Thursday, December 19, 2013

Kent State 6, Ohio State 27:

On a chilly night in the middle of December, Kent State fans packed the M.A.C. Center to see their team face the state’s most beloved college sports team: the Ohio State Buckeyes.

And the Buckeyes did not come to the M.A.C. Center alone; they brought their fans, too.

With a home field advantage in doubt, Kent State’s two-match winning streak came to a screeching halt when the Flashes hit a wall in the form of No. 9 Ohio State.

Five of the eight matches Kent State lost were decided by two points or less, which made the difference in Ohio State’s less-than-decisive victory. Most of the matches were close, but the end result appeared lopsided.

After the match, Andrassy stressed that his team needs to find ways to win in tight matches in which a point or two can be difference between winning or losing.

“We lost almost every close match, and for us to be a team that’s comparable to Ohio State, we have to win those close ones,” Andrassy said. “There was an overtime [match], three one-point matches we lost, so if you win those, it’s a different match.”

Arguably the most exciting match of the night was the 133-pound bout between McGuire and No. 8 sophomore Johnni DiJulius.

After a scoreless first period, McGuire rode out DiJulius for a while in the second period and it was a sprawling battle in the third. With the score tied at one a piece, the match went into overtime as fans decked in scarlet and grey and blue and yellow cheered for an encore.

McGuire said he expected to win the match, but focused too much on avoiding DiJulius’s notoriously patented front headlock and not enough on his own wrestling. He said he needs to improve and learn how to win close matches in order to compete with top ranked opponents like DiJulius.

“I don’t want to hang with the best, I want to beat the best,” McGuire said. “I don’t want to just go in there saying, ‘I was close to almost beating a good kid.’ I want to beat that good kid.”

In overtime, a two-point reversal from DiJulius gave him the narrow 3-1 edge. After the match, fans from both sides gave the two a standing ovation for the spectacle they just witnessed.

At the end of the night, Miller and sophomore Tyler Buckwalter were the sole victors for the Flashes with back-to-back wins.

The team regrouped for their next match, which was the Southern Scuffle on New Year’s Day.

Wednesday, January 1 – Thursday, January 2, 2014

Kent State placed seventh out of 35 teams in the Southern Scuffle

Looking to bounce back from its debacle against the Buckeyes, the Flashes competed in the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. and began the new year on a good note with a seventh-place finish in the 35-team field.

After the first day of competition, Kent State sat in eighth place with 31 points. Miller, McGuire, Small and sophomore 184-pounder Sam Wheeler all went unbeaten and advanced to the quarterfinals.

In what Andrassy called “the toughest tournament [they] compete in,” Miller and Wheeler both pulled off big upsets and placed second and third in their respective weight classes. Tyler Small finished sixth in the 141 division and McGuire secured a seventh-place spot at 133.

Miller, the No. 6 seed in the tournament, went 4-1 on the weekend with a pin and three decisions. His greatest accomplishment of the tournament by far was when he pinned redshirt junior Dylan Ness of Minnesota in just 45 seconds. Ness was ranked No. 3 by InterMat going into the tournament, while Miller was ranked below him at No. 8.

Andrassy said Miller took down Ness, cradled him up and pinned him all in one motion.

After Miller clinched a spot in the finals, he settled for silver when he dropped his last match of the day to top-seeded sophomore Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State 2-1 in overtime.

Andrassy said Miller was the aggressor in his finals match, but just couldn’t pick the right spot for a takedown. Miller is now 17-2 this season. His 28 career pins also puts him in fourth Kent State’s career leaders in pins.

“I think he’s a top four or five guy right now,” Andrassy said of Miller. “I think the goal for him right now is to be a top one or two guy and get him into the finals somehow.”

Taking on the No. 8 seed at 184, Wheeler lost his quarterfinal match to two-time national champion and senior Ed Ruth of top ranked Penn State. Shortly after the setback, Wheeler rebounded with a 16-3 major decision over redshirt sophomore and No. 5 seed Missouri. Two matches later, Wheeler achieved an even bigger upset when he topped No. 2 seeded redshirt senior Kevin Steinhaus of Minnesota 6-4.

Andrassy said Wheeler, who did not look so sharp in the dual against Ohio State, is wrestling better and coming into his own. He is now 19-3 on the season.

“I think what we’re finding out is that a lot of it with him is just confidence and believing in himself,” Andrassy said of Wheeler. “He’s done a good job.”

Andrassy was happy with the performances of Miller, Wheeler, Small and McGuire, but has a bit of concern about the other six starters.

“We gotta get our other six starters to do as well as they possibly can,” Andrassy said. “We’re improving, but if we don’t win matches we need more out of DePalma, [Cole] Baxter, Buckwalter and [Caleb] Marsh.”

The Flashes will return this Sunday to host North Carolina State in the second annual Beauty and the Beast event. Both the Kent State wrestling squad and gymnastics team will face the Wolfpack. The event is set to begin at 2 p.m.  

Contact Richie Mulhall at [email protected].