Without ranked wrestlers Ian Miller and Caleb Marsh, the No. 20-ranked Kent State team still proved victorious in a 23-11 win against the No. 22 North Carolina State Wolfpack during Sunday’s “Beauty and the Beast” event.

Ian Miller sat out Sunday’s competition, although being 100 percent healthy, as a scheduled rest.

Caleb Marsh, the past week’s Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Week, was declared ineligible while weighing in. It was discovered that Marsh has just an area of slight skin fungus that will clear up soon. 

“Without Marsh, I thought it was going to be tough to get a victory,” coach Jim Andrassy said. “I was worried, but we had a lot of guys step up for us.”

The match started off with a dominant 9-1 victory by senior Tyler Buckwalter in the 165-lb weight class. 

“He’s getting better and better every match for us,” Andrassy said about Buckwalter.

In the 184-lb class, No. 10-ranked junior Sam Wheeler put on a strong performance against North Carolina State freshman Michael Macchiavello. 

Sophomore Del Vinas picked a win in the 125-lb class, which was one of the keys to the team’s victory.

“That’s only our second win in the 125-lb class,” Andrassy said. “We’re 8-6 in duals, and that win puts us at 2-12 in that weight class for the year. We had a lot of guys win matchups that some may not have expected.”

Sophomore Mack McGuire scored the Flashes a pin in the first period of his 133-lb bout. 

The Kent State wrestling team (8-6) travels to Athens, Ohio, on Friday to take on MAC rival Ohio University (6-2). The Flashes go into Athens with a record of 2-0 in conference matches. 

Contact Michael Mann at [email protected].