#6 ranked Chippewas set to Rock the Rose against MSU tonight
February 4, 2010
Rose Arena - 7:30pm
Mt. Pleasant, MI
2/5 - Tonight #6 ranked Central Michigan will
play host to in-state rival Michigan State as
the Spartans will travel north to Mt. Pleasant
for their yearly meeting with the Chipps. CMU
has established themselves as the state's
premiere collegiate program over the past
couple years, however, MSU comes in a
week off their win over arch rival Michigan in
Ann Arbor last weekend and they will look to
keep their in-state road winning ways with an
upset in Mt. Pleasant.
Anytime MSU and CMU meet up it is an event
to be seen here in Michigan, however, this
meet will be even more special as Central
will also be running their "Rock the Rose"
promotions tonight, with free food and
giveaways from local sponsors as they
attempt to fill the Rose Arena for the intra-state clash.
The Chippewas are the heavy favorites coming in, as they ride a four match winning streak and feature nationally ranked wrestlers in 7 of the 10 weights classes. While the Chipps are heavily favored, they have not featured a full strength lineup in a few weeks.
Their most notable missing link has been returning NCAA finalist Mike Miller at 184lbs, who has not wrestled since January 9th. In addition, #14 ranked Steve Brown has not competed since the new year at 157lbs and it is unknown whether these two will be in the lineup for the Chipps. Their presence or absence could make a major difference in the outcome as having them in the lineup heavily favors the Chipps to win both weights, where them being out gives MSU a good chance at picking up two more victories and being right in the dual.
Their will be two highlight matchups of nationally ranked wrestlers, most notably at 133lbs with returning NCAA champ Franklin Gomez of MSU, currently ranked #4 after suffering his first loss of the season last weekend in Iowa, and #8 ranked all-american Scotti Sentes of CMU. The other ranked duo squaring off will be at 149lbs with #12 David Cheza of MSU and #14 Tony D'Alie of CMU.
CMU is 11-13 all time vs the Spartans and MSU has not beaten the Chipps since 2001. Tonight MSU will look to reverse the curse while CMU will look to continue their winning ways over Green and White in front of what should be a packed crowd at Rose Arena. Read below for a full weight by weight preview and prediction.
Weight-by-Weight Preview
125 - #9 Matt Steintrager (CMU) vs Brenan Lyon/Eric Olanowski (MSU)
CMU is a heavy favorite at 125 as redshirt senior Matt Steintrager has put together a phenomal season to this point and enters with a 15-2 record prior to this weekend. MSU starter and returning NCAA All-American Eric Olanowski has been in and out of lineup, leaving true freshman Brenan Lyon to fill in. While Olanowski would give MSU a much greater shot and being competetive here, Steintrager scored a 10-2 major decision over him at Midlands, so either way the Chipps will be looking for bonus points here, regardless of who steps out for MSU.
MI Grappler Prediction: Steintrager +11 (vs Lyon)
133 - #8 Scotti Sentes (CMU) vs #4 Franklin Gomez (MSU)
This will likely be the highlight match of the night as returning NCAA Champ Gomez will look to rebound from last Suinday's defeat to Daniel Dennis of Iowa, which snapped his 29 match winning streak that dated back to last season. Gomez will look to rebound tonight, however, he will have his work cut for him with the gritty Chippewa sophomore Sentes who was an all-american last year at 125lbs. This match will be an interesting style clash between the two all-americans who have never met before, as Gomez is a takedown artist while Sentes is a little unorthodox and dangerous on the mat. Gomez's definitely has the expierence advantage and while expect Sentes to make a match out of this, back-to-back Gomez losses is highly unlikely.
MI Grappler Prediction: Gomez +3
141 - Connor Beebe (CMU) vs Dan Osterman (MSU)
This is a toss up weight here and both teams send opposite ends of the
spectrum to the mat in terms of expierence. Beebe is a saavy veteran who
started the year out as CMUs lead candidate to start at 125lbs while Osterman
is a true freshman who has been up and down thus far in his first collegiate
season. Osterman has been competetive with some of the big names in the
country at this weight and has shown his ability to compete on the big stage, so
don't expect to see him sweat, however, the size advantage should not be as
significant as one would expect as Osterman started the year out at 133lbs and
Beebe is a more natural 133 anyways, therefore they will likely look relatively
similar in terms of size. Osterman pulled out a big win over Mark Weber last
weekend in Ann Arbor and I think he has another big win over an in-state rival in
him.
