Kent State University
Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
Flashes Among 46 Teams in Las Vegas
11/30/2017 9:34:00 AM | Wrestling
Ten Kent State grapplers will face their most daunting task of the regular season Friday and Saturday (Dec. 1-2) at the 36th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational. The Golden Flashes will be among 46 teams competing inside the Las Vegas Convention Center. Fourteen teams in the field are ranked in the NWCA's Top 25.
Action begins at noon Eastern (9 Pacific) on both days. The championship round is slated for 6 p.m. (3 Pacific) on Saturday. Live video can be seen with a FloPro subscription on FloWrestling.org.
In their most recent competition, the Flashes split a pair of duals last week at the Thanksgiving Throwdown, defeating Cleveland State 36-9 and falling to Ohio State 38-9.
Competing Teams
|
Air Force |
American |
No. 12 Arizona State |
Army |
|
Binghamton |
Brown |
Bucknell |
Cal Poly |
|
California Baptist |
CSU Bakersfield |
No. 19 Cent. Michigan |
Columbia |
|
No. 14 Cornell |
Drexel |
Duke |
Eastern Michigan |
|
No. 23 Edinboro |
Embry Riddle |
Fresno State |
Harvard |
|
Iowa State |
Kent State |
No. 8 Minnesota |
Navy |
|
Nebraska-Kearney |
No. 13 Nebraska |
North Carolina |
North Dakota State |
|
North Idaho |
No. 16 Northern Iowa |
Northern Colorado |
No. 2 Ohio State |
|
No. 21 Oklahoma |
Oregon State |
No. 24 Pitt |
No. 20 Purdue |
|
No. 25 Stanford |
No. 9 Michigan |
Michigan State |
Utah Valley |
|
No. 10 Virginia Tech |
West Virginia |
Virginia |
Western Wyoming |
|
No. 18 Wisconsin |
Wyoming |
|
|
Kent State Tournament Entrants
125: Will Bardezbain (9-4)
133: No. 19* Anthony Tutolo (12-4)
141: Tim Rooney (15-3)
149: No. 20^ Nick Monico (13-4)
157: No. 20* Casey Sparkman (14-5)
165: Isaac Bast (7-7)
174: Dylan Barreiro (14-7)
184: Colin McCracken (6-7)
197: Shane Mast (4-9)
285: Devin Nye (13-8)
^InterMat Rankings
*Amateur Wrestling News Rankings
Quick Shots
- The NWCA honored Kent State for having the fourth highest grade point average in the nation last season at 3.423
- Since the 2005-06 season, Kent State is 151-82 in dual meets.
- The Golden Flashes are off to a 6-1 start in duals for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
- Five of the Flashes' six dual wins this year have been by 11 or more points.
- Casey Sparkman leads the Flashes with 10 bonus-point victories (5 tech falls, 5 major decisions).
- Sophomore Tim Rooney was named Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Week on Nov. 15, after going 5-0 at the Journeymen Duals and Journeymen Classic.
- Rooney and Devin Nye both have four pins on the season.
- Junior Kyle Conel is No. 18 in The Open Mat rankings at 197.
- Will Bardezbain is the lone senior in this weekend's lineup.
Last Season and Tournament History
Last season, Anthony Tutolo led the way for the Flashes with a sixth place at 133. Tutolo won four matches, including a 9-8 comeback victory over two-time All-American Earl Hall (Iowa State). Kent State finished 25th in the team standings. Ohio State was the team champion, while Wisconsin was the runner-up.
In 2015, Kent State finished eighth of 40 teams as three Golden Flashes earned spots on the podium. Kent State has had an individual champion in three of its last four trips to the tournament (Ian Miller 2015, Dustin Kilgore 2012, Nic Bedelyon 2011).
Navy Classic
In its most recent tournament, four Golden Flashes placed in the top five spots at the Navy Classic:
133- Anthony Tutolo-5th
149- Nick Monico-5th
157- Casey Sparkman- 4th
197- Kyle Conel- 4th
MAC Rankings
Four Golden Flashes are in the latest November MAC rankings
No. 4 Anthony Tutolo, 133
No. 4 Nick Monico, 149
No. 3 Casey Sparkman, 157
No. 2 Stephen Suglio, 197
Up Next
The Golden Flashes open up Mid-American Conference competition Sunday, Dec. 10, hosting Buffalo at 2 p.m., inside the M.A.C. Center.
Players Mentioned
