Sophomore Clayton Stark works to turn teammate Jeremy DeToy, a redshirt freshman during the Kent State Intra-squad Scrimmage Saturday night. ELIZABETH MYERS | DAILY KENT STATER

Credit: Jason Hall

The 2006-2007 Kent State wrestling team showed off its skill at the Blue-Gold intra-squad scrimmage Saturday night at the M.A.C. Center.

Fans in attendance were able to witness several returning starters and this year’s freshman class of wrestlers take part in 12 individual matchups.

“This was great opportunity for the athletes to show what they can do and for us as coaches to evaluate where we are both individually and as a team,” Kent State wrestling coach Jim Andrassy said in an athletic department press release. “We had several good matches. I was pleasantly surprised with several performances. This gives us a good idea of what our strengths are and what we need to improve upon as we enter the regular season.”

The Blue team won the scrimmage handily, coming back from an early deficit to win by a final margin of 33-12.

Winning individual matchups for the Blue team were seniors Jason McGee, Aaron Miller and Ardian Ramadini, sophomores Clayton Stark, Clint Sponseller and Jermail Porter, and freshmen Jacob Kyle, Sli Bostelman and James Reynolds.

Junior Joe Whalen, sophomore Danny Mitcheff and freshman Jeff Shymske won their individual matchups for the Gold team.

The Gold team got off to a quick start, taking an early 6-0 lead after the victories by Mitcheff and Shymske. However, the Blue team came back quickly, winning the next five matchups to build a 21-6 lead and cruise to victory.

Highlights of the scrimmage included pins by McGee and Whalen, as well as narrow victories by Sponseller and Kyle, who both won their matchups by one point.

The team, which was ranked second in the preseason Mid-American Conference coaches’ poll, travels next to Brockport, N.Y., to participate in the Oklahoma Gold Invitational this Saturday.

Contact sports correspondent Doug Gulasy at [email protected].