Kent State University
Navy Classic
McCracken, Rooney Lead Flashes at Navy Classic
11/23/2019 7:32:00 PM | Wrestling
ANNAPOLIS,MD- Colin McCracken and Tim Rooney each had second-place finishes and Andrew McNally finished fifth to help the Golden Flashes to a 11th place overall finish in the 18-team Navy Classic held on Saturday.
Kent State amassed 58.5 points on Saturday to finish 11th overall, just two points behind Air Force. Virginia Tech won the tournament with 116 points, nine points better than Campbell.
After receiving a bye in the first round, Rooney, the eighth-ranked wrestler knocked off Jacbon Allen of Navy in a 6-5 decision. Rooney then took down the top-ranked wrestler, Devan Turner of Oregon State in a 3-1 decision. The fifth-year senior met Garrett Pepple of Michigan State, defeating the Spartan 7-5. Rooney's bid for a title was stopped by Noah Gonser of Campbell in a narrow 5-4 defeat.
At 197, McCracken, the seventh-ranked wrestler in the bracket, opened with a 22-3 tech fall of William Jarrell of American. He then advanced with a 7-3 decision over Nino Bastianelli of Brown, then earned a major decision over Drew Phipps of Bucknell, the bracket's second-ranked wrestler. He punched his ticket to the title match with another decision victory, 6-2, over Nick May of Michigan State. However, McCracken's bid for a title was thwarted in a narrow, 3-2 defeat to Jordan Pagano of Rutgers.
Andrew McNally earned a fifth-place finish at 174 on Saturday, going 5-1 in six matches on Saturday. McNally dispatched Blake Wilson of Ohio in a decision and Conner Allshouse of American in a major decision. McNally then faced a familiar foe in Layne Malczewski of Michigan State. McNally earned a comeback 13-11 sudden victory win as part of the Kent State Tri-Meet but the Spartan won the rematch in a 10-6 decision between the fourth and fifth seeded wrestlers. Malczewski would go on to finish third on Saturday. McNally shook off the loss, winning his way through the consolation bracket with one decision and two major decision victories.
Elsewhere in the tournament…
At 125 pounds, Earl Blake went 3-2 in his five matches on Saturday, picking up a pair of falls on the afternoon, while Tomas Gutierrez went 0-2 on Saturday.
At 141, Cory Simpson went 2-2 on the afternoon picking up wins by decision and major decision. Raphael Rodriguez went 0-2 in his two matches on Saturday.
At 149, Leno Ciotti, Kody Komara and Ian Senz all went 0-2 on the afternoon as did Brady Chrisman at 157.
Kade Byland went 2-2 with a bye at 165, earning a pair of decision victories over Dillon Taylor and Brian Case of the Naval Academy.
Kent State sent three wrestlers at 184 with Shane Mast going 2-2 with a pair of decision victories and Tyler Bates and Lane Hinkle going 0-2 after byes in the opening round.
At 285, Spencer Berthold had a solid showing, going 2-2 on the afternoon. Berthold earned a fall of John Birchmeier at the 3:41 mark and a 4-1 victory by decision over Will Hilliard of Old Dominion.
Kent State will take a bit of time off for the Thanksgiving holiday and finals week before returning to action. Next, the Golden Flashes head to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Invitational on December 6th and 7th.
Players Mentioned
