Big Pins, Big Wins
1/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
KENT, Ohio - Kent State won by fall in the two of the first three matches and cruised to a 31-10 over Northern Ilinois in the Flashes Mid-American Conference opener.
"We
did what we had to do to win," said head coach Jim Andrassy. "We knew
we had more talent than Northern Illinois and that is why I said before
the match we were going for the shutout."
Sophomore Nic Bedelyon
got the match rolling with a third-period fall at 125. Bedelyon caught
the Huskies' Israel Montemayor with a self-described “elevator,” a
favorite move that Bedelyon stated he brought from high school
wrestling.
Northern Illinois would tie the match at six with a second-period pin of redshirt junior Danny Mitcheff.
The
Golden Flashes struck back at 141 when fifth-year senior Drew Lashaway
used a second-period cement mixer for a pin to defeat NIU's Patrick
McLemore. The win for Lashaway was payback for last year's final at the
MAC Championships where McLemore turned a 6-4 deficit into an 8-6 win.
The
Huskies cut the deficit to 12-10 with a major decision at 149, but the
Golden Flashes won the final six matches to close out NIU.
At 157, KSU's redshirt freshman Ross Tice
recorded a first-period takedown to rack up 1:40 in riding time before
an escape by NIU's Bryan Deutsch made the score 2-1 after one. In the
second period, Deutsch chose down and took the lead with a reversal.
Tice tied the score when Deutsch was hit for his third caution and took
the lead with a reversal of his own. With only a stall warning on him
in the third, Tice hung on for the 5-3 win.
Kent State pushed the lead to 18-10 when redshirt junior Obie Simpson
claimed a 5-3 decision at 165. Simpson opened the match with a
takedown, but an escape in the first and second periods by NIU's John
Odeen tied the score at 2-2 entering the third period. In the final
stanza, Simpson started down and took the one-point lead with an
escape. He put the exclamation point on the match with a takedown in
the final 30 seconds.
Redshirt sophomore Chris Estep
kept the ball rolling with a 4-1 decision at 174. Estep recorded the
first-period takedown and rode the Huskies Derrick Yant out to finish
the period. In the second, Yant chose defense and cut the defict to 2-1
after two. Estep started the final period down and escaped for the 3-1
lead. Estep recorded 1:51 of riding time for the final 4-1 win.
It was the battle of reversals for redshirt freshman Dustin Kilgore
and NIU's Brad Dieckhaus at 184. With a 5-3 lead heading into the
second period, Dieckhaus started down and tied the score with a
reversal. Kilgore would hold on to the two-point lead after three with
a reverse of his own. A reversal by both wrestlers in the third and
2:26 of riding time gave Kilgore the 10-7 win and clinched the dual for
KSU. The Golden Flashes were up 24-10 after eight matches.
Fifth-year Eric Chine,
up 6-3 after two periods at 197, almost was caught in the third period.
Chine opened the period with a reversal and took a 10-4 lead with his
fourth takedown of the match, but Northern Illinois' Scott Penny almost
caught the Flashes. With Chine holding on to a 12-5 lead, Penny got a
takedown and two back points to make them match interesting in the
final seconds. However, Chine held on and won 13-9 with the riding
point.
In the final match of the afternoon, Porter
showed the Kent State faithful why he is the third-ranked wrestler in
the country. Putting on a takedown clinic, Porter quickly scored the
two and added three back points. On defense to begin the second, Porter
quickly escaped and added two more takedowns for the 10-3 lead heading
into the final period of the match. In the third, Porter recorded three
more takedowns and a riding point for the 17-6 match win and cap a
31-10 win by the Golden Flashes.
After the match at 285, coach Andrassy talked about pushing Porter to score more points. "Porter gets a lead and just tries to hold on sometimes. He does not really want to push himself at times so I told him he had to get at least 10 points or he was running sprints tomorrow. He ended up getting 17 points so he scores when he wants to but we have to pressure him to go out and attack.
"I
tell our guys all the time to 'go out there and get exhausted.' There
is going to be a match down the road where you will be so tired, you
will have to go out there and figure out a way to win," Andrassy added.
Kent
State returns to action at home next Saturday (Jan. 31) at 7 p.m. with
the 24th-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers. Join Kent State's own Ty Linder as
he calls the action live from the M.A.C. Center beginning at 6:45 p.m.
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