Flashes to Visit Missouri Sunday Live on FloWrestling and Gohiocasts
Kent State will continue to run the gauntlet of nationally-ranked opponents when it travels to Missouri Sunday (Dec. 5) at the Hearnes Center in Columbia. The Tigers (5-3) are No. 16 in the NWCA Coaches Poll and as high as No. 11 in internet polls, while the Golden Flashes (2-3) are receiving Top 25 votes in the coaches poll and are No. 13 according InterMat’s tournament rankings.
VIDEO STREAMING & LIVE STATS
Sunday’s meet will be streamed live on both flowrestling.org and Gohiocasts.com as the feature meet of the week on Flo’s Big Live Duals Series. Live stats can be viewed at nwcaonline.com. The opening match is slated to begin at 2 p.m. Eastern.
LAST ACTION
The Golden Flashes placed second of 11 teams at the Body Bar Invitational on Nov. 20 in Ithaca, finishing only behind No. 1 Cornell. Nic Bedelyon (125), Dustin Kilgore (197) and Brendan Barlow (285) all won individual titles, while Ross Tice (165) placed third. KSU placed 10 wrestlers in the top five of eight different weight classes, including four fourth place finishes.
DUAL SERIES HISTORY
Kent State will be facing Missouri for the fourth time in school history and the first time in Columbia. The Tigers hold a 3-0 series advantage, with all meets coming at neutral sites. Most recently, Missouri downed the Flashes 22-15 on Jan. 14, 2006 at the NWCA National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa. KSU has not defeated a Big 12 opponent since 1979.
A LOOK AT MISSOURI
Seven of the 10 Tigers expected to see action on Sunday are ranked in a Top 25 national poll. In its most recent action, Missouri earned a pair of impressive dual victories over No. 12 Lehigh (21-10) and No. 25 Maryland (18-12) on Nov. 27 at the Northeast Duals in Albany, N.Y. The Tigers finished 10th at last season’s NCAA Championships.
DUAL SUCCESS
Since the 2005-06 season, the Golden Flashes have gone 73-23-1 in dual meets.
KILGORE CLAIMS CAREER WIN NUMBER 100
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 13-0 on the season and recently raised his victory total to 110, which is tied for 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.
FLASHES MOVE AHEAD OF CHIPPEWAS IN MAC POLL
Kent State was represented in the top four of all 10 weight classes in the Nov. 10 Mid-American Conference Coaches Poll. The Flashes earned 23.5 total points, claiming the top spot just ahead of Central Michigan 23.0.
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 after going 4-0 at the Body Bar with a pin, a tech fall and a major decision.
WEIGHT-BY-WEIGHT BREAKDOWN
125- Junior Nic Bedelyon (9-0) has been nothing short of dominant this season, most recently going 4-0 at the Body Bar with two major decisions. In the finals, he blanked No. 19 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 5-0 in dual meets and six of his nine 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. The 2009 All-American is ranked No. 3 by The Open Mat and No. 6 by Intermat. Bedelyon will be tested Sunday by freshman Alan Waters, who is 18-0 and ranked No. 11 in two polls.
133- True freshman Tyler Small (6-5) continued to show potential at the Body Bar with a fourth place finish and a convincing 15-8 victory over 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 will be competing in just his third collegiate dual on Sunday. Missouri’s Nathan McCormick (9-3) is No. 17 according to WrestlingReport.com.
141- Sophomore Chase Skonieczny (8-7) placed fourth at the Body Bar with a 2-1 victory over top-seeded Hicks Manson of Cornell. Skonieczny dropped his consolation final bout in overtime. His first five losses came to ranked opponents. He 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. Missouri senior Todd Schavrien (6-2) is ranked No. 10 according to Amateur Wrestling News.
149- Sophomore Tommy Sasfy (7-5) went 4-2 at the Hokie Open, coming up one win short of placing in the top six. Either Sasfy or junior Marcel Clopton (4-6) will get Sunday’s start at 149. Clopton went 2-2 at the Body Bar and earned a dual win against Chattanooga. Redshirt freshman Kyle Bradley (4-4) is expected to get the start for the Tigers. Bradley is No. 25 according to WrestlingReport.com.
157- Senior Matt Cathell (6-3) tallied his fifth pin of the season against North Carolina at the Hershey Duals. He sat out the Body Bar with an injury. This year, Cathell is competing at 157 for the first time in his career. He racked up four pins and a major decision in his opening weekend and placed third at the Hokie Open. Two of his losses have come at the hands of No. 12 Pete Yates of Virginia Tech. Cathell is No. 20 according to D1CW. Junior Danny Gonsor is 8-4 with the Tigers since transferring from Virginia.
165- Junior Ross Tice (8-5) went 3-1 with a major decision in his third place finish at the Body Bar. He is currently ranked No. 17 by W.I.N. and AWN. Tice 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. He is 2-2 in duals this season. Redshirt freshman Zach Toal (4-4) is No. 12 according to InterMat.
174- Redshirt freshman Brandonn Johnson (10-5) won four straight bouts in his fifth place finish at the Body Bar. Johnson’s only loss came against No. 1 Mack Lewnes of Cornell and his first victory was a 16-0 tech. fall. In his most recent dual, Johnson earned a 5-1 victory over UNC’s Tom Ferguson. Three of his five 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. Missouri senior Dorian Henderson (10-2) is ranked as high as No. 15 after earning three wins at the Northeast Duals.
184- Sophomore Casey Newburg (8-6) 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 six 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. Tiger sophomore Mike Larson (9-2) has seen action at both 184 and 197.
197- Junior All-American Dustin Kilgore (13-0) is ranked No. 1 in five different polls in his first season at 197 pounds. Since January of 2009, Kilgore has won in 35 straight dual meets, after tallying 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. Nine of Kilgore’s 13 wins have come via tech. fall, pin or major decision. Sophomore Jake Glore (1-3) is expected to take the mat for the Tigers.
285- Junior Brendan Barlow (9-3) 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. 12 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. Missouri junior Dom Bradley is 9-3 and ranked No. 6 in four different polls.
UP NEXT
No. 18 Pittsburgh will host the Golden Flashes Dec. 12, renewing a regional rivalry that went four straight seasons from 2006-09.
