Kent State University
Brockport/Oklahoma Invitational
Three Flashes Win Titles at Oklahoma/Brockport Invitational
11/8/2014 8:59:00 PM | Wrestling
Three Kent State wrestlers won individual championships as the Golden Flashes opened their season with a third place team finish at the Brockport/Oklahoma Invitational Saturday. Senior 174-pounder Caleb Marsh, and juniors Kyle Bauer (141) and Cole Baxter (197) each claimed their first tournament titles of the year, while Oklahoma won the team title.
Junior Mack McGuire also reached the finals, while seven other Flashes placed in the top eight spots inside The College at Brockport's Special Events Recreation Center.
"I was pretty happy with the way we wrestled, considering we had two of our best guys out of the lineup," Head Coach Jim Andrassy said of Ian Miller and Mike DePalma. "Oklahoma wrestled all of their starters and if we had those two, we would have been right there with them. There's going to be times throughout the year we have guys out so our backups need to get better."
Bauer, who went 4-0, looked the most dominant according to Andrassy. His only close match came in the finals with a 6-4 decision over Lock Haven's Robert Rehm.
"Kyle stayed in good position throughout every match," Andrassy said. "He had some good offensive attacks and good re-attacks. He had a good summer and good fall and he's really stepping up and taking advantage of this opportunity."
Marsh also went 4-0, notching a pair of pins and a major decision. He topped Army's Brian Harvey 12-9 in the finals.
"Caleb led throughout all his matches," Andrassy said. "He did well on his feet and on the mat. He didn't like the way last year ended. I think he's come back more determined and he's off to great start."
Baxter defeated Bloomsberg's Mike Mirra 9-2 in the semifinals, before downing Lock Haven's Phil Sprenkle 4-2 in the finals.
"Hopefully he's turned the corner," Andrassy said of Baxter this season.
McGuire fell in the finals to Oklahoma's Cody Brewer, who is No. 3 according to Amateur Wrestling News.
Ranked Sooners didn't go unscathed however, as sophomore heavyweight Mimmo Lytle upset No. 9 Ross Larson 8-1 on his way to a fourth place.
"Mimmo was able to get a four-pointer and then he took him down two more times," Andrassy said of the quarterfinal bout. "Now he's just got to get better in certain positions."
True freshman Anthony Tutolo had a solid debut with a fourth place finish at 125. Tutolo won his first two matches before dropping a tough 3-2 decision to Oklahoma's Ryan Millhof in the semifinals.
"He's got a really good sense of what college wrestling is all about," Andrassy said. "I liked what he did for his first time out there."
Two Flashes placed at 125 as junior Del Vinas was seventh, going 3-2. Two other Flashes placed at 165 as junior Tyler Buckwalter was fifth and redshirt freshman Jerald Spohn was eighth.
True freshman Sam Breese gave Kent State two place winners at heavyweight with a sixth. Junior Mike Vollant was eighth at 184.
The Golden Flashes will take on No. 4 Ohio State Thursday night (Nov. 13) in Columbus.
Players Mentioned
