10 Conor Youtsey, 4-2    CMU, 3-0
133 -- #7 Stevan Micic (U-M) major dec. Corey Keener, 16-6    U-M, 4-3
141 -- Mason Smith (CMU) major dec. Sal Profaci, 8-0    CMU, 7-4
149 -- #8 Justin Oliver (CMU) dec. Malik Amine, 8-2    CMU, 10-4
157 -- #10 Brian Murphy (U-M) dec. #7 Collin Heffernan, 4-2 SV    CMU, 10-7
165 -- #2 Logan Massa (U-M) tech. fall Logan Parks, 21-6 (5:28)    U-M, 12-10
174 -- #8 Myles Amine (U-M) dec. #20 C.J. Brucki, 8-2    U-M, 15-10
184 -- #16 Jordan Ellingwood (CMU) pinned Aaron Calderon, 1:02    CMU, 16-15
197 -- Jackson Striggow (U-M) dec. #14 Austin Severn, 3-1    U-M, 18-16
Hwt -- Newton Smerchek (CMU) dec. Ayoola Olapo, 1-0    CMU, 19-18