Wrestlers Seeking Another Milestone Performance at 2011 NCAA Championships
3/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Six Kent State wrestlers will compete in the 2011 NCAA Championships in Philadelphia Thursday through Saturday (March 17-19) at the Wells Fargo Center. After producing four different All-Americans in the past two seasons, the No. 17 Golden Flashes look for another breakthrough performance in 2011 represented by Nic Bedelyon, Tyler Small, Matt Cathell, Ross Tice, Dustin Kilgore and Brendan Barlow. The 2011 KSU squad looks to: crown its first national champion in program history, produce three All-Americans in the same year for the first time and earn a Top 10 team finish for the first time since 1942.
TELEVISION, LIVE VIDEO, LIVE STATS
Saturday's championship finals can be seen live on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ESPNU will televise Session V on Saturday at 11 a.m. as well as both Friday sessions (III & IV) at 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday's sessions (I & II) can be seen live on the web at ESPN3.com. Live stats can be viewed on NWCAonline.com
SENSATIONAL 6-YEAR RUN
Kent State has now had at least five NCAA Championship qualifiers in each the last six years under Jim Andrassy. During that time the Golden Flashes have gone 85-26-1 in dual meets and have placed second at the MAC Championships in six straight seasons.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Kent State has produced 20 All-Americans at the NCAA Championships dating back to Cameron Falcone's third place finish in 1939. That season under Head Coach Joe Begala, the Golden Flashes finished 12th as a team. Begala's teams earned fifth place in both 1941 and 1942, the highest finishes in program history. They were also the only two seasons in which Kent State wrestlers (Mike Slepecky, Walter Porowski) earned spots in the championship finals.
Last season, the Flashes finished 25th behind All-American performances from Danny Mitcheff (6th) and Dustin Kilgore (7th).
In 2009, KSU finished tied for 18th in the team standings, the 12th Top 20 finish in school history and the first since 1985. Nic Bedelyon (125) and Jermail Porter (285) became the first All-Americans at Kent State since 1986 and were among the six Golden Flashes to each win at least two matches at the NCAA Championships.
LAST ACTION
In the MAC Championships' closest team race since 1992, Central Michigan edged Kent State 79-73.5 on March 6 at Northern Illinois' Convocation Center. Dustin Kilgore (197) and Nic Bedelyon (125) each won invidual titles for the Golden Flashes, while Brendan Barlow (285), Casey Newburg (184), Ross Tice (165) and Tyler Small (133) each placed second. Eight of Kent State's 10 starters earned a spot on the podium as Brandonn Johnson (174) placed third and Marcel Clopton (149)) grabbed a fourth.
DUSTIN KILGORE
CAREER RECORD: 130-11
• Three-time NCAA qualifier
• Three-time Mid-American Conference champion
• Has earned wins in 49 straight dual meets
• Earned No. 4 seed at 2011 NCAA Championships
• Will face Brent Haynes (Missouri) in opening round
2010-11
• 24 of Kilgore's 33 wins have come via tech. fall (4), pin (9) or major decision (11).
• Ranked No. 3 by WrestlingReport.com
• Defeated four opponents seeded in NCAA Top 12
• Went 12-1 against opponents in NCAA Championships
• Won second straight Body Bar Invitational title, going 4-0 with a pin, a technical fall, and a major decision
• Earned No. 1 ranking in five national polls after defeating previous No. 1, Cam Simaz of Cornell in finals of Body Bar and was named MAC Wrestler of the Week
• Named MAC Wrestler of the Week on Feb. 23 for the second time this season, following a second period pin of No. 11 Erik Schuth (Ohio) and a pin at Eastern Michigan in 17 seconds
• Won MAC Championships, defeating Schuth again 12-6 in finals, earning 22-9 major decision in semifinals
• Became first Kent State wrestler to reach 100 career victories during junior season
• Won individual title at Hokie Open, going 4-0 with a pair of tech falls
• Improved to 15-0 in carrer MAC duals
• Went 3-0 at Hershey Duals
• Placed fifth at the Southern Scuffle, going 4-2 with three pins and a major decision
• Moved up a weight class from 184 to 197
NIC BEDELYON
CAREER RECORD: 79-26
• Three-time NCAA qualifier
• Two-time Mid-American Conference champion
• Earned No. 6 seed at 2011 NCAA Championships
• Will face Garrett Frey (Princeton) in opening round
2010-11
• Was ranked as high as No. 3 by The Open Mat at 125 pounds
• Currently ranked No. 6 in three different polls
• Enters NCAA Championships riding a 12-match winning streak
• Won MAC title with 10-3 victory over Gabe Ramos (Ohio) in the finals
• Went 3-0 at Hershey Duals with 15-0 technical fall over nationally ranked Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech)
• Won Body Bar title, going 4-0 with two shutouts and two major decisions
• Went 5-0 in MAC duals, improving to 14-1 in his career
• Won his first nine matches of the season, after sitting out all of 2009-10
• Ranks second on the team in major decisions with six
• Has tallied four falls and two technical falls
• Earned a key 7-4 win over No. 24 Anthony Zanetta of Pitt, helping the Flashes to a 16-15 road victory.
