Flashes in Fifth Place Following Day one of Southern Scuffle
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Despite having two starters out of the lineup, Kent State sits in fifth place following day one of the Southern Scuffle and nearly 12 hours of wrestling at the Greensboro Coliseum. Five Golden Flashes advanced to Thursday's quarterfinals, while seven others remain alive in the consolation bracket.
"All things considered, it was a very good first day," Head Coach Jim Andrassy said. "But tomorrow's the day where most of the second-stringers are eliminated and you really find out a lot about your team."
Sophomores Keith Witt and Casey Newburg both advanced to the quarterfinals at 184 pounds. Witt upset eighth-seeded Bagna Tovuujav 10-9 of George Mason to make his way into the round of 16 and defeated Ohio's Ryan Garringer 5-3 to complete a 3-0 day. Newburg knocked off No. 18 Nathan Graham of Bloomsburg 8-7 in the round of 16 and topped Kazden Ikehara of Air Force 8-3 in his opening bout. In addition, senior Chris Estep had three straight wins at 184 after dropping his opener.
"Keith and Casey just wrestled hard today," Andrassy said. "Casey's been real close to beating a ranked guy and today he got it done."
Sophomore Tommy Sasfy was the surprise of the day for the Golden Flashes, going 3-0, while making his way into the quarterfinals. Sasfy earned a pair of shutout victories in his first two matches and topped Virginia's Derek Valenti 3-1 in the round of 16. Also competing at 149 was junior Marcel Clopton, who won his opening bout before running into No. 10 Kurt Kinser of Indiana. Clopton followed his loss with three straight shutout wins over opponents from George Mason, Gardner-Webb and Virginia.
Junior Ross Tice (165) had a pair of comfortable victories with scores of 8-2 and 4-0 to make his way into the round of 16 and edged eighth-seeded Nick Sulzer of Virginia 6-5 for a spot in Thursday's quarterfinals.
"Ross didn't wrestle his best today," Andrassy said. "He's been sick, but he's found ways to win."
Junior Dustin Kilgore pinned Hofstra's Tim Murphy in the second period and Liberty's Aaron Thompson in the first period. He will face Edinboro's Shawn Fendone in Thursday's quarterfinal.
Junior Brendan Barlow (285) pinned North Carolina's Michael Gregory in the second period of his opener, but dropped a 4-3 decision to Minnesota's Ben Berhow. Barlow bounced back against Bloomsburg's Zach Walsh. Also at heavyweight, senior Joe Tymoszczuk started his day with back-to-back pins against North Carolina's Robert Isola and Army's Christian Botero. After a loss to Minnesota's Anthony Nelson, Tymoszczuk stayed alive with a fall over North Carolina's James Payne.
With Nic Bedelyon sitting out due to injury, sophomore Stevie Mitcheff was the Flashes' lone representative at 125, going 4-1 on the day. Mitcheff extended his winning streak to six in the opening round, before falling to top-seeded James Nicholson of Old Dominion 6-2. Mitcheff battled back with 5-2 decisions over Michigan's Grant Pizzo and Virginia's Gabriel Gomez. He then upended Army's David White 9-4.
Freshman Brandonn Johnson claimed tech fall and major decision victories, before facing No. 1 Mack Lewnes of Cornell for the second time this season. Lewnes pinned Johnson late in the first period. Johnson kept his placement hopes alive with a 3-2 win over Indiana's Nick Avery.
Junior Chase Skonieczny (141) easily made his way into the round of 16 with a 15-0 tech fall of Appalachian State's Austin Brown and an 8-0 major decision over VMI's David Yost. He then fell victim to No. 2 Michael Thorn of Minnesota, but scored another tech fall (16-0) over Utah Valley State's Justin Morrill.
True freshman Tyler Small (133) went 2-2, earning a pair of victories by major decision. Sophomore Mallie Shuster (157) also went 2-2.
Joining Tice at 165 was Sli Bostelman, who went 2-2, downing opponents from Indiana and Navy.
Cornell leads the team standings with 54 points, just ahead of Penn State at 50.5. The Golden Flashes totaled 43.5 points.
The top eight places in each bracket will be determined Thursday, beginning at 9 a.m.
