Kent State University
Navy Classic
Four Flashes Place in Top Five Spots at Navy
11/18/2017 9:56:00 PM | Wrestling
ANNAPOLIS – Four Kent State wrestlers earned top five finishes at the 40th annual Navy Classic Saturday at Wesley Brown Field House. The Golden Flashes finished ninth of 17 teams led by fourth place showings from junior 197-pounder Kyle Conel and junior 157-pounder Casey Sparkman.
Junior 133-pounder Anthony Tutolo and redshirt freshman 141-pounder Nick Monico each went 5-1 on the day to claim fifth place. Saturday's competition required advancement to the semifinals for a top four finish.
Conel received an opening round bye and pinned his first two opponents, Pat Brucki of Princeton and Sawyer Root of the Citadel. He dropped his next two matches to Oregon State's Corey Griego (8-3) and Purdue's Christian Brunner (10-1).
Sparkman won his first three matches, including two by major decision. He topped Rian Burris of The Citadel 16-6, Quentin Hovis (Navy) 5-3 and John Pipa (Princeton) 13-5. In the semifinals, Sparkman dropped a tight 3-2 decision to Brown's Justin Staudenmayer, who went on to win the 157-pound title.
Tutolo dropped his opening bout in sudden victory (4-2) to Indiana's Garrett Pepple. A 17-1 tech fall over Hoftra's Garreet Lambert was the first of five straight wins for Tutolo. His only close bout in the consolation bracket came in his fifth place match, a 2-1 decision over Old Dominion's Caleb Richardson.
Monico lost his opening match to eventual champion Matthew Kolodzik of Princeton, 7-4. His five victories included a first period pin and a 12-3 major decision.
Senior 125-pounder Will Bardezbain and redshirt freshman 174-pounder Dylan Barreiro each went 3-2 on the day. Bardezbain won three straight after dropping his opener. Barreiro won his first two matches, advancing to the quarterfinals. In the consolation semifinals, Purdue's Dylan Lydy edged Barreiro 4-3 in overtime.
The Golden Flashes will put their 5-0 record on the line Tuesday, Nov. 21, in the second annual Thanksgiving Throwdown. The Golden Flashes will take on host Ohio State and Cleveland State in a continuous tri-meet on two mats with action set to start at 7 p.m., inside St. John Arena.
Players Mentioned
