Usually, a college revolves around its football team. And after popping up on the NCAA brackets several times, Kent State is now known for its basketball team, too. But did you know there are other sports here besides football and basketball?

It may be hard to believe, but it’s true.

This semester, I was assigned to cover the wrestling team. My previous experiences with this sport were watching my brother attempt it in first grade and occasionally watching Randy Orton bring some pain on WWE.

What I didn’t know about the sport is that the Flashes are really good at it. As one of the top 20 teams in the nation, Kent State sent five wrestlers to the NCAA Championships and left with two placing in the top eight.

But this was not a fluke.

The wrestling team has had 105 Mid-American Conference Champions, 12 wrestlers place in the top 20 at the NCAA Championships and 18 wrestlers named All-Americans in its 83 years at Kent State.

And they did that all without packed stands, without cheerleaders and with the Cowbell Crew coming to only one home match this season.

In the spring, I move on to men’s and women’s golf. Now, this is a sport I’ve actually played. And by that, I mean I can play a mean round of mini-golf.

Apparently, there are some men and women at Kent State who can do a better job than that.

Both teams took home MAC Championship titles this season.

For the men, it was their second in a row and 18th total MAC title. Juniors John Hahn and Brett Cairns tied as individual medalists and are the 18th and 19th Flashes do to so.

For the women, junior Martina Gavier was the individual medalist. In the 12 years the MAC Championships have been held, Kent State has won the team championship 12 times and the individual title 11 times.

Golf tournaments don’t bring in a lot of fans either.

Because of the “lovely” weather in Ohio, the Flashes head south to compete in the beginning of the season. While I’m sure everyone would love to go to Puerto Rico or South Carolina, not many fans made the commute.

Understandable. But even when the teams competed at Ohio State, only close friends and family members were in attendance.

I know these teams aren’t looking to brag about their successes, but somebody should do it for them.

Although they may not be the most popular sports on campus, these three teams are definitely some of the most decorated ones. And they don’t need a lot of hype or cheering fans to do it.

Now, I’m not saying the other sports teams at Kent State aren’t good. However, next year, take some time to check out other sports besides the standards and witness some real “excellence in action.”

Contact sports reporter Rachel Jones at [email protected].