Flashes to Take on Many of the Nation's Best at Southern Scuffle Dec. 29-30
Kent State wrestlers will be put to the test this week as 30 teams compete at the Southern Scuffle hosted by UNC-Greensboro. No. 1 Cornell, No. 3 Minnesota and No. 5 Penn State will be among the many challenges for the Golden Flashes Wednesday and Thursday (Dec. 29-30) at the Greensboro Coliseum. Now ranked No. 20 by both InterMat and WrestlingReport.com, Kent State will be represented by 20 athletes in brackets that will feature up to 10 Top 20 opponents.
LAST ACTION
Each team won five matches, but a major decision by junior Ross Tice (165) made the difference as Kent State topped No. 17 Pittsburgh 16-15 Sunday, Dec. 12 at Fitzgerald Field House. The Golden Flashes came out on the winning end of an 11-10 battle (Matt Cathell) at 157 and a match that needed six extra sessions (Marcel Clopton) at 149. KSU also got a comeback victory from Nic Bedelyon and a 9-5 win from Dustin Kilgore.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The eighth annual Southern Scuffle has been a regular stop for the Golden Flashes during the Jim Andrassy era. KSU will be making its seventh straight trip to the tournament, after finishing seventh of 31 teams in 2009. The Flashes' highest finish came in 2008, placing third among 28 squads. Kent State also had a top five finish during its Scuffle debut in 2004. Dustin Kilgore claimed a 184-pound tournament title as a freshman in 2008 and finished runner-up in 2009. Brendan Barlow has placed seventh in each of the past two seasons, while Nic Bedelyon grabbed a third place in 2008. Mallie Shuster also placed seventh last season. Cornell captured the 2009 team crown, finishing just ahead of second place Minnesota.
KSU REMAINS AHEAD OF CMU IN MAC POLL
Kent State was represented in the top four of all 10 weight classes in the Dec. 17 Mid-American Conference Coaches Poll. With five wrestlers ranked in the top two spots, the Flashes earned 26 total points, just ahead of Central Michigan, who earned 24 points.
KILGORE CLAIMS NO. 1 NATIONAL RANKING AND MAC WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
Following a 10-9 win over then No. 1, Cam Simaz of Cornell in the finals of the Body Bar, Dustin Kilgore became the first Kent State wrestler to earn a No. 1 national ranking since 1985 (Don Horning). Kilgore holds 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.
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.
WEIGHT-BY-WEIGHT BREAKDOWN
125- Sophomore Stevie Mitcheff (13-4) recorded a pin and a tech fall in his 5-0 day at the Cleveland State Open Dec. 12. Mitcheff placed sixth at the Hokie Open, going 6-2 on the day and fourth at the Body Bar, making his way into the semifinals. Top 20 wrestlers expected to see action include James Nicholson of Old Dominion, Zach Sanders of Minnesota and Brad Pataky of Penn State, Jason Lara of Oregon State, Frank Perelli of Cornell, Steve Bonanno of Hofstra, Garrett Frey of Princeton and Matt Snyder of Virginia.
Junior Nic Bedelyon (10-1), ranked No. 8 by Amateur Wrestling News, will not see action.
133- True freshman Tyler Small (7-6) is ranked third in the MAC Coaches Poll. He earned his first dual win of the year at Missouri with an 8-6 upset over No. 17 Nathan McCormick. Small showed his potential at the Body Bar with a fourth place finish 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. At the Hershey Duals, Small fell to No. 6 Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) and was leading Virginia's Joe Spisak 2-0 late in the third, before surrendering a reversal and near fall. Small has two pins on the year and was ranked as high as No. 27 according to WrestlingReport.com.
Top 20 wrestlers at the Scuffle will include Joe Stanzione of Cornell, Lou Ruggirello of Hofstra, Rollie Peterkin of Penn, Kyle Hutter of Old Dominion, Kelly Kubec of Oregon State, John Trumbetti of Lock Haven, Fred Santiate of Boston and Zac Stevens from Michigan.
141- Sophomore Chase Skonieczny (8-9) has suffered seven losses against Top 20 competition. Most recently 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 earned a 6-1 victory over North Carolina's Rocco Wellek in his only dual win this season. Skonieczny also went 5-1 with two major decisions in a fifth place finish at the Hokie Open. Top 20 competitors include Kellen Russell of Michigan, Mike Thorn of Minnesota, Germaine Lindsey of Ohio, Mike Mangrum of Oregon State, Andrew Alton of Penn State, Nick Nelson of Virginia, Zack Kemmerer of Penn and Matt Bonson of Lock Haven.
149- Junior Marcel Clopton (6-6) improved to 3-1 in dual meets after beating Pitt's Dane Johnson in three sudden victory periods. Clopton is currently ranked No. 2 in the MAC. He went 2-2 at the Body Bar and earned a dual win against Chattanooga.
Sophomore Tommy Sasfy (11-7) placed fourth at the Cleveland State Open and made his way into the semifinals on his 4-2 day. Sasfy also went 4-2 at the Hokie Open, coming up one win short of placing in the top six. Top 20 competition at the Scuffle could include Kyle Dake of Cornell, Torsten of Gillespie Edinboro, Kurt Kinser of Indiana, Ivan Lopouchanski of UNC-Greensboro and Justin Accordino of Hofstra.
157- Senior Matt Cathell (8-3) is No. 21 according to D1CW and No. 2 according to MAC coaches. Cathell takes a three-match winning streak to Greensboro following an 11-10 win at Pitt. He tallied his fifth pin of the season against North Carolina at the Hershey Duals, before sitting out the Body Bar with an injury. He racked up four pins 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 No. 12 Pete Yates of Virginia Tech.
