Kent State University
SIU Edwardsville
Flashes Close Strong to Top Cougars
1/7/2020 2:50:00 PM | Wrestling
KENT, OHIO- Â Colin McCracken and Spencer Berthold each picked up falls to help lift the Golden Flashes to a 25-15 victory over the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Cougars on Tuesday afternoon at the Dix Stadium Fieldhouse.
The victory improves Kent State to 3-5 in duals this season and 1-2 in the Mid-American Conference. SIU-E drops to 1-5 in duals this year and is 0-2 in the MAC.
Kent State started quick on Tuesday afternoon, Tomas Gutierrez earned his first conference win in a big way, shutting out Gage Datlovsky in a 13-0 victory by major decision. Gutierrez took control of the bout with a pair of near falls to take a commanding lead. Tim Rooney made it 7-0 Kent State as he improved to 5-3 in duals this season with a 12-6 victory by decision over Jake Blaha.
The Cougars got on the board at 141 pounds as a defensive, back-and-forth match went the way of Saul Ervin who earned a narrow 5-3 victory by decision over Cory Simpson. A similar match at 149 went Kent State's way as Kody Komara closed strong to earn a 6-3 victory by decision, putting Kent State up 10-3.
SIU-E would take the next two matches, including one by tech fall to give the Cougars an 11-10 lead. Andrew McNally gave the Flashes back the lead with his team-best 18th victory of the season. McNally pulled away late in his match with Kevin Gschwendtner and walked away with an 8-3 victory by decision to give Kent State a 13-11 advantage.
Ryan Yarnell gave the Cougars their final lead of the night winning his match at 184 by major decision to give SIU-E a 15-13 lead, and setting Kent State up for a strong finish.
Colin McCracken picked up his 14th win of the season and the team's first conference fall of the season. McCracken pinned Austin Andres mid-way through the second period, giving the Flashes a 19-15 lead and bringing the fieldhouse crowd to its feet. Spencer Berthold put the exclamation point on the victory with his sixth pin of the season. Berthold controlled the match with Tommy Helton before getting the fall just moments into the final period.
Kent State is back in action this weekend with the Virginia Duals. The two-day event gets started on Friday morning.
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125 Â Â Â Â Tomas Guitierrez (Kent State) over Gage Datlovsky (SIU Edwardsville) (MD 13-0)
133 Â Â Â Â Tim Rooney (Kent State) over Jake Blaha (SIU Edwardsville) (Dec 12-6)
141Â Â Â Â Â Saul Ervin (SIU Edwardsville) over Cory Simpson (Kent State) (Dec 5-3)
149 Â Â Â Â Â Kody Komara (Kent State) over Max Kristoff (SIU Edwardsville) (Dec 6-3)
157 Â Â Â Â Â Justin Ruffin (SIU Edwardsville) over Conan Becker (Kent State) (TF 16-0 4:56)
165 Â Â Â Â Â Chase Deihl (SIU Edwardsville) over kade byland (Kent State) (Dec 3-2)
174 Â Â Â Â Â Andrew McNally (Kent State) over Kevin Gschwendtner (SIU Edwardsville) (Dec 8-3)
184 Â Â Â Â Â Ryan Yarnell (SIU Edwardsville) over Tyler Bates (Kent State) (MD 8-0)
197 Â Â Â Â Â Colin McCracken (Kent State) over Austin Andres (SIU Edwardsville) (Fall 4:15)
285 Â Â Â Â Â Spencer Berthold (Kent State) over Tommy Helton (SIU Edwardsville) (Fall 5:22)
Players Mentioned
