Brady Chrisman, ranked ninth in the Mid-American Conference, beat No. 2 Riley Smucker to lead the Kent State wrestling team to a 25-9 victory over Cleveland State Thursday.

Chrisman had been ranked ninth in the conference at 165 pounds with a 9-11 record. Smucker had been ranked second in the conference and 31st in the country with a 15-1 record going into the match.

Cleveland State had been ranked third in the MAC as a team; KSU had been ranked eighth.

The Chrisman-Smucker match went into overtime tied 5-5. Early in the extra period, Chrisman attacked and nearly took down Smucker, then did it successfully and shouted in triumph after his 7-5 victory.

Chrisman said he had been “working hard in the [practice] room, not getting discouraged but getting better every single day.”

“I keep my head high,” he said. “I know I’m capable of making the national tournament and winning the MAC.”

Chrisman said that before the match, the wrestlers had a team meeting.

“We said, ‘Guys, we’re better than this. We train too hard to lose matches in the last second.’ We’ve come together like that, and this time we won all those close matches.”

In KSU’s match last Sunday, the Flashes lost three matches in overtime and two more in the final seconds of regulation.

Coach Jim Andrassy said that his team wrestled very well.

“They fought really hard today in hard situations,” he said. “We aren’t good enough to take breaks or have moments where we can relax. That’s the result of what hard work looks like.”

Kent State is now 4-5 overall and 2-2 in the conference while Cleveland State drops to 7-6 and a 4-2 conference record. Cleveland State is still in first place in the MAC’s East Division.

KSU is in fourth place in the West Division.

Kent State won seven out of the 10 matches:

• Brendon Fenton won 6-1 at 133 pounds against Jake Manley. Fenton had two takedowns to put the match out of reach and 90 seconds of riding time. His record is now 11-9.

• Bobby Pryhocki won 4-2 at 157 pounds against Daniel Patten in overtime with a takedown with 55 seconds to go.

• Michael Ferree (9-11) won 4-2 at 174 pounds against Anthony Rice after escaping with 40 seconds to go.

• Colin McCracken (9-8) posted an 18-4 major decision at 184 pounds against Jax Leonard with six total takedowns.

• Jacob Cover (11-12) had a last-second takedown to beat John Kelbly 4-3.

• Louis Newell (17-11) won by forfeit at 141 pounds.

Kent State’s Jake Ferri, the top-ranked wrestler in the MAC, lost to Logan Heil, who was ranked fifth.

Kent State next takes on MAC-foe Clarion at 3 p.m. Sunday in Pennsylvania.

Noah Keeney is a reporter. You can reach him at [email protected].