Flashes Advance to Semifinals, Downing Arizona State and Rider
HAMPTON, Va. - On paper, fourth-seeded Kent State against fifth-seeded Arizona State appeared it would be a tightly-contested battle in the quarterfinals of the Virginia Duals. But the Golden Flashes took eight of 10 matches on the way to a 31-7 smashing of the No. 25 Sun Devils Friday at the Hampton Coliseum. Kent State (6-4) also defeated Rider 26-16 in the opening round and will take on No. 2 Penn State Saturday in the semifinals.
"We didn't wrestle our best against Rider, but overall it was a very solid day," Head Coach Jim Andrassy said. "We wanted to show Arizona State what wrestling's all about."
Arizona State's only two victories came from No. 3 Anthony Robles at 125 and No. 4 Bubba Jenkins at 157. Meanwhile, the Golden Flashes got major decision victories from juniors Chase Skonieczny (141), Dustin Kilgore (197) and Brendan Barlow and redshirt freshman Brandonn Johnson. Freshman Tyler Small (133), sophomore Casey Newburg (184), Kilgore and Barlow all went 2-0 on the day.
The damage against the Devils could have been worse as senior Matt Cathell (157) put Jenkins on his back late in the third period and appeared to have his shoulders flat for a moment. Cathell had to settle for a three-point near fall in his 12-7 loss to Jenkins, who dominated the first two periods.
Small put Kent State on the board with a 4-2 win over David Prado and Skonieczny gave the Flashes the lead for good with an 8-0 shutout of Kalin Goodsite. Junior Marcel Clopton (149) extended the team lead to 10-4 with a 10-4 decision over Tai Fukumoto.
"For Tyler Small, it's all about being consistent," Andrassy said. "He's young and still has a lot to work on, but right now he's learning how to win."
The Flashes began to run away with their lead in what was expected to be a close match at 174. Johnson was never threatened in his 8-0 blanking of Eric Starks, who fell to 15-7 on the year. Newburg then gave the Flashes their third shutout of the dual with a 5-0 victory over Jake Meredith.
"Casey's wrestling better and better," Andrassy said. "This part of the year is the grind and he's on his on his way to being where he needs to be at the end of the year."
Kilgore surrendered an opening takedown, before going on an 11-1 run against Luke Macciaroli. No. 24 Levi Cooper was no match for Barlow, who cruised to a 12-4 win.
Bedelyon fell victim to Robles 8-0, getting put on his back twice. However, Bedelyon got the Flashes off on the right foot Friday morning with a 19-3 technical fall over Rider's Alex Moritz. Small extended the KSU lead to 8-0 with a convincing 15-8 win over Jimmy Kirchner.
Rider then came storming back, winning four of the next five matches and taking a 16-11 lead after Rob Morrison pinned Johnson in the opening period.
Newburg responded for the Flashes with an 11-3 major decision over James Brundage and Kilgore followed with a 20-4 technical fall over Joe Ferber.
With his team leading by just four points, Barlow ended Rider's hopes of an upset with a first period pin of Evan Craig.
"We talked to Brendan this week about picking up the pace and pushing guys to break them," Andrassy said. "You're not going to beat really good guys 2-0 so it's going to be about making opponents wrestle his style."
Sophomore Mallie Shuster (157) also tallied one of the Flashes six wins against the Broncs, with a 4-2 triumph over Ramon Santiago.
Now riding a four-meet winning streak, the Flashes semifinal showdown with the Nittany Lions is slated for 2 p.m. The championship and third-place duals will take place at 8:30 inside the Hampton Coliseum.
"It's not a bad thing going in as underdog," Andrassy said. "On an individual basis, you go in and say 'why can't we upset this guy?' We're going to go out and fight as hard as we can. And when you do that, good things can happen."
Kent State 26, Rider 16
125: Nic Bedelyon (KS) tech fall Alex Moritz, 19-3
133: Tyler Small (KS) dec. Jimmy Kirchner, 15-8
141: Aaron Nestor (R) dec. Chase Skonieczny 6-2
149: Zac Cibula (R) dec. Tommy Sasfy 2-0
157: Mallie Shuster, (KS) dec. Ramon Santiago 4-2
165: Jim Resnick (R) maj. dec. Ross Tice, 12-1
174: Rob Morrison (R) pin Brandonn Johnson, 2:49
184: Casey Newburg (KS) maj. dec. James Brundage 11-3
197: Dustin Kilgore (KS) tech fall Joe Ferber 20-4
285: Brendan Barlow (KS) pin Evan Craig 2:05
Kent State 31, Arizona State 7
125: Anthony Robles (AS) maj. dec. Nic Bedelyon, 8-0
133: Tyler Small (KS) dec. David Prado, 4-2
141: Chase Skonieczny (KS) maj. dec. Kalin Goodsite, 8-0
149: Marcel Clopton (KS) dec. Tai Fukumoto, 10-4
157: Bubba Jenkins (AS) dec. Matt Cathell, 12-7
165: Ross Tice (KS) won by forfeit
174: Brandonn Johnson (KS) maj. dec. Eric Starks, 8-0
184: Casey Newburg (KS) dec. Jake Meredith, 5-0
197: Dustin Kilgore (KS) maj. dec. Luke Macchiaroli, 11-3
285: Brendan Barlow (KS) maj. dec. Levi Cooper, 12-4
