The Flashes send five wrestlers into Sunday’s final round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament despite having two upset matches.

“Had a couple upsets in a couple weight classes, and then had some kids who really excelled,” Kent State coach Jim Andrassy said.

Andrassy said he was upset with sophomore Chase Skonieczny, ranked fourth at 141, and senior Matt Cathell, ranked second at 157. Both took early exits, losing their first two matches.

“A lot of it’s your drive,” Andrassy said. “It comes down to wanting to win more than wanting to lose.”

Andrassy said he was most frustrated with Cathell’s performance. Cathell battled and only lost his match against the No. 3 Bryan Duetsch, 11-9. Andrassy said Cathell did not have this same fight after he was sent to the loser’s bracket to face Aaron Sulzer.

,p>

“In the second match, (Cathell) pretty much quit,” Andrassy said. “Didn’t look like he really wanted to be out there. Didn’t give a very good effort. That, as a coach, is what gets very frustrating.”

Cathell, No. 4 junior Marcel Clopton at 149, No. 3 freshman Brandonn Johnson at 174, No. 2 junior Ross Tice, all wrestle Sunday in the consolation round. Cathell wrestles Chris Kline for fifth place, while Clopton faces Bradley Squire after his 4-0 loss to No. 1 Desi Green. Johnson takes on Caleb Busson, and Tice faces Steve Wilson.

No. 3 John-Martin Cannon sent Tice to the consolation round with a 4-1 win. The two wrestlers are now even at 2-2 against one another.

Freshman Tyler Small, ranked third at 133, improved his chances of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament after his strong performance today. Small overcame his Buffalo rival Kevin Smith, 6-4 after three tie-breaking periods.

Small won the match with an escape point early in the period and then a takedown in the closing seconds.

“Tyler really did a good job of wrestling his own match,” Andrassy said. “He kept his composure and wrestled smart. He lost to him earlier in the year, but today he was the better guy.”

No. 1 junior Nic Bedelyon at 125, No. 1 junior Dustin Kilgore at 197, No. 1 sophomore Casey Newburg at 184, No. 2 junior Brendan Barlow at heavyweight and Small resume tomorrow in the final round.

Bedelyon wrestles Gabriel Ramos for the 125 championship, Small wrestles Scotti Sentes for the 133 championship, Newburg wrestles Brad Dieckhaus for the 184 championship, Kilgore wrestles Eric Schuth for the 197 weight class, and Barlow wrestles Jared Trice for the 285 championship.

The Flashes go into tomorrow behind Central Michigan and tied for second with Buffalo with 43.5 points.

“They have to go out at this point and fight their hardest and get a couple upsets,” Andrassy said. “We’re still in this tournament if we go out and have an incredible day tomorrow.”

The final round begins in DeKalb, Illionois, at noon central time Sunday.