Wrestling Falls at Northern Illinois, 25-12
1/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
DEKALB, Ill. -- The Kent State University wrestling team managed just three wins and lost to Northern Illinois University 25-12 Sunday (Jan. 18) in DeKalb, Ill.
With the loss, the Golden Flashes (2-10) fell below .500 in the Mid-American Conference at 1-2, while the Huskies improved to 7-3 overall and 1-0 in the league.
Kent State sophomore Drew Opfer (Sandusky, Ohio/St. Mary Central Catholic) won the opening match at 125 pounds over Gralan Early 10-9 but that was the only lead the Flashes would enjoy. Opfer is now 18-3 this season, including 7-0 in duals and 2-0 in the MAC.
Following three wins by the Huskies, 18th-ranked Mike Tolar (Parma, Ohio/Lakewood St. Edward) of Kent State defeated Joe Henning 10-5 at 157 pounds to improve to 21-3 on the season. Tolar also kept his dual-meet record perfect at 11-0 and improved his MAC mark to 3-0.
Northern Illinois then won the next four matches before Kent State heavyweight Willie Leonard (Chestertown, Md./Kent County) pinned Joe Sapp with five seconds left in the match. It was the third fall of the season for the Flashes redshirt freshman (10-9), who improved his MAC record to 2-0.
Kent State also endured three tough losses to nationally ranked opponents by a total of eight points. Senior Jared Opfer (Sandusky, Ohio/St. Mary Central Catholic) lost to 11th-ranked Sam Hiatt 6-4 at 133 pounds and sophomore Jason Bake (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson) fell to 18th-ranked Josh Wooten 8-6 at 149 pounds by two points apiece. Later in the match, sophomore Alex Camargo (Brook Park, Ohio/Berea) came up short to second-ranked Ben Heizer 7-3 at 184 pounds.
The Golden Flashes will have nearly two weeks off before returning to action Jan. 31 at the Virginia Duals in Charlottesville, Va., against the host Cavaliers, Old Dominion and Virginia Tech.
Northern Illinois 25, Kent State 12 K N125Drew Opfer (K) dec. Gralan Early, 10-9 3 0133#11 Sam Hiatt (N) dec. Jared Opfer, 6-4 3 3141Andy Hiatt (N) major dec. Nate Daugherty, 14-5 3 7149#18 Josh Wooten (N) dec. Jason Bake, 8-6 3 10157#18 Mike Tolar (K) dec. Joe Henning, 10-5 6 10165Alex Nelson (N) dec. Nick Brenner, 9-2 6 13174George Kirgan (N) pinned Ardian Ramadani, 1:41 6 19184#2 Ben Heizer (N) dec. Alex Camargo, 7-3 6 22197Greg Reardon (N) dec. Nick Hiller, 4-2 6 25Hwt.Willie Leonard (K) pinned Joe Sapp, 6:55 12 25 Note: Individual rankings are by Amateur Wrestling News.
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