Buoyed By Bookends: Central Michigan 2021 Lineup Look
Buoyed By Bookends: Central Michigan 2021 Lineup Look
An in-depth look at how the Central Michigan Chippewa wrestling team can build on last season's success in 2021.
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Could Central Michigan be even better than last season when the Chippewas went 8-4 overall, including 7-2 in the Mid-American Conference, and finished second in the MAC Tournament?
It's possible considering that CMU lost just a single starter and returns three NWCA All-Americans, four ranked wrestlers, three MAC champions and five NCAA qualifiers. The Chippewas also added Alex Cramer, who started for Old Dominion last season.
Here is a closer look at CMU's lineup:
125: Drew Hildebrandt
The redshirt senior, seventh in the current NCAA rankings, is a two-time NCAA qualifier.
Hildebrandt owns a 69-31 career record, including 51-13 the past two seasons. He has won 22 matches by pin (11), major decision (nine) or technical fall (two).
Drew Hildebrandt was MAC champion last season, knocking off Old Dominion's Killian Cardinale in the title match. Cardinale, currently ranked 13th, now wrestles for West Virgina. Hildebrandt was also third in the MAC in 2019.
He also beat 15th-ranked NCAA qualifier Jack Medley (Michigan) and 25th-ranked, two-time NCAA qualifier Korbin Meink (Campbell) last season. Hildebrandt also bested another two-time NCAA qualifier (Trey Chalifoux, Army), who was 16th in last season's final rankings. There is also a win over second-ranked All-American Rayvon Foley (Michigan State) on Hildebrandt's resume.
HIldebrandt was 31-3 last season, including winning streaks of 15 and 12 matches, and was a first-team NWCA All-American.
Watch Hildebrandt knock off top 25 Gage Curry in the consolation round of last season Midlands:
133: Drew Marten
The redshirt junior finished 21-13 last season, after going just 11-17 the year before, and qualified for the NCAA Championships. Nearly half (10) of his wins came via pin (two), technical fall (two) or major decision (six).
Marten, ranked 19th, was also third in the MAC. His biggest win has come against Lock Haven's D.J. Fehlman, a three-time NCAA qualifier who reached the round of 16 in 2019.
141: Dresden Simon
After posting a just 26-32 record the previous two seasons, the redshirt senior broke through for a 29-8 mark last season, won a MAC title and qualified for the NCAA Championships. More half of his victories came by pin (three), technical fall (two) or major decision (11).
Dresden Simon, ranked 11th, knocked off two-time NCAA qualifier Evan Cheek (Ohio) in the MAC final. Cheek was 15th in the final rankings. Simon also took care of Missouri's Grant Leeth, a 2018 All-American who has 21st in the final rankings.
Other notable wins last season came against 10th-ranked NCAA qualifier Michael Blockhus (Minnesota), 15th-ranked, three-time qualifier Dylan Duncan (Illinois) and four-time qualifier and 2017 All-American Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven), who was 23rd in the final rankings.
Simon, third in the MAC in 2019, was a second-team NWCA All-American.
149: Corbyn Munson
The redshirt sophomore was 16-14 in his first season as a starter, but nine of his wins came via pin (three), technical fall (four) or major decision (two).
157: Johnny Lovett
The redshirt freshman, a two-time Florida state champion, went 20-9 in open competition last season. Among those he defeated is Nick South (Indiana), a two-time Indiana state champion.
165: Alex Cramer
One of the many Old Dominion wrestlers left scrambling for a new home when the program was dropped after more than 60 years, Cramer will likely settle in at this weight for the Chippewas after starting a 174 last season.
In fact, Cramer, who finished 19-20, was one of only 35 Division I true freshman starters (out of 316) at 174 pounds or above this season.
None of those 35 wrestled more matches than Cramer, who finished with five major decisions, two pins, and a technical fall. His biggest win came against Lock Haven's Austin Bell, who finished 21-14 and was seventh at the MAC tourney at 165.
Cramer, an Illinois state champion, was also eighth at the MAC Tournament.
174: Jake Lowell
The redshirt junior was just 7-18 last season, but ended on a high note by shocking top seed and two-time NCAA qualifier Jacob Oliver of Edinboro on the way to a sixth-place showing at the MAC tournament. Oliver is currently ranked 13th.
Lowell's career mark stands at 16-28.
184: Ben Cushman
The redshirt sophomore intends to improve on last season's 12-18 record. Cushman's biggest win came against Air Force's Jake Thompson, who finished 19-14 last year.
197: Logan Pelham
The redshirt senior improved from 9-16 as a sophomore to 21-12 last season and qualified for the NCAA Championships. He totaled six pins, a major decision and a technical fall.
The unranked Pelham also improved from seventh to fourth in the MAC Tournament. His biggest win came against No. 21 Gage Braun (Northern Illinois).
Pelham owns a 46-41 career mark with 14 pins.
285: Matt Stencel
The redshirt senior can become just the ninth four-time champion in the MAC's 60-year history and a four-time NCAA qualifier this season.
Matt Stencel, ranked fourth, was 30-4 last season with 15 pins and three major decisions. The MAC Wrestler of the Year won 19 of his final 20 matches of the season, including his last 13 in a row.
Stencel was unbeaten against MAC wrestlers for the second straight season. In fact, he has not lost to a conference foe since Feb. 11, 2018. The first-team NWCA All-American enters the season fourth on CMU's all-time career list with 49 pins.
Stencel shut out 21st-ranked Jon Spaulding (Edinboro), 11-0, in the MAC final.
Among others he knocked off last season are fifth-ranked, two-time NCAA qualifier and 2019 All-American Trent Hillger (Wisconsin), 17th-ranked Ben Sullivan (Army) and 19th-ranked John Borst (Virginia Tech). Sullivan and Borst were also NCAA qualifiers.
Watch Stencel defeat Hillger at the 2019 Midlands:
Stencel also beat Harvard's Yaraslau Slavikouski, No. 8 in the final rankings, and Appalachian State's Cary Miller (No. 22). Stencel owns a win over eighth-ranked Zach Elam (Missouri), who reached the round of 12 at the 2019 NCAA Championships, as well.
Only No. 2 Mason Parris (Michigan) and No. 3 Anthony Cassioppi (Iowa) defeated Stencel last season. but Parris did it three times. However, Stencel pinned him twice during the 2018-19 season. He also pinned Cassioppi that year.
Stencel boasts an 89-25 career record with 33 of his last 61 wins coming via pin.