MI Grappler Prediction: Osterman +2
149 - #14 Tony D'Alie (CMU) vs #12 David Cheza (MSU)
If Gomez-Sentes is the main event of the night, then this is the undercard to the main event with nationally ranked D'Alie and Cheza going at it. Cheza has wrestled well since the New Year, with his only loss of 2010 so far coming from Brent Metcalf (who is pretty good). These two have never meet before and on paper they are pretty even. In reality, this is a toss up match, but it is a must win for MSU if they want any shot of making a go at this dual.
MI Grappler Prediction: D'Alie +1
157 - #14 Steve Brown/Donnie Corby (CMU) vs Anthony Jones (MSU)
With Steve Brown out of the lineup, Michigan State has to be favored in this weight with returning NCAA Qualifier Anthony Jones, who lost a close 6-4 match to Brown earlier this season. While Jones is favored, a match with Corby should be looked as a in the bag for MSU. Corby is 4-3 since filling in for Brown and Borelli has made his mark by getting the most out of guys like him, so expect to come out battling and expect this to be a close match.
MI Grappler Prediction: Jones +2 (vs Corby)
165 - Tyler Grayson/Eric Cubberly vs Kyle Bounds (MSU)
This weight has been in limbo for CMU lately as Grayson and Cubberly have shared time. Grayson has been ranked nationally at this weight throughout much of the season, however, Cubberly has competed well lately, losing in overtime to #14 Chris Brown of Old Dominion. This weight has been locked down all year for MSU by Kyle Bounds, who has been competetive with many of the top guys in the country. Therefore, expect another highly contested match here that could likely go either way. CMU has toyed with the idea of bumping Grayson to 174 at times this year, so don't be entirely shocked if that happens. Cubberly vs Bounds, I am going to give the edge to Bounds, who usually keeps good position and goes hard for 7 minutes.
MI Grappler Prediction: Bounds +1
174 - #10 Ben Bennett (CMU) vs Ian Hinton (MSU)
Bennett has been one of the biggest bright spots for CMU this year as he
has been as good as advertised thus far in his freshman campaign. The
former MI Grappler Wrestler of the Year is 13-4 so far and took 2nd at the
prestigous Midlands Championships. Bennett is the obvious favorite,
however, MSU's Hinton is capable of giving Bennett a run for his money.
Hinton scored a big win over nationally ranked Justin Zeerip last weekend
in Ann Arbor and another upset win for him would be huge for MSU,
however, expect Bennett's superb positioning and tough shot counters to
take the cake here in a close match.
MI Grappler Prediction: Bennett +2
184 - #14 Mike Miller/Dillon Kern (CMU) vs Nick Palmeiri (MSU)
Whether or not Mike Miller wrestles here makes a monumental differnece in this match. Miller is one of the best big middle weights in the country after falling a match shy of winning a National Title last year and while true freshman Dillon Kern is a talented state champ, he is definitely no Mike Miller. If Kern remains the man for CMU at this weight, then MSU is highly favored with redshirt senior Nick Palmeieri, who is a saavy veteran and one of the stronger 184lbers around.
MI Grappler Prediction: Palmieri +5 (vs Kern)
197 - Eric Simaz (CMU) vs Tyler Dickensen (MSU)
This is neither team's strongest weight, however, both of these guys have improved greatly this year and become competetive at this weight. Simaz is a 5th year senior who moves well for a big man and may be too agile for the stocky, less slick Dickensen. I don't see Dickensen beating Simaz, but the score will be close and who knows, maybe the Spartan sophomore will be able to make something happen.
MI Grappler Prediction: Simaz +4
285 - #3 Jarod Trice (CMU) vs Alan O'Donnell (MSU)
"Doughboy" Jarod Trice has been on a tear all year with a 14-1 record thus far and the
Chippewa big man has not loss since November. He showed what he is capable of by
winning the Midlands a litlte over a month ago and expect to see his 14 match winning
streak continue to build tonight with against Spartan veteran O'Donnell. Trice beat
O'Donnell 4-1 last year in this dual as a freshman, however, expect to see a more
confident Chippewa heavyweight this year who will be looking to expand that margin of
victory and possibly lock up some bonus points.
MI Grappler Prediction: Trice +7
Predicted Final Score - CMU 16, MSU 15
We must take into account that this prediction is assuming that Steve Brown and Mike Miller both do not wrestle. If the nationally ranked duo both return tonight, then CMU should win both of those weights, expanding their projected final lead to 22-9.
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#4 Franklin Gomez (right) and #8 Scotti Sentes (left) will the be marquee match of the night tonight at Rose Arena
Osterman
Bennett
Trice