Sophomore Mallie Shuster (1-3) sat out the Body Bar with illness after going 1-1 at the Hokie Open. Shuster placed seventh at last year's Southern Scuffle. Redshirt freshman T.J. Keklak went 2-2 at the Hokie Open.Top 20 competition will include David Taylor of Penn State, Jake Deitchler of Minnesota, Paul Young of Indiana and DJ Meagher of Cornell.
165- Junior Ross Tice (9-6) is currently ranked No. 21 by both WrestlingReport.com and D1CW. He is also No. in the MAC according to conference coaches. In what was expected to be a close match, Tice scored a 10-1 major decision over Pitt's 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. At last year's Southern Scuffle, Tice went 4-2. He is 3-3 in duals this season.
Senior Sli Bostelman (5-6) recently placed sixth at the Cleveland State Open after advancing to the semifinals. Bostelman went 3-2 with a major decision at the Hokie Open. Top 20 competition will include Justin Kerber of Cornell, Cody Yohn of Minnesota, P.J. Gillespie of Hofstra, Thomas Scotton of North Carolina, Turtog Luvsandorj of The Citadel, Jake Kemerer of Penn State and Gabe Burak of Penn.
174- Redshirt freshman Brandonn Johnson (10-7) has won four straight tournament bouts following his fifth place finish at the Body Bar. He is currently No. 3 in the MAC. Johnson's only setback there came against No. 1 Mack Lewnes of Cornell and his first victory of the day was a 16-0 tech. fall. He has dropped back-to-back, one-point decisions in his last two duals following a 5-1 victory over UNC's Tom Ferguson. Three of Johnson's losses have come against Top 3 opponents. Johnson already has 13 career pins. He placed sixth at the Hokie Open with two pins. In his first career dual vs. Chattanooga, he won by major decision.
Redshirt freshman Ethan Taylor recently saw his first action of the year, going 3-2 at the Cleveland State Open. Top 20 competition includes Mack Lewnes of Cornell, Chris Henrich of Virginia, Scott Glasser of Minnesota, Colby Covington of Oregon State, Ed Ruth of Penn State, Ryan Patrovich of Hofstra and Scott Giffin of Penn.
184- Sophomore Casey Newburg (8-8) is No. 3 according to MAC Coaches. Newburg was unable to hold leads in each of his last two dual meets this month. He 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. Five 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. Newburg won four bouts at last year's Scuffle, but did not place.
Sophomore Keith Witt (10-6) is coming off a strong performance at the Cleveland State Open. The 2010 NCAA qualifier won five matches in his fifth place finish that included three pins. He currently leads the team with six falls on the year. Fifth-year senior Chris Estep (4-5) went 2-2 at both the Hokie Open and the Body Bar. Top 20 competition will include Chris Honeycutt of Edinboro, Steve Bosak of Cornell, Quentin Wright of Penn State, Andrew Saunders of UNC-Greensboro, Kevin Steinhaus of Minnesota, Austin Trotman of Appalachian State, Nate Graham of Bloomsburg and Jon Fausey of Virginia.
197- Junior All-American Dustin Kilgore (15-0) is ranked No. 1 in five different polls in his first season at 197 pounds. Since January of 2009, Kilgore has won in 37 straight dual meets, including a 9-5 decision over No. 8 Zac Thomusseit of Pitt on Dec. 12 . Kilgore 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. Ten of Kilgore's 14 wins have come via tech. fall, pin or major decision. A 2009 Southern Scuffle champion, Kilgore looks to make his third straight finals appearance in the tournament, which could come against No. 2 Cam of Simaz Cornell.
Junior Ryan Buckner (3-4) had a pair of pins at the Hokie Open. Other Top 20 competition includes Sonny Yohn of Minnesota, Matt Powless of Indiana, Cayle Byers of George Mason, Micah Burak of Penn, Mike Salopek of Virginia, Erik Schuth of Ohio and Anthony Biondo of Michigan.
285- Junior Brendan Barlow (9-5) has gone tot-to-toe with a pair of Top five opponents in his last two matches this month. He fell to No. 5 Dom Bradley (Missouri) in overtime, before no. 2 Ryan Tomei of Pitt edged him 6-5. Currently ranked No. 11 by W.I.N. and No. 2 by MAC coaches, Barlow went 4-0 with a major decision and did not surrender a takedown in his repeat title performance at the Body Bar. He is ranked No. 13 by InterMat and defeated a pair of Top 20 opponents in his 3-0 day at the Hershey Duals. Barlow won 33 matches last year, including three at the NCAA Tournament.
Senior Joe Tymoszczuk (1-4) will move back up to heavyweight after starting the year at 197. Tymoszczuk won a pair of matches in his KSU debut at last year's Southern Scuffle. Top 20 opponents will include Cameron Wade of Penn State, Ben Apland of Michigan, Clayton Jack of Oregon State, Tony Nelson of Minnesota, John Danilkowicz of Virginia, Odie Delaney of The Citadel, Peter Sturgeon of UNC-Greensboro, Eloheim Palma of NC State, Josh Wine of VMI, and Ricky Alcala of Indiana.
KILGORE QUICKLY CLIMBING THE CHARTS
On Nov. 7 at the Hokie Open, Dustin Kilgore became the first Kent State wrestler to reach 100 career victories during his junior year. Kilgore is now 15-0 on the season and recently raised his victory total to 112, the fifth most wins in school history. Going 4-0 at the Body Bar, he passed three former wrestlers on KSU's 100-win list, including head coach Jim Andrassy. Next up on the list is Jermail Porter in fourth with 119 victories.
DUAL SUCCESS
Since the 2005-06 season, the Golden Flashes have gone 74-24-1 in dual meets.
