Bedelyon earns second career All-American

Tweet

Details

Written by Tim Dorst

Hits: 1005

Senior Nic Bedelyon. Photo by Monica Maschak.

At the NCAA Wrestling Championships Friday, senior Nic Bedelyon joined an elite group and cemented his name in Kent State history.

Bedelyon defeated Illinois’ Jesse Delgado 8-5 in a dramatic quarterfinal match to earn All-American honors for the second time in his college career.

The 125-pound Bedelyon joins Don Horning and Dustin Kilgore as the only Kent State wrestlers to become two-time All-Americans. Bedelyon earned his first All-American in 2009.

Trailing 4-1 in the first period against Delgado, Bedelyon spun away for an escape point and took Delgado down to tie the match at four. Neither wrestler could gain an advantage in regulation and the match went into overtime.

In the first sudden victory round, Bedelyon appeared to score a takedown on Delgado, which would have earned Bedelyon the victory. However, the referees determined that Bedelyon did not have full control of the hold and overturned the call.

The match continued into a second overtime period, and Delgado scored an escape point to take a 5-4 lead. With time running down, Bedelyon turned a reversal and earned a near fall for a four-point swing that would prove to be the match-winning move.

Bedelyon advanced to the semifinals and faced Iowa’s Matt McDonough, who won a national championship in 2010 and was the national runner-up in 2011. Bedelyon was able to score a reversal and a takedown in the match, but McDonough proved too much by defeating Bedelyon 15-7.

Bedelyon will attempt to advance to a third-place match when he takes on Minnesota’s Zachary Sanders Saturday morning. Sanders defeated Bedelyon in a close match at the National Duals Championships on Feb. 11.

Sophomore Tyler Small earned a 9-1 major decision over Central Michigan’s Scott Mattingly in a consolation match in the 141-pound bracket.

In his second match of the day, Small suffered a 1-0 loss to Rutger’s William Ashnault in a rematch from the National Duals. The match was scoreless until the end of the third period, when Ashnault scored a bonus point for riding time to earn the one-point victory.

In a hard-fought consolation match in the 149-pound bracket, freshman Ian Miller fell 10-8 to Virginia’s Augustus Sako. Miller had a 4-1 lead in the first period and an 8-7 lead in the third, but Sako scored a reversal and riding time to secure the win.

Miller finished the season with a record of 29-5 and led the Flashes in pins with 12.

Junior Casey Newburg fell 8-2 decision to No. 12-seeded Jon Fausey of Virginia in the 184-pound consolation bracket.

The medal round of the NCAA Championships will begin Saturday at 11:00 a.m., with the finals beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Contact Tim Dorst at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and @TimmyD_DKS.

Kent State men's basketball's season ends against USC Upstate

Tweet

Details

Written by Nick Shook

Hits: 957

If Kent State had any desire to be elsewhere, it was evident Thursday night.

South Carolina Upstate, the Flashes’ opponent in the first round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, took advantage of Kent State’s lackadaisical approach and forced 15 first-half turnovers. The Spartans scored early and often, and took a 40-22 lead into halftime.

“I’ve got to give them a lot of credit because they deserve it,” Kent State coach Rob Senderoff said. “At the same time, you look at some of the turnovers we had, I don’t know that we were into it mentally.”

The Flashes struggled from the beginning of Thursday night’s game in Spartanburg, S.C., fell behind early and never recovered. USC Upstate, hosting its first-ever postseason basketball game, took advantage of the opportunity and outplayed Kent State to a 73-58 victory over the Flashes.

“We tried our best as a coaching staff to let our team know that these guys were good,” Senderoff said. “On top of letting them know that they were good, we also wanted to make sure that they know that this was their first postseason in Division I, and these guys were going to come guns blazing. Obviously, I didn’t do a good job of getting that message through because we looked a little shell-shocked early.”

The Flashes didn’t score for the first 4:10 of the game and managed only eight points in the first 8:29. Kent State made 40.9 percent of its shots, but committed 15 turnovers in the first half. The Spartans took advantage of Kent State’s mistakes and entered halftime with a surprising, yet comfortable 18-point lead over the Flashes.

“Great job by USC Upstate,” Senderoff said. “[It was] the most turnovers we had on the year tonight...they played incredibly hard. It was a good atmosphere, obviously it’s a small gym and it was their first time in postseason.”

The second half was much more successful for Kent State, as the Flashes cut the Spartans’ lead to as few as eight points with 11:43 remaining. But a questionable foul call on Flashes’ senior guard Michael Porrini on the following possession stopped Kent State’s momentum. The Spartans went on a 10-1 run to extend their lead back to 17, and Kent State couldn’t recover.

“We had cut it under 10, and I thought we had a chance to make a run,” Senderoff said. “They made some big plays at that point, and had they not made them and we were able to get them even tighter, it might have ended up being a game.”

The final 8:20 of the game was a frustrating end to what was a disappointing 2011-12 season for Kent State. Missed layups and turnovers filled the final minutes of what became the final game in a Kent State uniform for the Flashes’ four seniors.

“They played incredibly hard and really, really wanted to win,” Senderoff said. “It’s a tribute to them and their coaches and their players. As for us, it was one of our worst nights of the year, but they had a lot to do with that.”

Senior forward Justin Greene finished his Kent State career with a 12 point, six rebound performance, but much like the rest of his team, couldn’t keep from committing mistakes and led the team with seven turnovers. Porrini finished the game with eight points, three assists and two steals. Senior guard Carlton Guyton finished with five points, three assists and three rebounds.

