Flashes Open MAC Competition Friday Hosting Northern Illinois
Kent State's quest for its second Mid-American Conference regular season title in three seasons begins Friday night against Northern Illinois at the M.A.C. Center. The Golden Flashes (9-5) are No. 12 according to Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine's Dual Meet Rankings, after winning seven of their last eight duals. KSU has not dropped a MAC dual to a team other than Central Michigan since February of 2005.
LIVE VIDEO & LIVE STATS
Live video of Friday's dual can be seen on the K-Zone at KentStatesports.com. It will also be aired locally on TV2. In addition, Gohiocasts.com will have video available on Saturday. Live stats can be viewed at nwcaonline.com.
A LOOK AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS
The Huskies have dropped their first two conference duals of the season, winning 4-of-10 matches against Central Michigan and three matches against Ohio. Senior Bryan Deutsch (157) and junior Brad Dieckhaus (184) are both 2-0 in MAC duals. NIU's most notable dual win was a 16-14 victory over Old Dominion on Nov. 27 at the Indiana Duals. Five different Huskies placed in the open brackets of the Michigan State Open, while five others placed in the freshman/sophomore brackets.
LAST ACTION
Kent State continued its recent roll with a 17-15 victory over No. 21 Purdue, before piling up 56 points against Campbell Saturday at the Wendy's Duals inside Ashland University's Kates Gymnasium. In a split of 10 matches with the Boilermakers, the Golden Flashes (9-5) gained bonus points from senior Matt Cathell (157) and junior Dustin Kilgore (197), who each recorded major decisions.
OPPONENT HISTORY
The Golden Flashes lead the all-time series against the Huskies 17-5-2 after downing NIU 29-9 last season in DeKalb. It was Kent State's fourth straight win in the series. Last year, the Huskies won the first three matches from 141 to 157, before the Flashes came storming back with seven straight victories, including a major decision by Dustin Kilgore and a pin from Casey Newburg. KSU is 10-1 against Northern Illinois in Kent, with the Huskies' only victory coming in 2005. The last time the teams met at the M.A.C. Center in 2008, the Flashes won 8-of-10 matches in a 31-10 victory. The series dates back to 1976.
KILGORE MOVES UP TO THIRD IN CAREER WINS
On Nov. 7 at the Hokie Open, Dustin Kilgore became the first Kent State wrestler to reach 100 career victories during his junior year. Saturday at the Wendy's Duals, Kilgore passed Nick Nemeth for third place on KSU's list of career win leaders with 122. He is now 25-2 on the season and needs five more victories to pass Alex Camargo for second place. Kilgore's .917 career winning percentage is the second highest in school history.
UP NEXT
The Golden Flashes host a dual meet with Clarion Friday, Jan. 28 at the M.A.C. Center. It will be the Flashes' final non-conference dual of the season.
KSU EXTENDS LEAD IN MAC POLL
Kent State was represented in the top four spots of all 10 weight classes in the Jan. 14 Mid-American Conference Coaches Poll. With five wrestlers ranked in the top two slots, the Flashes earned 26 total points, while Central Michigan is in second with 21 points. Buffalo and Ohio are in third and fourth place with 20 and 19 points respectively.
DUAL SUCCESS
Since the 2005-06 season, the Golden Flashes have gone 80-25-1 in dual meets and 20-4-1 in conference duals.
WEIGHT-BY-WEIGHT BREAKDOWN
125- Junior Nic Bedelyon (14-3) is ranked No. 10 by D1CW and WrestlingReport.com and No. 1 in the MAC Coaches Poll. Last weekend, he got the Flashes off on the right foot with victories against Purdue and Campbell, including his fifth major decision of the year. Bedelyon recorded his second tech fall of the season against Rider's Alex Moritz at the Virginia Duals. His first came at the Hershey Duals, tearing apart No. 10 Jarrod Garnett of Virginia Tech 15-0. Bedelyon won his first nine matches of the season, after sitting out all of 2009-10. He earned a key 7-4 win over No. 24 Anthony Zanetta of Pitt, helping the Flashes to a road victory. The 2009 All-American won an individual title at the Body Bar, going 4-0 with two major decisions. In the finals, he blanked No. 13 Frank Perrelli (Cornell) 4-0. All three of Bedelyon's losses have come to opponents ranked in the Top 11 spots.
