No. 23 Kent State Set to Take on Stiff Competition at Virginia Duals
Fresh off its second straight dual win on the road, Kent State (4-4) will be challenged this weekend (Jan. 7-8) at the Virginia Duals inside the Hampton Coliseum. The 16-team, dual tournament has the Golden Flashes seeded fourth, facing Rider in their opening meet Friday at 9 a.m. Ranked No. 23 by the NWCA, KSU could face No. 25 Arizona State (3-1) Friday afternoon. No. 2 Penn State also sits in the Flashes' half of the bracket.
VIDEO STREAMING
Select duals can seen at ViginiaDuals.org
A LOOK AT RIDER
The Broncs earned convincing early-season dual wins over Gardner-Webb (32-6), Anderson (49-0) and Princeton (30-10) after going 15-6 last season. In a pair of duals against Penn and Princeton on Dec. 12, sophomore 149-pounder Zac Cibula (16-5), senior 174-pounder Rob Morrison (13-3) and freshman heavyweight Evan Craig (6-7) all came away with two wins. Sophomore Jim Resnick (165) is ranked as high as No. 20 and junior Tyler Smith (197) is ranked No. 23. Resnick (6-1) and Morrison each won individual titles at the Keystone Classic, where Rider placed fourth of 12 teams. Junior 133-pounder Jimmy Kirchner (12-6) has earned a pair of third places at tournaments this season.
VIRGINIA DUALS HISTORY
The Virginia Duals began in 1981 with NC State winning the team crown. The Golden Flashes made their first appearance in 2001 and have participated in all, but one year since. KSU has placed in the top six in each of the past four seasons, including a program best third place finish in 2007.
Last year, the Golden Flashes went 4-1 in a fifth place finish, defeating Drexel (34-6), Ohio (33-9), Michigan (30-6) and Virginia Tech (25-18). KSU fell to Penn State 22-13 in the quarterfinals, before winning three duals on day two, capped off by a comeback victory over the Hokies, who led 18-4 after five bouts. Dustin Kilgore and Keith Witt collected four wins each.
OPPONENT HISTORY
Kent State's only meeting with Rider also came at the Virginia Duals in 2003 with the Broncs claiming a 24-17 victory. If the Golden Flashes face Arizona State, it will be the first meeting in the history of the two programs. Earlier this season, KSU extended its all-time series lead against Chattanooga to 10-1. Following last season's Virginia Duals, Penn State leads the all-time series witht the Flashes 6-0.
LAST ACTION
Despite resting five starters, Kent State had little trouble with Cleveland State Tuesday night in a 33-3 victory at Woodling Gym. The Golden Flashes captured 9-of-10 matches and scored major decisions in the final three bouts from Casey Newburg, Keith Witt and Joe Tymoszczuk. Ross Tice put together a five-point move in the final seconds of his match for an 8-6 comeback victory.
RECENT ACTION
Kent State claimed a top eight finish in each of the five upper weight classes, while five other Golden Flashes came up one win shy of placing last week at the Southern Scuffle. Junior Dustin Kilgore's fifth place at 197 was the highest for the Flashes, who finished sixth in the team standings at the Greensboro Coliseum. Joe Tymoszczuk (285) racked up six wins and three pins on the way to a sixth place. Ross Tice (165) and Casey Newburg each claimed seventh place, while Brandonn Johnson (174) grabbed an eighth place. The Golden Flashes finished sixth of 34 teams
UP NEXT
The Golden Flashes will battle three opponents in one day at the Wendy's Duals Jan. 15, hosted by Ashland University. KSU opens its day against Newberry, followed by battles with Purdue and Campbell.
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 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 19-2 on the season and recently raised his victory total to 116, 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 75-24-1 in dual meets.
WEIGHT-BY-WEIGHT BREAKDOWN
125- Junior Nic Bedelyon (10-1) is ranked in the Top 10 of every poll, despite sitting out the Southern Scuffle with an injury. His most recent victory was a 7-4 win over No. 24 Anthony Zanetta of Pitt. Since the 2009 NCAA Championships, Bedelyon has suffered just one loss to Missouri's Alan Waters. In his first nine matches of the season, the 2009 All-American had been nothing short of dominant, going 4-0 at the Body Bar with two major decisions. In the finals, he blanked No. 13 Frank Perrelli (Cornell) 4-0. His most impressive outing of the year came at the Hershey Duals on Nov. 13, going 3-0 on the day. Bedelyon tore apart No. 10 Jarrod Garnett of Virginia Tech 15-0, sealing a technical fall 45 seconds into the third period. He is 6-1 in dual meets and six of his 10 wins have come by way of major decision, pin or tech fall. Bedelyon saw his first action in over a year on Nov. 6 with a 15-5 major decision over Chattanooga's Preston Garner and a first period pin of Iowa State's Patrick Hunter.