Contact Nick Shook at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Bedeylon advances to quarterfinals in NCAA tournament

Tweet

Details

Written by Tim Dorst

Hits: 642

Senior Nic Bedelyon. Photo by Monica Maschak.

Senior Nic Bedelyon’s quest for a national championship is on the right track after an impressive first day at the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

The 125-pound Bedelyon, who received the No. 5 seed in his weight class bracket, kicked off the first round by earning a 13-2 major decision over Iowa State’s Cory Finch. Bedelyon trailed 2-0 after the first period, but he turned the tide in the second round and control the rest of the match.

In the second round, Bedelyon looked sharp and finished strong in a 10-7 win over Hofstra’s Steve Bonnano. With the match tied at six after two periods, Bedelyon scored an escape and takedown to take the lead for good.

Bedelyon, one of seven Flashes competing in the national tournament, will take on Jesse Delgado of Illinois in the quarterfinals Friday morning.

Freshman Ian Miller made an immediate impact in his first tournament appearance. Miller earned a first-round pinfall over Illinois’ Eric Terrazas just 57 seconds into the match.

Unfortunately for Miller, the second round was a completely different story. Facing off against Hoftstra’s Justin Accordino, Miller scored a quick takedown at the beginning of the match. However, Miller fell behind after a takedown and near fall by Accordino.

In the second period, Accordino tripped Miller up and got him onto his back, earning a pin and advancing to the quarterfinal round.

Miller will move on to face Virginia’ Augustus Sako in a consolation match on Friday.

Sophomore Tyler Small, who received the No. 12 seed in the 141-pound bracket, started off strong with a 6-2 decision over Princeton’s Adam Krop in the first round.

In his second-round match against Ohio State’s Hunter Stieber, Small suffered an apparent hand injury after being taken down in the second period. The match was momentarily stopped, as doctors attended to Small.

Small was able to continue the match but wasn’t able to claim the victory, dropping a 7-4 decision over the No. 5-seeded Stieber.

Junior Casey Newburg, appearing in his first NCAA tournament, faced a tough challenge against No. 2-seeded Robert Hamlin of Lehigh in the 184-pound bracket. Newburg got some offense in, but the challenge proved too tough as he fell 10-2.

In the consolation match, Newburg scored a takedown and a reversal on his way to a 6-5 victory over Navy’s Luke Robertus, Newburg’s first NCAA tournament win.

Senior heavyweight Brendan Barlow took on Northwestern’s Michael McMullan in a match that went into overtime. In the extra period, McMullan turned and grounded Barlow on the mat, earning the takedown and a 3-1 sudden victory.

Junior Mallie Shuster, also competing in his first national tournament, suffered two close loses, starting with a 2-1 loss to Ohio State’s Josh Demas in the qualifying pigtail round. Shuster and Demas each scored one escape point, but Demas earned a bonus point with riding time that earned him the victory.

Shuster fought hard in his consolation match against Chattanooga’s Daniel Waddel, but a mid-match takedown by Waddel helped him pull away for the 5-2 victory over Shuster.

Tournament play continues Friday at 11:00 a.m. with the quarterfinal round.

Contact Tim Dorst at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and @TimmyD_DKS.

Kent State gymnastics prepare for last home meet

Tweet

Details

Written by Erica Mucci

Hits: 1223

The Kent State gymnastics team has spent the week preparing for what Coach Brice Biggin calls “a bittersweet ending” for the team’s four seniors.

Seniors Erin Rothrock, Rachel Goldenberg, Brianna Skiffington, Jaimee Caldwell and the rest of the Flashes will take on Cornell Sunday at 1 p.m. to close out the regular season.

Skiffington said the seniors will try to control their emotions and try not to approach the meet any differently.

“I’m just really excited,” Skiffington said. “I want to go out strong, especially before the MAC Championships. I think our team can go out there and do what we’ve been doing for the past few weekends.”

Biggin said despite an exceptional team performance last week against Bowling Green, the team has not showed any sign of complacency. He said the team confidence is high and there is no doubt they can perform.

“This is a time when one meet doesn’t make a season, and believe me, they understand that,” Biggin said. “The good thing is, it looked so easy for them last week. They went out there confidant and we expect to see the same from them this week.”

Biggin said he expects Cornell to come in hungry for a good score.

“It’s their last meet too, so I certainly expect them to be at their best,” Biggin said. “I expect them to go out and hit routines. We try to focus on ourselves, but we need to make sure we execute.”

Since the final meet has special meaning for the seniors, Biggin said the focus will be on them this weekend.

“This group has seen a lot of success, and you want them to go out on a high note,” Biggin said. “We tell the rest of the team to focus on the seniors on Sunday and making sure their experience has been a great one.”

Rothrock said because the team still has the Mid-American Conference meet and regionals to look forward to, the seniors are trying not to look at the meet as their last.

“It’s our last hurrah here,” Rothrock said. “We’re trying not to look too far into it and just go out there and do what we did last week.”

Biggin said this group of seniors has been classified by their growth. He said the group came in and didn’t contribute much their freshman year, but have become more consistent and grown into their roles.

“I can honestly say that each one of them is about at the top of their game right now,” Biggin said. “That’s really what you want to see from your senior class.”

Rothrock said that while she has been performing at the M.A.C. Center for so long, she has made personal relationships a lot of the fans.

“I’m definitely going to miss it,” Rothrock said. “It’s an experience I will remember forever.”

Contact Erica Mucci at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .