Wrestlers fare well in Michigan

The Penn wrestling team battled No. 9 Central Michigan to a draw before destroying EMU. Tom Borrelli thinks that the Penn wrestling team belongs in the national top 10. "We've seen them a number of times, and we think they're a top-10 team," said Borrelli, the Central Michigan head coach. "I don't know why the coaches' poll has them so low." The 20th-ranked Quakers (4-0-1) took two steps toward proving Borrelli correct this weekend. On Saturday, they fought his No. 9 Chippewas squad to a 16-16 tie, and yesterday Penn trounced Eastern Michigan, 37-6. Going into the weekend, Quakers tri-captain Mark Piotrowsky deemed the visit to Central Michigan "basically our toughest dual meet of the year." If he's right, there's no telling how well Penn -- which tied the Chippewas -- can fare once the season enters its stretch run in March. The meet with Central Michigan (7-5-1) began with fireworks. Penn tri-captain Brett Matter kicked it off by avenging his Midlands loss to No. 17 Greg Mayer. The Quakers 149-pounder decisioned him in overtime. "It was a real competitive match," Borrelli said. "We thought it might be a stretch for us, even though Matter lost to him at the Midlands. We felt good going into sudden death, but Matter just rode him out of that match." Next up on the docket was the eagerly anticipated meeting between Penn's Yoshi Nakamura (157 lbs.) and No. 2 Casey Cunningham. No. 10 Nakamura had lost twice to the All-American before Saturday. The third time proved charmless as he yielded one of the match's two major decisions, 10-0. "I tried to take control from the very beginning," Cunningham said. "I got a few stalling points that helped pad the score. He's a good wrestler, though." The only other major decision of the meet came out in favor of the Quakers. Sophomore standout and national No. 9 Rick Springman pummeled No. 15 Chris Snyder, 13-2. Springman, like Matter, avenged a Midlands loss. The Penn 165-pounder lost 7-5 to Snyder three weeks earlier. "Heading in, we saw that the meet would be 5-5 on paper," Borrelli said. "It would come down to who could get the majors and the upsets. No real upsets happened. Springman's major really hurt us. He's had a great year, and he impressed us." Penn senior Ryan Slack (174 lbs.) almost strung together an upset that would have put the Chippewas into more serious jeopardy. It took overtime for No. 12 Ryan Cunningham, the slightly less illustrious brother of Casey, to finish off Slack, 2-1. "It was a very slow-moving match," Borrelli said. "Ryan [Slack] was warned a number of times by the referee [for stalling]. Cunningham hit him with a succession of shots that finally won it for him." The 907 fans in Mount Pleasant were perhaps their loudest during the match between Penn's 13th-ranked Justin Bravo (125 lbs.) and Davon Gray. "It was a fun, exciting match," Cunningham said. "It went back and forth. Bravo's had a good year, and Davon was doing something by taking him to overtime." The dual meet came down to the final match, and more specifically to a showdown between two nationally ranked 141-pounders -- No. 12 Piotrowsky and No. 2 Chris Marshall. "A win and we'd tie. A major and we'd win. Anything else and we'd lose," Borrelli said. Pio hung tough, and Marshall only edged him out 7-4, with the difference coming on a third-period takedown and a riding point. This match put the finishing touches on the 16-16 final tally. The Quakers made their way across the state to Ypsilanti yesterday. There they dispensed with a young Eastern Michigan team. "This is my first year and the first recruiting class for Charles Jones, our head coach," EMU assistant John Jeffire said. "We're just trying to get a program going, so we look at facing Penn as a chance to face a big-time team." Eight Quakers were victorious, and many boasted truly impressive margins of victory. No. 2 Andrei Rodzianko (197 lbs.) improved his flawless record to 10-0 at EMU. Coming off a 7-3 defeat of potential All-American No. 7 Chris Vike the day before, Rodzianko put on a show against Corey Slater. The Quakers tri-captain earned an 18-1 technical fall victory. "He's a very, very skilled technician," Jeffire said. "For a young team like ours, he's the type of guy that you point to as an example of exactly what you should be doing." Piotrowsky, possibly fueled by his loss the night before, came out like a "ball of fire," Jeffire said. He went up against a very inexperienced wrestler and destroyed EMU's Doug Hess 16-0 for another Penn tech fall. The Quakers return from their Michigan swing today. Their next match is Friday at Ivy rival Cornell, the 18th-ranked team in the nation.