Kent State University
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Flashes Head to Clarion for Saturday MAC Tri-Meet
1/22/2021 2:38:00 PM | Wrestling
KENT, OH- Kent State wrestling hits the road on Saturday, traveling to Clarion for a Mid-American Conference tri meet where the Flashes will face Southern Illinois at Edwardsville and host Clarion.
The Golden Flashes will face SIU-E at 11 a.m. and host Clarion at 3 p.m. All matches will be streamed courtesy of Clarion TV. Links are available on the wrestling schedule page.Â
Kent State is coming into the big conference weekend off a pair of wins on Wednesday night in their home openers. The Golden Flashes knocked off Gannon 19-12 and Mercyhurst 26-9. Both teams were ranked in the Division-II rankings, with Gannon at #7 and Mercyhurst at #17.
No Kent State wrestler is hotter than Jake Ferri, who won both his matches on Wednesday and ran his match win streak to five. Ferri won both Wednesday matches by major decision and will look to continue that momentum into Saturday. Ferri will most likely face Austin Macias of SIU-E, who is 2-2 on the season. Ferri defeated Macias back in 2018 in their only previous matchup. Against Clarion, look for Ferri to take on Cam Butler, who is 0-3 on the season, it will be the first time that Butler and Ferri will square off.
At 133, Patrick Gould gets the nod after a 1-1 showing on Wednesday. Gould will most likely be facing Aaron Schulist of SIU-E and TJ England of Clarion. Gould has not faced either wrestler. Schulist is 2-0 on the season, winning both his matches as part of the tri-meet with Northern Illinois and Bellarmine. England is a true freshman and 0-3 on the season.
Avry Mutschler will wrestle at 141 pounds for the Golden Flashes. He was edged in both his matches on Wednesday night, coming up on the wrong end of two one-point decisions. Mutschler is set to face Saul Ervin of SIU-E, who is 3-1 on the season. Kyle Schickel comes into Saturday at 1-2 on the season, the freshman picked up a victory in Clarion's dual loss to Rider.
At 149 pounds, Kody Komara will look for his fifth and sixth victories of the year. Komara split his two matches on Wednesday and will square off with Cardeionte Wilson of SIU-E and Jalin Hankerson of Clarion. Wilson is off to a solid 3-1 start to the season and is 1-0 against MAC opponents. Hankerson is looking for his first victory of the season, coming into Saturday at 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the MAC. Komara has not faced either wrestler in his Kent State career.
Ian Senz will look to build off his 2-0 Wednesday as he takes the mat at 157 pounds for Kent State. Justin Ruffin will represent SIU-E. Ruffin is a top-20 wrestler by several publications. Ruffin is 3-1 on the season and 1-0 against MAC opponents. Clarion has three potential wrestlers at 157, led by Tate Ortz. Ortz is a redshirt senior who has yet to take the mat this season. Trevor Elvfin (1-2) or Ethan Wiant (1-1) are also listed as potential wrestlers.
Brady Chrisman and Mason Karpinski split time on Wednesday at 165 pounds. Chrisman lost his match, 9-5 to the #4 D-II wrestler at 165 in Alex Farenchak. Karpinski took down Jason Breeden of Mercyhurst. The likely opponent for SIU-E would be Chase Deihl, who is 0-4 on the season and 0-1 in the MAC. Clarion will likely send Kolby Ho to the mat. The junior is 2-2 on the season. Other potential wrestlers for Clarion include redshirt freshman John Worthing (2-2) and Eli Brinsky (0-4).
Andrew McNally got Wednesday off and comes into Saturday at 3-0 on the season and ranked in the top-10 by several publications. SIU-E will send Kevin Gschwendtner to the mat and is 1-3 on the season. McNally won the previous meeting between the two, 8-3 as part of the SIU-E dual last January. Clarion will counter with Mike Vernaglio. The redshirt sophomore is 1-4 on the season and has not faced McNally before.
Tyler Bates also got Wednesday off and returns to the mat at 184 pounds on Saturday. Bates brings a 2-2 record into the weekend and will likely face either Ryan Yarnell or Sergio Villalobos from SIU-E and Max Wohlabaugh from Clarion. Yarnell and Bates have met one time previously with Yarnell earning the victory and he comes into the weekend at 2-2 as well. Bates has not faced Villalobos in his Kent State career and is 1-0 on the season.
A winner of four-straight, Colin McCracken enters Saturday with a lot of momentum. McCracken will likely face Austin Cooley or Austin Andres of SIU-E and Greg Bulsak of Clarion. McCracken has not faced Cooley or Andres. Cooley is 1-0 on the season while Andres is 1-3 and 0-1 in the MAC. Bulsak is a top-10 wrestler at 197 pounds. He is 4-0 on the season, 2-0 in the MAC and 2-0 against McCracken all time.
Jacob Cover is 2-4 on the season at 285 and split a pair of one-score decisions on Wednesday night. Cover will face either Colton McKiernan or Aric Bohn of SIU-E and Ty Bagoly of Clarion. McKiernan is the likely SIU-E starter and is 3-1 on the season and 1-0 in the Mid-American Conference. For Clarion, Bagoly is a top-25 heavyweight wrestler but is off to an 0-3 start to the season. Cover has not faced either opponent in his Kent State career.
Kent State will return home next weekend for a traditional dual against Mizzou. The conference dual is scheduled for a noon start from the Kent State Field House
|
Weight |
Kent State |
SIUE |
Clarion |
|
125 |
|
Austin Macias, Matt Malavsky
|
Cam Butler
|
|
133 |
 Aaron Schulist
|
 TJ EnglandÂ
|
|
|
141 |
Saul ErvinÂ
|
Kyle Schickel
|
|
|
149 |
Cardeionte Wilson
|
Jalin Hankerson
|
|
|
157 |
Justin Ruffin, Coleman Brainard
|
Tate Ortz
|
|
|
165 |
Chase Diehl
|
Kolby Ho
|
|
|
174 |
Kevin Gschwendtner
|
 Mike Vernagallo
|
|
|
184 |
Ryan Yarnell, Sergio VillalobosÂ
|
Max WohlabaughÂ
|
|
|
197 |
Austin Andres, Austin Cooley
|
#7/10/9 Greg Bulsa
|
|
|
285 |
Colton McKiernan, Aric Bohn
|
#23/nr/nr Ty Bagoly
|
Players Mentioned
