BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The Campbell wrestling team hits the road once again and travels to California to participate in the Chippewa Challenge, hosted by CSU Bakersfield on Sunday afternoon. Campbell (3-3), CSU Bakersfield (0-3), Central Michigan (0-4), and American (4-5) will be the four teams competing in the event for the third straight season.
MATCH INFORMATION
When: 4:00 PM ET
Where: Icardo Center | Bakersfield, Calif.
Watch Campbell vs. CSU Bakersfield
* Campbell's match against Bakersfield will be the only Camel match to be streamed, which is scheduled to begin at 8:00 PM. Fans can watch at the link above.
Live Stats: Track Wrestling
The Chippewa Challenge is in honor of Tom Borrelli, coaching in his 33rd season for the Chippewas. The other three head coaches all wrestled under Coach Borrelli, and Campbell associate head coach Wynn Michalak and director of operations Dresden Simon also wrestled at Central Michigan. The Chippewas won the event in 2022, and American won last year's event, hosted by Campbell at Gore Arena.
The Camels are coming off an historic performance at the Franklin & Marshall Open, where eight wrestlers placed, and Anthony Molton took first at 125 pounds. Molton was named the SoCon Wrestler of the Week on Wednesday for his efforts. He became the fourth Camel to receive the recognition this season.
Event Schedule
4:00 PM
Campbell vs. American
Bakersfield vs. Central Michigan
6:00 PM
Campbell vs. Central Michigan
Bakersfield vs. American
8:00 PM
Campbell vs. Bakersfield
American vs. Central Michigan
Probable Lineups
CAMPBELL
125: Anthony Molton -or- Zander Phaturos
133: #18 Domenic Zaccone
141: Chris Rivera
149: Justin Rivera
157: Chris Earnest
165: Dom Baker
174: #26 Austin Murphy -or- Riley Augustine
184: Caleb Hopkins
197: #20 Levi Hopkins
HWT: #8 Taye Ghadiali
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
125: Sean Spidle
133: Vince Perez -or- Andrew Austin
141: Jimmy Nugent -or- Ja'Kerion Merritt
149: #16 Corbyn Munson
157: #27 Johnny Lovett -or- Mason Shrader
165: Tracy Hubard -or- Tyler Swiderski
174: #19 Alex Cramer
184: Cody Brenner -or- Adrien Cramer
197: Cameron Wood
HWT: Bryan Caves
CSU BAKERSFIELD
125: Richie Sandoval
133: Santino Sanchez -or- Romeo McNeal -or- Hayden Zinkin
141: Luis Ramos -or- Mikey Folch -or- Wanderlei Whittington
149: Brock Rogers -or- Steve Caday -or- Jose Farias
157: Jacob Peralta -or- Devyn Che
165: Guillermo Escobedo -or- Ryder Dearborn
174: Augie Garcia -or- Chris Neal
184: Braden Smelser -or- Jaden Sanchez
197: Ryan Arrington -or- Khristian Dove
HWT: Jake Andrews
AMERICAN
125: #16 Jack Maida -or- Shamil Kalmatov
133: Maximilian Leete -or- Cael McIntyre
141: Raymond Lopez
149: Ryan Zimmerman -or- Ethan Szerencsits
157: Jack Nies -or- Devon Capato -or- Kaden Milheim
165: Breon Phifer
174: Lucas White -or- Brad Kata
184: Connor Bourne
197: Liam Volk-Klos -or- Caleb Beaty
HWT: Will Jarrell -or- Emmanuel Ulrich
Individual rankings according to Intermat
QUOTABLE
157 Chris Earnest
On where he feels his health is at leading in to the Chippewa Challenge:
"I'm feeling good. We got a full week of practice in coming into the event. My head is feeling great. I just needed time to recover and let the body heal up and get stronger as time goes on. I'm feeling really good heading into the event."
On what aspect of his approach he was focusing on other than getting healthy:
"I worked on my mindset a lot. Being out and not able to compete, I was trying to find something to work on. I watched a lot of different speakers and motivators and listening to what they had to say to find different perspectives."
On the presence Central Michigan had for him growing up in Ohio:
"I didn't really pay attention to college wrestling that much growing up other than the NCAAs. I loved watching my brothers wrestle, and my brother Jordan wrestled against Central Michigan a couple of times when he was at Ohio [University] and they were in the same conference."
Director of Operations Dresden Simon
On the culture of the Central Michigan wrestling program:
"I think the culture there is very hard-nosed, gritty, and you need to be tougher than the guys you're wrestling. You need to be stronger, be in better shape, be willing to push yourself further than the other guys…That's kind of their mantra there."
On the impact of Coach Tom Borrelli:
"First and foremost, I think he's a really good leader. He knows how to put together a program and make sure everybody is on the same page and firing at the same time. He expects a lot out of you, there's no getting away from anything or hiding from hard work. He builds you into a man and a good human being more than anything else during your time there. I think I took a lot away from that sort of thing outside of wrestling. It helped me become a better man and wrestler at the same time."
On how he thinks the Camels stack up against the competition at the Chippewa Challenge:
"To be honest, I would be surprised if we didn't come home with the trophy. I think our guys are really good, I think we're the most talented team. Anyone can beat anyone, but if we're firing the way we should be I think we're the most talented team there."
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