Kent State University
Northern Illinois
Flashes Hit The Road For Two MAC Duals In Illinois Roadtrip
1/22/2026 9:25:00 PM | Wrestling
Illinois- The Golden Flashes gear up for an 1,233-mile road trip to Illinois this weekend for two important MAC Duals with a visit to Northern Illinois on Friday at 4 p.m. and a trip to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Saturday at 7 p.m.Â
Last Time Out
The Kent State Wrestling team participated in their last Team Open of the season on January 9th in the David H. Lehman Open at Franklin and Marshall University on Friday against tough competition from around the country.
The Blue and Gold placed three wrestlers in the top-six after a busy two days of wrestling. Freshman Silas Stits(149) had the highest finish, placing in second place. In a loaded bracket, Stits produced a 5-1 record, including an upset over two-seeded Richard Fedalen(Columbia) in the quarterfinals. He defeated Rawson Iwanicki in the semifinals by a score of 5-1 before being defeated by Kelly Dunnigan(Penn) in the finals.
Nick Molchak(133) earned a fourth-place finish after a 4-2 record on the day. Brentan Simmerman(285) finished in sixth-place with a 5-2 record in the bracket after a No Contest in the Final Bout.
Scouting Northern Illinois
The Huskies come in with an even dual record of 5-5, and 1-0 conference with a win over Central Michigan. Northern Illinois' other common opponent with Kent State this season is Bellarmine, whom they lost to by a score of 23-13.
The current top-ranked heavyweight wrestler in the Mid-American Conference resides in Dekalb as Devon Dawson(285) has racked up over 20 wins so far this season. He is also ranked 20th in the nation according to Flo.
Markel Baker(133) also comes into this meet with a national ranking of 33rd. Blake West(125) and Landen Johnson(157) are names to keep an eye on as well.
Scouting SIUE
The Cougars currently sit towards the top of the conference with a 2-0 record in the MAC. Overall, they currently have a 8-1 record in duals with their only loss of the season coming to Oklahoma. They also secured wins this season over power-four teams such as Northwestern and Duke.
The Cougars are home to one of the top wrestlers in the country in Caleb Tyus(149), who is ranked third in the country in his class according to Flo Wrestling. Tyus has yet to be beaten in a dual so far this season.
Marcel Lopez(133) is another top wrestler on the team who is ranked 23rd in the country and has tallied 17 wins so far this season. The other ranked wrestler on the Cougars squad is Brock Woodcock(165) who is ranked 30th.
Series History
Friday's meeting between the Flashes and the Huskies will be the 39th all-time meeting between the two schools, as the blue and gold currently hold the edge in the series 24-12-2. However, NIU has also won six in a row against KSU.
On Saturday, SIUE and Kent State will hit the mat for the 12th-time ever. Kent State leads the all-time series by a count of 6-4-1. The Cougars defeated the Golden Flashes last year by a score of 18-16.
Projected Lineups
Kent State vs. Northern Illinois
125- Nico Callelo vs. Talon Parsons/Blake West
133- Nick Molchak vs. Markel Baker/Calvin Werden
141- Landen Duncan/Mason Tieffel vs. Deuce Curtis/Tee Ward
149- Silas Stits vs. Collin Arch/Lucan O'Brien
157- Keegan Knapp/Reese Stephen vs. Landen Johnson
165- Chris Earnest vs. Brett Smith/Colin Young
174- Ethan Barr/Braxton Quaintance vs. Tommy Bennett/Tyler Schofield
184- Trent Thomas/Ronnie Dimmerling vs. Caleb Roe/Ian Smith
197- Blake Schaffer/Mason Higley vs. Nathan Elstner/Dominic Heim
285- Brentan Simmerman/Corey Boerio vs. Devon Dawson
Kent State vs. SIUE
125- Nico Callelo vs. Drew Davis/ Davian Guanajuato
133- Nick Molchak vs. Marcel Lopez
141- Landen Duncan/Mason Tieffel vs. Alec Peralta
149- Silas Stits vs. Caleb Tyus
157- Keegan Knapp/Reese Stephen vs. Hayden Whidden/Eric Almarinez
165- Chris Earnest vs. Brock Woodcock
174- Ethan Barr/Braxton Quaintance vs. Dominic Lopez/Caleb Neal
184- Trent Thomas/Ronnie Dimmerling vs. Deron Pulliam
197- Blake Schaffer/Mason Higley vs. Nick Nosler
285- Brentan Simmerman/Corey Boerio vs. Bryson Buhk
Up Next
After two MAC duals in two days, the Golden Flashes will return to Northeast Ohio for a four-week homestand to finish out the regular season. They will first match up with Long Island University and Clarion inside the MAC Center on Saturday.
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Players Mentioned
