The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Two big meets coming up this weekend; at OU on Friday and CMU at home on Sunday. Before we take on Missouri and Northern Iowa, we have a good opportunity to establish that we are the best of the "old" MAC. Here are the projected line-ups:

125 – KeVon Powell (6-10) vs. Del Vinas (17-11) or Alfredo Gray (10-16)
133 – Kagen Squire (7-6) vs. No. 20 Mack McGuire (20-6, 11-3 duals)
141 – Noah Forrider (18-11) vs. No. 22 Tyler Small (15-11, 7-7 duals)
149 – No. 14 Tywan Claxton (17-4) vs. No. 24 Mike DePalma (18-11, 8-6 duals)
157 – No. 26 Sparty Chino (12-6) vs. No. 7 Ian Miller (19-3)
165 – No. 29 Harrison Hightower (22-8) vs. Tyler Buckwalter (4-6, 4-4 duals)
174 – No. 13 Cody Walters (3-1) vs. No. 25 Caleb Marsh (10-5, 9-3 duals) or Mike Vollant (6-9)
184 – Ryan Garringer (4-8) vs. No. 9 Sam Wheeler (23-4, 12-2 duals)
197 – No. 8 Phil Wellington (22-2) vs. No. 31 Cole Baxter (17-10, 10-4 duals)
285 – No. 12 Jeremy Johnson (24-3) vs. Mimmo Lytle (11-15, 4-10 duals)
Rankings from WrestlingReport.com

We are stronger at the lower weights while OU has the edge at the higher weights. Here's how it projects to me:

KSU 133, 141, 157, 184
OU 149, 174, 197, 285
Toss Up 125 and 165

Being in Athens, we need a win in the opening match to shut up their crowd. Best case for us is that it starts at 125. If Del Vinas wrestles to his potential and grabs a win, the table is set for McGuire and Small. If DePalma wins (I give OU a very slight edge at this weight), look for Miller to make it five in a row. With a Wheeler win, we take 6 of 10. The only problem with my wishful thinking is that OU will want a random draw for the starting weight class. If it doesn't start at 125, look for a back and forth affair with the last match being the decider. Hopefully at 157!

125 – No. 16 Corey Keener (15-4) vs. Del Vinas (17-11) or Alfredo Gray (10-16)
133 – No. 15 Joe Roth (14-7) vs. No. 20 Mack McGuire (20-6, 11-3 duals)
141 – No. 7 Zach Horan (20-2) vs. No. 22 Tyler Small (15-11, 7-7 duals)
149 – Scott Mattingly (13-10) vs. No. 24 Mike DePalma (18-11, 8-6 duals)
157 – No. 17 Luke Smith (11-7) No. vs. No. 7 Ian Miller (19-3)
165 – Nick Becker (7-11) vs. Tyler Buckwalter (4-6, 4-4 duals)
174 – No. 12 Mike Ottinger (16-2) vs. No. 25 Caleb Marsh (10-5, 9-3 duals) or Mike Vollant (6-9)
184 – Craig Kelliher (7-10) vs. No. 9 Sam Wheeler (23-4, 12-2 duals)
197 – Jackson Lewis (12-11) vs. No. 31 Cole Baxter (17-10, 10-4 duals)
285 – Adam Robinson (8-13) vs. Mimmo Lytle (11-15, 4-10 duals)
Rankings from WrestlingReport.com

Unlike the OU lineup, CMU is stronger at its lower weights. In this match-up, WE don't want it to start at 125. Look for a random draw.

CMU 125, 133, 141, 174
KSU 149, 157, 184, 197
Toss Up 165, 285

To win this, our youngest (165 and 285) wrestlers need to come through for us. I think McGuire can beat Roth at 133, but that may not be enough without either Buckwalter or Lytle stepping up. This could very easily go 5/5 with the winner of the meet being the team that scores more bonus points.

Just released today, MAC rankings:

http://www.mac-sports.com/tabid/969/Arti...kings.aspx

Still show us fifth in the MAC. Overall we have been pretty good so that shows how tough the league has become. I'm still hoping for third in the tournament behind only Missouri and Northern Iowa. We'll see. It's great that the tournament is in Kent. We'll only see it once every nine years now so I need to enjoy this one. Next time I'll be 72, then 81 and then ????.

141 Small pins Forrider
149 Bauer (not DePalma?) loses to Claxton 8-2
157 Miller over Chino 16-5
165 Buckwalter loses to Hightower 10-4
174 Marsh loses to Walters 5-2
184 Wheeler wins 12-5 over Garringer
197 Baxter loses 4-2 to Wellington
285 Lytle is pinned by Johnson
125 Vinas loses to Powell 9-5
133 McGuire over Squire 2-1

OU 21 - KSU 16

We lose both toss-up matches at 125 and 165. The swing match was at 149. I would like to know why DePalma didn't wrestle. If he wrestles, we may have won 19-18...