Also making the trip at 125 will be sophomore Stevie Mitcheff (18-6), who earned his first career dual win (8-2) Tuesday at Cleveland State. On Dec. 12 at the Cleveland State Open, Mitcheff recorded a pin and a tech fall in his 5-0 championship day. 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. He went 4-2 at the Southern Scuffle, with his losses coming to No. 4 James Nicholson (Old Dominion) and No. 16 Frank Martellotti (Penn State).
133- True freshman Tyler Small (10-8) 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 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. 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. Most recently, he went 2-2 at the Southern Scuffle. Sophomore Sean Collins could also see action.
141- Sophomore Chase Skonieczny (12-11) earned his second dual win of the year at Cleveland State. He has suffered nine losses against Top 20 competition this season and went 3-2 at the Southern Scuffle. He earned two technical falls and a major decision last week in Greensboro, while his two setbacks came against Top 15 opponents. 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 first dual win this season. Skonieczny also went 5-1 with two major decisions in a fifth place finish at the Hokie Open.
149- Junior Marcel Clopton (12-8) has won eight of his last 10 matches and improved to 4-1 in dual meets after beating Cleveland State's Lawrence Cavello 6-2 Tuesday. 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. 2 in the MAC. He went 2-2 at the Body Bar.
Sophomore Tommy Sasfy (14-9) went 3-2 at the Southern Scuffle, coming up one win shy of placing in the top eight. Sasfy 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.
157- Senior Matt Cathell (8-3) is No. 19 according to D1CW and No. 2 according to MAC coaches. Cathell carries a three-match winning streak 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 (4-5) claimed a convincing 8-3 win over CSU's Matt Donahoe Tuesday. Shuster went 2-2 at the Southern Scuffle. He sat out the Body Bar with illness after going 1-1 at the Hokie Open.
165- Junior Ross Tice (15-8) improved to 4-3 in dual meets following a comeback win Tuesday. 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. Tice is currently ranked No. 26 by WrestlingReport.com. He is also No. 3 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.
174- Redshirt freshman Brandonn Johnson (15-10) won five matches at the Southern Scuffle on the way to an eighth place. Johnson 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. He is currently No. 3 in the MAC. Johnson's only setback there came against No. 1 Mack Lewnes of Cornell, whom he also lost to at the Scuffle. Johnson has dropped back-to-back, one-point decisions in his last two duals following a 5-1 victory over UNC's Tom Ferguson. Four 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.
184- Sophomore Casey Newburg (13-10) was dominant Tuesday with his third major decision of the year, a 15-3 walloping of Corbin Boone. Newburg went 4-2 in his seventh place finish at the Southern Scuffle, which included an 8-7 victory over No. 18 Nate Graham (Bloomsburg). Newburg is No. 3 according to MAC Coaches. He jumped out to early leads in dual meet lossess 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. Six 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.
Sophomore Keith Witt (14-8) earned a major decision win Tuesday, competing at 197 for the first time in his career. Witt came up one win shy of placing in the 184-pound bracket at the Southern Scuffle last week. He also defeated eighth-seeded Bagna Tovuujav 10-9, before falling to No. 2 Chris Honeycutt. Witt had a strong performance at the Cleveland State Open winning five matches in his fifth place finish that included three pins. He currently leads the team with six falls on the year.
197- Junior All-American Dustin Kilgore (19-2) is ranked No. 5 by W.I.N, and AWN 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 . 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. 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. 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. Fourteen of Kilgore's 19 wins have come via tech. fall, pin or major decision.
285- Junior Brendan Barlow (12-7) has gone toe-to-toe with a pair of Top five opponents in his last two duals. He fell to No. 5 Dom Bradley (Missouri) in overtime, before No. 2 Ryan Tomei of Pitt edged him 6-5. Currently ranked No. 12 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. Barlow won three matches at the Southern Scuffle, coming up one win shy of placing. 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.
After starting the season at 197 pounds, senior Joe Tymoszczuk (8-7) has moved up to heavyweight, where he is 7-3. Tymoszczuk placed sixth at the Southern Scuffle in a bracket that included 11 Top 20 wrestlers. Tymoszczuk won six matches over two days and recorded three pins. On day two, Tymoszczuk topped 11th seeded Ben Berhow of Minnesota 4-3 and seventh seeded Jeremy Johnson of Ohio 3-1 in overtime. His three pins all came on the opening day, coming against UNC-Greensboro's James Payne, Army's Christian Botero and NC State's Robert Isola. He scored an 11-2 major decision win Tuesday at Cleveland 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 710 dual meets since the program began in 1927.
WINNING BIG
Eleven times since last season the Golden Flashes have won a dual meet by 18 or more points. A 47-0 blowout of Ashland on Jan. 17 was Kent State's largest margin of victory since 2005. KSU's 33-3 blasting of Cleveland State on Jan. 4, has been its largest margin of victory this season.
