Kent State Grapplers Ranked in Preseason Poll
9/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
NEWTON, Iowa Kent State will begin the 2008-09 campaign ranked 23rd in the nation, according to the preseason Wrestling International Newsmagazine (W.I.N.) released last Tuesday (Sept. 2).
It is the first time the Golden Flashes have been ranked to begin the season.
Individually, senior Jermail Porter will begin the season ranked seventh in the 285-pound weight class. Porter finished the season with a 34-11 record and has 88 wins in his Kent State career.
Also ranked is freshman Nic Bedelyon at 125 pounds. Bedelyon is ranked 11th by the W.I.N. poll, coming off a season where he finished 27-12 with a team-high eight falls in becoming the Mid-American Conference champion in his weight class.
The preseason ranking was bittersweet for Kent State Head Coach Jim Andrassy. “This is a good start. However, [senior] wrestlers like Eric Chine, Drew Lashaway and Dan Mitcheff are not in the poll but have good records against wrestlers who are ranked.
“We are better than our 23rd ranking, we just have to go out and prove it,” added Andrassy.