All the web site said was he sat out due to injury. Not good.

(01-25-2014 07:35 AM)burden Wrote:  All the web site said was he sat out due to injury. Not good.

I've heard that its not serious, but that he will probably sit out against CMU.

http://www.gohiocasts.com./coverage/251345-The-Grudge-Match-Ohio-U-VS-KSU

My only beef with KSU wrestling over the years has been, and is, the inexplicable holding out of key wrestlers in dual meet and tournament situations. This is the toughest sport in the world. We know that. Sack up and get out there. And coaches stop trying to outhink yourselves.

Disappointed KSU lost to Ohio U, especially because I can't stand Ohio U's head coach. Hope that doesn't hurt too hard in recruiting vs Ohio U in the state of Ohio this offseason.

KSU needs to load up on 125lbs & HWTs. Speaking of next year with Nate Skonieczny becoming eligible, does someone @ 141/149lbs become the odd man out, or will Depalma move to 157lbs & Miller to 165lbs for Skonieczny to slide into 149lbs & Small stays @ 141lbs?

Will be an interesting offseason as no starters graduate and a ton of freshmen redshirted, so there should be great competition the entire summer/fall.

Millers season is probably over. His elbow got caught and he was in severe pain. They took him away in an air cast. He had the match won but had to forfeit. The other kid was stalling the whole match so that made it especially bad.

CMU beats KSU, 21-12, with the disappointing matches coming @ 133lbs, 141 lbs, & 157lbs. Ref really seemed to lose control of the 157lbs match, which ended with the injury default forfeit as Burden mentioned above.

Good golly almighty does CMU ever own us.

(01-26-2014 11:51 PM)JimJoyce Wrote:  Good golly almighty does CMU ever own us.

Boy they sure do. They always take away your offense. Most of them ride extremely well too. Close to stalling but rarely get called. There experts at it. Small and Wheeler by all rights should have been pinned and 21-12 would have been 30-9 and that was more indicative of the match. The classic example was Wheeler being so superior to his opponent he came from 6-0 early in the second to win and yet the CMU guy took advantage of one mistake and had him on his back most of the first period. I think the ref actually missed the pin.

http://www.flowrestling.org/coverage/251...Miller-KSU

At the 6:00 mark you can see that Ian's arm is trapped. Not at all uncommon. I don't think there's a break. Hopefully there's no tear of ligaments, tendons or muscle. If it was "only" dislocated, he may not be finished for the season.

As for CMU, that was one of the weakest teams I have ever seen from them. Sure, they have 5 or so nationally ranked, but there was a big drop-off in talent relative to the other 5. When's the last time you saw such a weak 285 from them? You have to go back 10 plus years. Coach Borrelli is a sly fox. His wrestlers did exactly what he wanted them to do. At 184, the only chance CMU had was if they caught Wheeler napping, which is exactly what happened. I also thought he was stuck. It's a good thing that the ref was out of position. Then again, he missed the fingers and the choke...

I'm sitting here reading a Kent Stater and it too says Miller will probably be back before years end. Let's hope.

Lambert,
I have never seen that ref. He seemed a bit unique. What did you think? Wasn't very consistent in my eyes.

Did the Kent Stater specify the nature of his injury?

As to the ref, he was ok. I've certainly seen worse. A lot worse, in fact. He missed some things, but overall it helped us. Wheeler WAS pinned. He talked through the sequence to assist the wrestlers in the top/bottom situations. Refs that say nothing and then issue a ton of cautions (and even points!) annoy me to no end. He was a little too lenient on CMU wrestlers stalling and backing up, but when it really mattered at 184, he made the call. When Ian was hurt, I don't think the ref should be faulted for not stopping the action when Miller's arm was trapped. It was a common position and the pressure happened so quick that even if he had called it, Miller still gets hurt IMO. At the end of the day, Coach A picked him so you can't complain...too much.

No the kent stater gave no details. It was just a quote from the coach saying it didn't look too bad and he should come back before the end of the year.

I've read some comments on a wrestling site that were mildly critical of the ref regarding Ian's injury. They are saying that Smith's arm (whizzer) was below Ian's elbow and the injury occurred when he exerted upward force. I see their point but it happened in around 2 or 3 seconds.

Lambert you would have loved it tonight. At halftime they honored all the athletes with 3.00 or better GPAs. Each team dressed as a team. Nice KSU jackets or blue jeans and the same KSU t-shirt, etc. Then last but not least the wrestling team. They were all dressed differently and looked like homeless people trying to get out of the cold. It was classic. They didn't even have to introduce them it was obvious.