Kent State University
NCAA Championships
Five Flashes to Compete Among Nation's Best in St. Louis
3/16/2015 9:33:00 PM | Wrestling
NCAA Brackets Complete Notes ESPN3 Wrestling
Kent State will be well represented at the 85th NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships March 19-21, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Sending five wrestlers this season, the Golden Flashes look to extend their six-year trend of having at least one All-American. Junior 157-pounder Ian Miller has his sights set even higher following a fourth place finish at last year's NCAA Championships. Miller will be joined by Mack McGuire, Tyler Small, Mike DePalma and Mimmo Lytle.
The 2015 season marks the ninth time in 10 years the Golden Flashes have sent five or more wrestlers to the national tournament and 10th consecutive season Kent State has sent four or more. All 10 weight classes will have 33-man brackets battling for All-America (Top 8) honors. Thursday's opening session begins at 12 Eastern/11 Central.
Every Session Televised, Every Match Covered
All six sessions will be televised on either ESPN or ESPNU and every match will be carried on ESPN3 throughout the entire three-day competition. Friday night's semifinals (Session IV) and Saturday night's finals (Session VI) can be seen on ESPN, both beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern. Sessions I, II, III and V can be seen on ESPNU. Adam Amin and Shawn Kenney will call the action and Quint Kessenich will be the reporter.
All eight individual mat feeds will be carried on ESPN3 throughout the entire tournament. Computer users will be able to view four different mats at one time.
Live scoring of all matches will be available on TrackWrestling.com throughout the tournament. Look for live updates on Twitter by following @KentStWrestl.
Projected Opening Round Matchups with Seeds
133: 16 Mack McGuire (29-11) vs. Gary Wayne Harding (28-11) Oklahoma State
141: Tyler Small (32-13) vs. 4 Devin Carter (29-3) Virginia Tech
149: Mike DePalma (21-17) vs. 13 Charles Cobb (20-5) Penn
157: 7 Ian Miller (12-4) vs. Doug Welch (27-11) Purdue
285: Mimmo Lytle (28-18) vs. 12 Denzel Dejournette (32-4) Appalachian State
Tournament History
Since 2009, five Golden Flashes have combined for eight All-American finishes, including two national final appearances by Dustin Kilgore, who became Kent State's first national champion in 2011.
Twenty different Golden Flashes have combined for 24 All-American finishes 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. Until Kilgore's championship in 2011, 1941 & 1942 were the only two seasons in which Kent State wrestlers (Mike Slepecky, Walter Porowski) earned spots in the championship finals.
With the efforts of Begala, the M.A.C. Center in Kent served as the host of the NCAA Championships in 1963 and 1967.
Last year in Oklahoma City, Ian Miller knocked off defending NCAA champion Derek St. John (Iowa) on his way to a fourth place finish. Mike DePalma went 2-2 in his first NCAA appearance. As a team, the Golden Flashes finished tied for 29th place, while Penn State won its fourth consecutive NCAA championship.
Quick Shots
• Six Flashes were ranked in the Top 30 spots of the latest NCAA Coaches Panel.
• Kent State is one of just five teams to win at least four matches against No.1 Missouri (24-0) in a dual meet this year.
• The 2014-15 season has been one of the most-traveled in program history, logging over 10,000 miles on buses.
• During the fall semester, the Flashes carried a 3.092 grade point average.
• The Mid-American Conference will be represented by 38 wrestlers in St.Louis
• Junior Mike DePalma leads the team with 14 bonus-point victories this year, following two pins at the MAC Championships.
• Junior Ian Miller ranks fourth among Kent State's career pin leaders with 32.
• Miller did not give up takedown in his 3-0 performance at the MAC Championships. The only opponent who has scored a takedown on him this season has been No. 1 Isiah Martinez (Illinois).
• Miller and Mimmo Lytle both finished 7-1 in MAC duals.
• Senior Tyler Small ranks third in career victories at Kent State with 128. Small won three open tournaments this season (EMU, Mercyhurst, Ashland).
• Kent State is No. 26 according to both Wrestling Report and No. 27 in Wrestling Insider NewsMagazine's Tournament Power Index.
• The Flashes' streak of six straight years with an All-American is the 13th best among active streaks in the nation
Kilgore at Fan Festival
Kent State's 2011 NCAA champion Dustin Kilgore will be practicing with USA Wrestling Thursday through Saturday in-between competition sessions at the NCAA Wrestling Fan Festival at Union Station.
Players Mentioned