133- True freshman Tyler Small (13-11) is No. 33 according to WrestlingReport.com and No. 3 in the MAC. Small tallied his third pin of the year Saturday against Campbell. He earned his first dual win of the year at Missouri with an 8-6 upset over No. 17 Nathan McCormick. Small also had an impressive dual win over Arizona State's David Prado at the Virginia Duals. Small claimed a fourth place finish at the Body Bar and a convincing 15-8 victory over then No. 17 Kevin Smith of Buffalo in the quarterfinals. Small made a memorable collegiate debut at the Hokie Open with a third place finish and a 4-1 mark. He went 2-2 at the Southern Scuffle.
141- Sophomore Chase Skonieczny (15-14) is in WrestlingReport.com's rankings for the second straight week, now at No. 31. Skonieczny is also third in the MAC Coaches Poll after recording his third tech fall of the year against Campbell. At the Virginia Duals, he upset No. 24 Stephen Dutton of Lehigh 7-4 and scored an 8-0 major decision over Arizona State's Kalin Goodsite. Skonieczny has suffered 10 losses against Top 20 competition this season. He went 3-2 at the Southern Scuffle, earning two technical falls and a major decision. At Pitt, Skonieczny led No. 7 Tyler Nauman 3-2 after two periods, before falling 5-4. Skonieczny placed fourth at the Body Bar with a 2-1 victory over top-seeded Hicks Manson of Cornell and later dropped his consolation final bout in overtime. Skonieczny also went 5-1 with two major decisions in a fifth place finish at the Hokie Open.
149- Junior Marcel Clopton (15-10) has won nine of his last 13 bouts after starting the season 4-6. He earned a key 5-3 victory over Tommy Churchard in the Flashes' 17-15 win over Purdue Saturday, improving his dual record to 7-3. Clopton won five matches at the Southern Scuffle and was just one win shy of placing in the top eight. Clopton is currently ranked No. 4 in the MAC. He also had a critical overtime victory in the Flashes' 16-15 dual win over Pitt.
157- Senior Matt Cathell (11-5) is No. 15 according to D1CW and No. 2 according to MAC coaches after recording a pin and a major decision at the Wendy's Duals. His 11-0 major decision against Purdue was the second time in as many weeks he provided a crucial extra point in a Flashes' dual win. Cathell also defeated Lehigh's Brian Tannen 9-0 in KSU's 18-16 win over the Mountain Hawks. Cathell is tied for the team lead in pins (6), despite sitting out the Body Bar and the Southern Scuffle. He nearly recorded another pin against No. 4 Bubba Jenkins of Arizona State Cathell racked up four falls and a major decision in his opening weekend and placed third at the Hokie Open. This year, Cathell is competing at 157 for the first time in his career. Two of his losses have come at the hands of Pete Yates (Virginia Tech), who is now ranked at 165.
165- Junior Ross Tice (20-9) improved to 9-4 in dual meets last weekend, recording his third tech fall of the season against Campbell. Tice is currently ranked No. 25 by WrestlingReport.com and D1CW. He is also No. 3 in the MAC according to conference coaches. Tice had a 3-1 weekend at the Virginia Duals and a pivotal 17-2 tech fall over Lehigh's Josh Fitch in the Flashes' two-point win. Tice placed seventh at the Southern Scuffle with a 5-2 record. He knocked off eighth-seeded Nicholas Sulzer (Virginia) before falling to top-seeded Justin Kerber (Cornell) in the quarterfinals. In what was expected to be a close match at Pitt, Tice scored a 10-1 major decision over Adam Counterman, resulting in the only bonus points for either team in Kent State's 16-15 win over the Panthers. Tice went 3-1 with a major decision in his third place finish at the Body Bar. He went 1-1 at the Hershey Duals with a 7-3 win over Virginia's Charles Miller. Tice finished sixth at the Hokie Open with a technical fall and a major decision.
174- Redshirt freshman Brandonn Johnson (17-14) is No. 23 according to D1CW, after tallying the 14th pin of his young career against Campbell. Johnson recently earned an 8-0 major decision against No. 29 Eric Starks (Arizona State). He is currently No. 3 in the MAC. All three of his losses at the Virginia Duals came against ranked opponents, including an 11-8 battle with No. 2 Ed Ruth of Penn State. Johnson won five matches at the Southern Scuffle on the way to an eighth place. He defeated seventh-seeded Byron Sigmon of UNC-Greensboro 7-1 on day two of the Scuffle and started his tournament with a tech fall and a major decision. Johnson won four straight bouts in his fifth place finish at the Body Bar. Johnson's only setback there came against No. 1 Mack Lewnes of Cornell, whom he also lost to at the Scuffle. Johnson dropped back-to-back, one-point decisions in duals against Missouri and Pitt. Five of Johnson's losses have come against Top 4 opponents. He placed sixth at the Hokie Open with two pins. In his first career dual this year vs. Chattanooga, he won by major decision.
