Kent State’s wrestling (2-15, 0-8 Mid-American Conference) won five out of the ten bouts, but it wasn’t enough to beat Old Dominion University (7-10, 3-5 MAC) who won 23-19.

Devin Nye, a 285-pounder, earned a pin in the first period of his match against Old Dominion’s Will Hilliard.

The Flashes’ Cory Simpson earned his first career MAC dual victory when he defeated Old Dominion’s Steven Simpson by a score of 9-4.

“Cory never gave up and had a really good third period,” head coach Jim Andrassy told Kent State athletics. “He put three moves together beginning with a nice shot on a double.

The Flashes also had a winner at the 149 weight class when Casey Sparkman beat Old Dominion’s Larry Early 5-2.

Isaac Bast had a close match against Old Dominion’s Seldon Wright. Wright — who is ranked 21st in the country — had Bast in a pin, but he was able to escape in the waning seconds of the match to get the 9-8 victory.

“Isaac was amazing today,” Andrassy said. “His approach was really smart. He’s as healthy as he’s been this year and looked as good as we’ve seen him this year. He earned the spot earlier in the week in a wrestle-off and hopefully he can take this momentum into the conference tournament.”

The Flashes’ Jerald Spohn dropped to the 174 weight class and received a 14-5 major decision victiry against Old Dominion’s Antonio Agee.

Kent State will be back in action March 4 and 5 when they travel to the University of Northern Iowa for the MAC Championship. 

Samantha Ross is a sports reporter, contact her at [email protected].