Flashes Battle to Fourth Place Finish at Virginia Duals
1/11/2020 10:05:00 PM | Wrestling
HAMPTON, VA- Kent State finished fourth at the 40th annual Virginia Duals on Saturday, defeating Maryland and losing a tight third-place dual with Fresno State.
In the first dual of the day for Kent State, the Golden Flashes went up against the Big-10s Maryland Terrapins. The Terps had knocked off Fresno State to start the Duals but lost to Rider on Saturday afternoon before taking on Kent State.
Tomas Gutierrez got the Flashes off to a quick start, earning a one-sided 8-2 decision to get the Flashes on the board. Tim Rooney kept his weekend record perfect, taking a 5-4 decision over King Sandoval, putting the Flashes up 6-0. After Ian Senz dropped a close decision at 141, Kody Komara kept his strong weekend going with a first-period fall against Michael Doetsch, giving the Flashes a 12-3 lead. Maryland answered back with a fall at 157 and won at 165 to earn nine-straight points, tying the dual at 12.
Andrew McNally picked up another victory at 174, this time a 6-2 decision. The Terps answered back with a win at 184, tying the dual at 15 with two matches remaining. Colin McCracken gave the Flashes the lead back with a convincing 11-3 major decision win over Jaron Smith. Spencer Berthold closed the dual with his second fall of the weekend, pinning Parker Robinson in the second period. Kent State took the final two matches to pull away from the Terrapins in a 25-15 victory.
The win sent Kent State to the third-place dual to take on Fresno State. The Bulldogs lost to Maryland but defeated Duke and Old Dominion to earn their right to face the Golden Flashes.
Gutierrez kept his strong showing going on Saturday, pitching a shutout of Destiny Summers of Fresno State to give the Flashes an early lead. Tim Rooney capped a perfect weekend with a strong win over 2019 NCAA qualifier Gary Joint. Joint managed just two escapes as Rooney had over three minutes of riding time in a 5-2 victory by decision. At 141, Cory Simpson lost a tightly contested match by a 3-2 decision. Kody Komara saw a similar fate at 149, battling back but falling in a 6-3 decision. Conan Becker stormed back in the third period, recording an escape, take down and near fall to earn a 13-8 victory and stake the Golden Flashes to a 9-6 lead.
The Bulldogs were quick to tie things up at nine, getting a 7-2 victory by decision at 165. Andrew McNally capped another perfect weekend, using riding time and a pair of takedowns to secure a 7-2 victory and give Kent State the lead right back. The Bulldogs kept the dual as tight as can be with a narrow 4-2 victory by decision at 184, tying the match back up at 12. At 197, Colin McCracken used riding time and a timely escape in the third period to grind out a 7-3 victory by decision at 197, giving Kent State at 15-12 lead heading into the heavyweight match. Josh Hokit of Fresno State came into the match a top-15 ranked wrestler at heavyweight by several outlets. Hokit used a pair of near falls in the first period to take the early lead. Berthold battled back to earn a takedown but Hokit sat on the lead and hung on for the major decision victory, those four points carried Fresno State to the one-point win.
The Golden Flashes are back in action next weekend with a pair of MAC duals. Kent State welcomes in Ohio on Friday night at 7 and Missouri on Sunday at 2.
Kent St MD
125 Tomas Gutierrez (Kent State) over Brandon Cray (Maryland) Dec 8-2 3.0 0
133 Tim Rooney (Kent State) over King Sandoval (Maryland) Dec 5-4 3.0 0
141 Hunter Baxter (U Maryland) over Ian Senz (Kent State) Dec 5-2 0 3.0
149 Kody Komara (Kent State) over Michael Doetsch (Maryland) Fall 2:35 6.0 0
157 Lucas Cardio (Maryland) over Conan Becker (Kent State) Fall 2:09 0 6.0
165 Kyle Cochran (Maryland) over Kade Byland (Kent State) Dec 5-0 0 3.0
174 Andrew McNally (Kent State) over Philip Spadafora (Maryland) Dec 6-2 3.0 0
184 Kyle Jasenski (Maryland) over Shane Mast (Kent State) Dec 7-3 0 3.0
197 Colin McCracken (Kent State) over Jaron Smith (Maryland) Maj 11-3 4.0 0
285 Spencer Berthold (Kent State) over Parker Robinson (Maryland) Fall 3:31 6.0 0
Dual Meet Score Kent St 25.0 Maryland 15.0
125 Tomas Gutierrez (Kent State) over Destiny Summers (Fresno Stat) Dec 4-0 3.0 0
133 Tim Rooney (Kent State) over Gary Joint (Fresno State) Dec 5-2 3.0 0
141 DJ (Durbin) Lloren (Fresno State) over Cory Simpson (Kent State) Dec 3-2 0 3.0
149 Lawrence Saenz (Fresno State) over Kody Komara (Kent State) Dec 6-3 0 3.0
157 Conan Becker (Kent State) over Beau Colombini (Fresno State) Dec 13-8 3.0 0
165 Adam Kemp (Fresno State) over Kade Byland (Kent State) Dec 7-2 0 3.0
174 Andrew McNally (Kent State) over Ricky Padilla (Fresno State) Dec 7-2 3.0 0
184 Hunter Cruz (Fresno State) over Tyler Bates (Kent State) Dec 4-2 0 3.0
197 Colin McCracken (Kent State) over Isaiah Perez (Fresno State) Dec 7-3 3.0 0
285 Josh Hokit (Fresno State) over Spencer Berthold (Kent State) Maj 13-3 0 4.0
Dual Meet Score Kent State 15.0 Fresno State 16.0