184- Sophomore Casey Newburg (17-12) is No. 2 according to MAC Coaches after chalking up his third fall of the year against Campbell. Newburg has won five of his last seven duals, including a 6-2 win over Penn State's Nick Fischer. Newburg tallied his fourth major decision of the year at the Virginia Duals against Rider, which helped earn him a No. 32 ranking from WrestlingReport.com last week. He went 4-2 in his seventh place finish at the Southern Scuffle, which included an 8-7 victory over No. 18 Nate Graham (Bloomsburg). He jumped out to early leads in dual meet losses against Pitt and Missouri. Newburg went 4-1 with a pair of pins and a major decision at the Body Bar. His only loss came to No. 4 Steve Bosak of Cornell, whom he also lost to at the Southern Scuffle. Seven of Newburg's setbacks have come against Top 20 opponents. He went 3-2 at the Hokie Open with a major decision. Newburg earned a decisive 8-2 win in his dual against Iowa State, but fell in an overtime tiebreaker to No. 19 Jason McCroskey of Chattanooga.
197- Junior All-American Dustin Kilgore (25-2) is ranked No. 3 by Amateur Wrestling News in his first season at 197 pounds. Since January of 2009, Kilgore has come away with wins in 43 straight dual meets, including a 13-3 major decision over No. 9 Logan Brown (Purdue) last weekend. Following a 10-9 win over then No. 1, Cam Simaz of Cornell in the finals of the Body Bar, Kilgore became the first Kent State wrestler to earn a No. 1 national ranking since 1985 (Don Horning). Kilgore held the No. 1 spot in five polls and was named MAC Wrestler of the Week on Nov. 24 after going 4-0 at the Body Bar with a pin, a tech fall and a major decision. Other notable dual wins include a 9-5 decision over No. 8 Zac Thomusseit of Pitt and a 6-2 victory over No. 13 Joe Kennedy (Lehigh). He suffered his first losses of the season in his fifth place finish at the Southern Scuffle, where he totaled three pins and a major decision. Kilgore also tallied a pair of major decisions and a convincing 11-4 win at the Hershey Duals. One of those majors came against No. 11 Mike Salopek of Virginia. Kilgore had a pair of tech falls in a 4-0 day at the Hokie Open, concluded by a win over No. 10 Jerome Ward of Iowa State in the finals. Eighteen of Kilgore's 25 wins have come via tech. fall (4), pin (6) or major decision (8).
285- Junior Brendan Barlow (16-9) moved up to No. 8 last week in most polls, following a 10-5 upset of Penn State's Cameron Wade. Since then, he dropped a few spots in the polls after losing to Purdue's Roger Vukobratovich due to riding time in the second tiebreaker. Barlow has gone toe-to-toe with three Top five opponents this season. He fell to No. 5 Dom Bradley (Missouri) in overtime, before No. 2 Ryan Tomei of Pitt edged him 6-5. He was also nipped by No. 1 Zach Rey (Lehigh) 5-3. Barlow tallied a pin and a major decision at the Virginia Duals. He went 4-0 with a major decision and did not surrender a takedown in his repeat title performance at the Body Bar. Barlow won three matches at the Southern Scuffle, coming up one win shy of placing. He defeated a pair of Top 20 opponents in his 3-0 day at the Hershey Duals. With three pins and three major decisions on the year, Barlow has won 49 matches since last season, including three at the NCAA Tournament.
WINNING BIG
Since Dec. 13, 2009, the Golden Flashes have won a dual meet by 18 or more points 13 times. A 56-(-1) blowout of Campbell Saturday was Kent State's first shutout of a Division I opponent since 2005. KSU's other big victories this season include a 33-3 blasting of Cleveland State and a 31-7 victory over Arizona State.
MITCHEFF NAMED MAC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
On Dec. 16, Stevie Mitcheff became the second KSU grappler to earn Wrestler of the Week honors this season, following his 5-0 day at the Cleveland State Open.
700 PROGRAM WINS
One of the winningest programs in NCAA history, Kent State became the 12th school in Division I to reach 700 all-time victories last season at the Virginia Duals. The Golden Flashes have now won 715 dual meets since the program began in 1927.
ENDING IT EARLY
KSU has piled up 49 pins this season, including six from Matt Cathell, Keith Witt and Dustin Kilgore. The Flashes are on pace to surpass last year's impressive total of 65.
