QUICK HITS

• Central Michigan edged past Cleveland State, 18-13
• Ben Smith defeated a ranked MAC wrestler at 197 pounds
• Justin Patrick posted a thrilling 11-10 upset win at 133 pounds
• Brady Barnett competed in a dual for the first time since the season opener
• Barnett won his bout via major decision while moving up a weight class
• DeAndre Nassar also added a win for the Vikings at 184 pounds

GAME RECAP

The Cleveland State University wrestling team was in Sunday's dual all the way until the end, but Central Michigan did just enough to edge past the Vikings, 18-13, in Mid-American Conference action at Woodling Gymnasium.

The Chippewas boast a lineup loaded with top-end talent as they had four wrestlers compete Sunday ranked inside the top 15 nationally. All four of those wrestlers claimed a victory against the Vikings, but none of the four secured bonus points.

Central Michigan took the lead with a win by the top-ranked wrestler in the conference at 125 pounds.

Redshirt senior Justin Patrick responded with a second thrilling victory of the weekend. After securing a winning takedown with just seconds left Saturday evening at Kent State, Patrick again pulled off an upset with a one-point win.

After claiming a reversal and four near-fall points in the opening period, Patrick led 6-3. Each wrestler posted a reversal in the second period, keeping the margin at three points. Despite his opponent tallying two takedowns in the final period, Patrick persevered and claimed an 11-10 win.

Redshirt senior Evan Cheek had a lead in the second period at 141 pounds, but Central Michigan came back to win the battle of top-15 ranked wrestlers.

The Chippewas added wins via decision at 149 and 157 pounds to extend their lead.

Redshirt sophomore Brady Barnett had not competed in a dual since the opening day of the season. However, he was not only inserted into the lineup, but competed up a weight class as the 157-pounder took to the mat for the 165-pound bout.

Barnett collected four near-fall points in the second and added an escape, a takedown, a stalling point and over three minutes of riding time to claim a 9-0 major decision.

As it would turn out, the bout that really decided the dual came at 174 pounds. With the score tied, 4-4, the referee awarded Central Michigan a takedown with no time remaining in the third period, giving the Chippewas a 6-4 win.

True freshman DeAndre Nassar secured the only takedown of the match at 184 pounds and posted a 4-2 victory.

For the second straight weekend, sophomore Ben Smith beat a foe in the top five of the MAC rankings. The bout featured three total takedowns in the first period, two from Smith, to give him a 5-4 lead after three minutes. He increased his lead to 8-5 after two periods, courtesy of an escape and a takedown, and held on for an 8-7 victory.

In the heavyweight bout, senior Collin Kelly trailed returning All-American Matt Stencel, 3-1, with fewer than 30 seconds remaining. Searching for a takedown that would have forced overtime and kept CSU's hopes at an upset victory alive, Kelly gave up points late in the bout to seal the outcome.

Patrick won for the sixth time in his last seven bouts while Barnett improved to 15-3 on the season while winning his MAC debut. Smith won for the 22nd time this season with his fifth MAC win.

Cleveland State will remain at home this Friday, Feb. 7, as it welcomes Northern Illinois at 7:00 p.m.

Central Michigan 18, Cleveland State 13
125: Drew Hildebrandt (CMU) over Logan Heil (CSU) - 6-1 dec. | CMU leads, 3-0
133: Justin Patrick (CSU) over Andrew Marten (CMU) - 11-10 dec. | Tied, 3-3
141: Dresden Simon (CMU) over Evan Cheek (CSU) - 8-4 dec. | CMU leads, 6-3
149: Mason Breece (CMU) over Gus Sutton (CSU) - 9-3 dec. | CMU leads, 9-3
157: Logan Parks (CMU) over Nico O'Dor (CSU) - 6-2 dec. | CMU leads, 12-3
165: Brady Barnett (CSU) over Tracy Hubbard (CMU) - 9-0 MD | CMU leads, 12-7
174: Jake Lowell (CMU) over Chase Archangelo (CSU) - 6-4 dec. | CMU leads, 15-7
184: DeAndre Nassar (CSU) over Ben Cushman (CMU) - 4-2 dec. | CMU leads, 15-10
197: Ben Smith (CSU) over Landon Pelham (CMU) - 8-7 dec. | CMU leads, 15-13
285: Matt Stencel (CMU) over Collin Kelly (CSU) - 7-1 dec. | CMU wins, 18-13