Kent State University
Mid-American Conference Championships
Four Flashes Earn NCAA Spots at MAC Championships
3/4/2018 4:29:00 PM | Wrestling
Four Kent State wrestlers are heading to the 2018 NCAA Championships after a strong Sunday performance at the 2018 Mid-American Conference Championships. One day after junior Casey Sparkman (157) locked up his NCAA spot, classmates Anthony Tutolo (133) and Kyle Conel (197) and senior Stephen Suglio (285) all clinched automatic bids Sunday.
The Golden Flashes finished fourth of eight teams with 98.0 points on the weekend inside Central Michigan's McGuirk Arena. No. 3 Missouri ran away with the team title with 177.0 points.
"This might have been the best second day of a MAC Tournament we've had since I've been here," said 15th year head coach Jim Andrassy. "We got a lot of first period takedowns that forced opponents to open up more and our guys just kept fighting."
Conel went 3-0 on the day to earn a true second place. He started his Sunday with a medical forfeit win over Central Michigan's Jordan Atienza. Conel then avenged a loss from earlier in the season, topping Buffalo's Joe Ariola 4-3. Ariola was the No. 3 seed at 197.
With two automatic bids available to the MAC at 197, Conel was able to square off with Eastern Michigan's Derek Hillman in a true second place match. Conel scored first period takedowns on an ankle pick re-shot and a double leg shot on his way to a 7-2 victory.
Suglio and Tutolo each needed third place finishes to secure their NCAA spots. Suglio pinned Ohio's Zack Parker in the second period in his consolation semifinal bout. After topping the No. 3 seed Parker, whom Suglio lost to earlier in the season, the Flashes' fifth-year senior upset No. 1 seed Jake Gunning of Buffalo 5-1.
"Stephen got a single leg and scored on a scramble," Andrassy said of the first period against Gunning. "Then the threat of his tilt earned him a stalling point."
Tutolo defeated Central Michigan's Dresden Simon 10-5 in his consolation semifinal bout and earned a medical forfeit over Ohio's Cam Kelly. Tutolo earned the automatic NCAA bid for the second straight season.
Sparkman settled for a second place. The No. 3 seed at 157 pounds, Sparkman fell to top-seeded Joey Lavallee of Missouri in Sunday's championship bout 8-2.
Six of the seven Flashes that competed Sunday earned at least one victory as Kent State won five of six matches in the consolation semifinals to start the day.
Junior Isaac Bast (165) topped Buffalo's Noah Grover 5-3 to start his day. Bast then settled for fourth place, dropping his consolation final in overtime 4-2 against Logan Parks of Central Michigan.
Redshirt freshman Dylan Barreiro (174) also finished fourth, dropping a 3-2 decision in his consolation final against Old Dominion's Seldon Wright.
Sophomore Tim Rooney (141) dropped his first match of the day, but bounced back for a fifth place finish with a 12-2 major decision over Buffalo's Jason Estevez.
"When you look at it where we finished last year compared to this year with a lot of the same guys, we're getting better," Andrassy said. "But we need to continue in this direction."
The 2018 NCAA Championships will take place March 15-17 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Players Mentioned
