The 24th-ranked Kent State Golden Flashes improved to 9-4 this season by declawing the 3-6 Pittsburgh Panthers 27-3.
After the match, Kent State head coach Jim Andrassy talked being aggressive against the Panthers. "It was a very strange match as far as what their fans and coaches were complaining about. I thought our guys kept their composure... I thought Pittsburgh did not do much and our guys came out, attacked and put pressure on them. Just because you do a lot in the third period with 30 seconds left doesn't mean our guys are stalling. Our guys are working their butts off for 6:30 and they are trying to keep their lead. You cannot wrestle for 30 seconds and try to get stalling calls."
Last year's slugfest between these two teams featured three overtime matches. It looked as the 2009 version might feature more of the same. At 125, sophomore Nic Bedelyon and Chris Albright needed extra time after solving nothing after seven minutes. Bedelyon would waste no time, grabbing the quick takedown in the extra session for the 7-5 win.
A crucial penalty point for Danny Mitcheff proved the difference at 133. Both tallied escapes from the defensive position in the second and third periods, but a locking hands penalty on Jimmy Conroy of Pitt in the third was the difference as Mitcheff won 2-1. KSU led 6-0.
Pitt looked to eighth-ranked Tyler Nauman to stop the bleeding at 141, but 11th-ranked fifth-year senior Drew Lashway would have none of it. Both grapplers were in a stalemate after the first period. In the second, Nauman chose defense and quickly jumped out with an escape.
It would be his first and only lead.
Lashaway took the lead with a takedown, but Nauman knotted the score with his second escape. Lashaway countered with his second takedown to take the lead for good, but Nauman escaped before the horn to cut the deficit to 4-3 after two. In the third, Lashaway chose neutral and built a commanding 6-3 lead with his third takedown and held on for the 6-4 upset win.
Redshirt junior Jeremy Depoy dropped a 5-2 decision to Mark Powell at 149, but redshirt freshman Ross Tice quickly took any momentum away from the Panthers at 157.
After a scoreless first period, Phil Sorrentino chose down and recorded the only points with an escape. In the meantime, the two did not have a clean start and Sorrentino was hit with a caution. In the third, Tice took the lead before any time passed in the period. Sorrentino was hit with three more cautions and Tice quickly took a 2-1 lead. Tice made the escape and won 4-1 when Sorrentino was penalized for misconduct.
Losing close matches all season, redshirt junior Obie Simpson had a perfect opportunity for a marquee win as he battled 18th-ranked Ethan Headlee.
Headlee looked as if he had Simpson's number as he got the early takedown, but Simpson quickly turned the tables with a reverse and two back points. The lead ballooned to three when Headlee was hit for misconduct. In the second, Headlee chose down and cut the deficit to two with an escape. In the final stanza, Simpson started down and broke the hold for an escape, but not before Headlee secured the riding point. Essentially up 6-4, Simpson was hit for stalling twice but held on for the 6-5 triumph.
Redshirt sophomore Chris Estep used a different approach to defeat A.J. Brentzle at 174: the riding time. After a scoreless opening three minutes, Brentzle chose down and could never grab the escape as Estep rode him the entire period. In the third, Estep held the riding point with a quick escape and secured the win with a takedown. Golden Flashes held a commanding 18-3 lead after seven matches.
With tight matches in the first two matches in front of the hometown crowd against Clarion and Northern Illinois, redshirt freshman Dustin Kilgore wanted to leave nothing in doubt at 184. Kilgore recorded the takedown in the early seconds in the match and took a 5-1 lead in the second with another takedown and a stalling point.
Looking for the major, Kilgore went to work in the third. Starting down, Kilgore jumped out to a 7-1 lead when he reversed Pitt's Zac Thomusseit. Thomusseit earned the escape, but Kilgore quickly countered with another takedown. With the riding point secure, Kilgore looked as if he would record the major decision. However, Tomusseit escaped with seconds left and final shots by Kilgore were unsuccessful in a 10-3 win.
Fifth-year senior Eric Chine immortalized himself in Kent State athletic history with the 100th win at 197. Chine began the match with a takedown, but escapes in the first and second by the Panther's Matthew Wilps knotted the score at two. However, Chine recorded the takedown to go up 4-2 after two. In the third, Chine chose defense and the lead ballooned to three with the escape. Chine all but secured the match with his third takedown, but Wilps quickly escaped and recorded his own two-pointer. However, it was two little to late as Chine held on for the 7-5 win.
"No one recruited him out of high school," coach Andrassy said of Chine after the match. "He was a guy I saw at high school nationals, brought him in, and he has done a good job for us. I am really happy for him and I am happy for his family. He has done a good job for us."
Chine joins fifth-year senior teammate Jermail Porter as the two Kent State wrestlers to record win number 100 this season.
Ranked third in the country, Porter looked to make a little history of his own as he took on sixth-ranked Zach Sheaffer. After another scoreless first period, Porter chose down and got the escape to go up 1-0 after two.
Tempers would flare in the third, but Porter would hold his ground. Sheaffer started down and tied the match with his escape, and both wrestlers would fight to a draw most of the period. Porter took a shot with about 25 ticks remaining and got the lead for good with the takedown and three quick back points. Sheaffer would break the hold and proceeded to slap at Porter's head.
With 12 seconds to go, referee Joe Chesbrough added insult to injury for Sheaffer by whistling two misconduct penalty points on him and both wrestlers had to be restrained. Order was quickly restored and the final seconds ticked away on Porter's 8-2 win.
With the win, Porter is now tied for third in 110 career wins with Steve Reedy (1977-81) and Mike Tolar (99-2004).
The Golden Flashes continue their quest for a Mid-American Conference championship next Saturday (Feb. 7) when they travel to Alumni Arena to take on the Buffalo Bulls at 7 p.m.
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