Wrestling Upends Eastern Michigan

KENT, Ohio -- The Kent State University wrestling team won the last three matches to post a come-from-behind victory over visiting Eastern Michigan University 22-15 Thursday (Jan. 15) at Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.

The win ended a seven-match losing streak for the Golden Flashes (2-9) and evened their Mid-American Conference record at 1-1.

After falling behind 15-10 through seven matches, Kent State roared back and clinched the win in the final bout on sophomore Drew Opfers (Sandusky, Ohio/St. Mary Central Catholic) 21-4 technical fall over Matt Cole at 125 pounds. Opfer had six takedowns and three near falls in ending the match in just under five minutes.

Junior Nick Hiller (Greenville, Ohio/Ellsworth [Iowa] C.C.) put the Flashes in position for the win with an 11-2 major decision over Tony Lyssiotis at 197 pounds to trim Eastern Michigans lead to 15-14. Redshirt freshman heavyweight Willie Leonard (Chestertown, Md./Kent County) then put Kent State on top for good (17-14) with a 7-5 victory over Tim Breyer. Leonard scored a reversal late in the third period for a 6-5 lead and earned an extra point for advantage time.

Earlier in the match, senior co-captain Mike Tolar (Parma, Ohio/Lakewood St. Edward) became the fourth wrestler in Kent States storied history to reach 100 career wins with a 9-3 victory over Chad Roush at 157 pounds. Only Nick Nemeth (121), Steve Reedy (110) and current KSU head coach Jim Andrassy (106) had more wins in a KSU uniform than Tolar, who currently is ranked 18th in the nation with a 20-3 overall record. The win was especially satisfying for Tolar, as it came at the expense of Roush, who had eliminated him from the MAC Tournament a year ago.

It feels really good (to reach 100 wins), especially since he beat me in the MAC Tournament last year, said Tolar. To have it happen at home, it couldnt have come at a better time.

Tolars win gave Kent State a 10-3 lead, but the Eagles battled back with three straight wins and took the lead on Tim Hoffs pin of Ardian Ramadani (Garfield, N.J./Garfield) in 5:54 at 174 pounds. Ed Magrys then gave Eastern Michigan its largest lead at 15-10 with a 5-3 win over sophomore Alex Camargo (Brook Park, Ohio/Berea) at 184 pounds.

Kent States Jared Opfer (Sandusky, Ohio/St. Mary Central Catholic) opened the match with a 13-4 major decision over Philip Plowman at 133 pounds. After the Eagles Jermaine Thompson edged Nate Daugherty (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) 6-3 at 141 pounds, Kent State sophomore Jason Bake (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson) widened the margin to 7-3 with a 7-1 victory over Marcus Gordon at 149 pounds. Bakes takedown with six seconds left in the second period proved to be all the scoring he needed.

Its nice to get a win and help everyones confidence said Andrassy. But we still havent wrestled our best. We need to wrestle to win, not to lose, and have 10 guys do that at the same time.

The Flashes win was their 20th straight over Eastern Michigan since a 24-24 tie in the 1982-83 season. Kent State is 26-0-1 against the Eagles since 1975 and 31-1-1 all-time.

Kent State will return to action this Sunday, Jan. 18, when the Golden Flashes travel to DeKalb, Ill., to face Northern Illinois University. First bout is 2 p.m. CST.

Kent State 22, Eastern Michigan 15			K	E133Jared Opfer (K) major dec. Philip Plowman, 13-4		4	0141Jermaine Thompson (E) dec. Nate Daugherty, 6-3		4	3149Jason Bake (K) dec. Marcus Gordon, 7-1		7	3157#18/20/18 Mike Tolar (K) dec. Chad Roush, 9-3		10	3165#12/14/16 J.J. Holmes (E) dec. Nick Brenner, 10-5	10	6174Tim Hoff (E) pinned Ardian Ramadani, 5:54		10	12184Ed Magrys (E) dec. Alex Camargo, 5-3		10	15197Nick Hiller (K) major dec. Tony Lyssiotis, 11-2	14	15Hwt.Willie Leonard (K) dec. Tim Breyer, 7-5		17	15125Drew Opfer (K) tech. fall Matt Cole, 21-4 (4:55)	22	15Referee:  Joe ChesbroughRankings are Amateur Wrestling News/Intermat/The Wrestling Mall.

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