• Is 7-0 in tournaments this season
BRENDAN BARLOW
CAREER RECORD: 83-34
• Two-time NCAA qualifier
• Will face No. 6 seed Ryan Tomei (Pittsburgh) in opening round
2010-11
• Currently ranked No. 11 by Amateur Wrestling News and No. 12 by W.I.N.
• Won second straight Body Bar title, going 4-0 without allowing a takedown
• Finished runner-up at MAC Champiosnhips, losing in SV2 against No. 2 Jarod Trice
• Only MAC dual loss also came against Trice
• Biggest win of the year was a 10-5 victory over Penn State's Cameron Wade, who is the No. 9 seed
• Has wrestled six matches against opponents seeded in Top 9 spots
• Defeated Ohio's Jeremy Johnson twice during final month of season
• Went 3-0 at Hershey Duals with wins over two Top 20 opponents
• Went 3-2 with a pin at Southern Scuffle
• Has three falls and three major decisions
ROSS TICE CAREER RECORD: 82-46
• Two-time NCAA qualifier
• Will face Donald Jones (West Virginia) in opening round
2010-11
• Went 4-1 at MAC Championships earning a true second place after a 14-3 major decision over former NCAA runner-up Mike Miller (Central Michigan)
• Ranked No. 29 by the NCAA Coaches Panel
• Placed seventh at Southern Scuffle with 5-2 mark
• Went 3-1 in third place finish at Body Bar
• Placed sixth at Hokie Open, going 3-2 with a tech fall
• Has second most wins on team
• Finished sixth at the Hokie Open
• Went 4-1 in MAC duals
• Scored a pivotal 17-2 tech fall win in Kent State's 18-16 dual win over Lehigh
• Scored a 10-1 major decision over Pitt's Adam Counterman, the only bonus points for either team in Kent State's 16-15 dual win over the Panthers.
• Named to Academic All-MAC Team in third straight season
MATT CATHELL
RECORD AT KENT STATE: 20-8
• Three-time NCAA qualifier
• Will face No. 5 seed Jesse Dong Virginia Tech in opening round
• Moved up a weight to 157 to start senior season
2010-11
• Currently ranked No. 15 by D1CollegeWrestling and No. 17 in final NCAA Coaches Panel
• Finished third at Hokie Open, going 4-1 with three pins and a major decision
• Went 4-0 in MAC duals
• Ranks third on the team in pins (6), and third in major decisions (5) despite sitting out two tournaments
• Provided crucial bonus points in KSU dual wins over Purdue and Lehigh with major decisions
TYLER SMALL 17-14
2010-11
• Established spot in starting lineup by December as a true freshman
• Earned automatic qualifying spot with second place finish at MAC Championships, where defeated Kevin Smith (Buffalo) in overtime of the semifinals
• Also defeated Smith at Body Bar where he finished fourth with a pin
• Placed third in collegiate debut at Hokie Open, going 4-1 with a pin
• Earned his first dual win of the year at Missouri with an 8-6 upset over No. 17 Nathan McCormick
• Ranked No. 33 by the NCAA Coaches Panel
• Tallied four pins on the year
• Went 2-2 at the Southern Scuffle
