Kent State begins a stretch of three straight Mid-American Conference road duals Friday at Eastern Michigan’s Bowen Field House.  The Golden Flashes (8-8, 2-2 MAC) will be making their second trip of the season to Ypsilanti after going 3-0 at the EMU Duals in November.

The Competition

The Eagles (8-5) are 5-0 at Bowen Field House this season.  EMU has a conference victory over Old Dominion taking 6-of-10 matches.  Its most recent win was a convincing 26-10 victory against Duke, capturing 7-fo-10 matches.  Head Coach Derek DelPorto’s 80 career victories are tied for most in program history. Four Eagles claimed spots in the latest MAC Coaches Rankings.

Dual Success
Since Head Coach Jim Andrassy's third season (2005-06), the Golden Flashes have gone 117-45-1 in dual meets.  Since the 05-06 season, Kent State has gone 35-9-1 in MAC duals.  During that time, the Golden Flashes are unbeaten against the combination Eastern Michigan, Buffalo and Northern Illinois.

History vs. Eastern Michigan
Kent State leads the all-time series with Eastern Michigan 40-1-1 with its only loss coming in 1974.  The Flashes have won 29 straight in the series, including a 24-15 comeback victory last season in Ypsilanti.  EMU led 15-6 at the midway point, before Caleb Marsh and Sam Wheeler started a string of five straight Kent State victories.

In The Rankings

This week, Kent State is No. 21 according to WrestlingReport.com, No. 25 according to InterMat, No. 29 in Takedown Wrestling’s Dual Impact Index and No. 32 in W.I.N.’s Tournament Power Index.  Six Golden Flashes are ranked in this week’s Top 25 according to WrestlingReport and seven are in the Top 33.  Six Flashes are in the Top 4 spots of the latest MAC rankings.

 

Sophomore Ian Miller is No. 5 in multiple polls. Sophomore Sam Wheeler is as high as No. 8 at 184 and Mack McGuire is as high as No. 15.

 

Quick Shots

• The Golden Flashes have finished in one of the top two spots in the MAC regular season standings in each of the previous eight seasons.
• Ian Miller is tied for fourth place among Kent State's career pin leaders with 29.  His eight pins this season are 10^th most in Division I.
• Six of Kent State’s dual wins are by 15 points or more.
• Five of the Flashes’ losses have come against teams ranked in the Top 16 of the latest coaches poll.
• Sam Wheeler has won 10 his last 11 matches.
• Mack McGuire has won seven of his last eight matches. 

On the Horizon- The Golden Flashes head West for a pair of MAC duals next weekend, visiting Northern Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 8 and Northern Iowa on Sunday (Feb. 9).

Projected Lineup vs. EMU
125 – No. 29 Jared Germaine (10-1) vs. Del Vinas (17-12) or Alfredo Gray (10-17)
133 – No. Vinny Pizzuto (13-6) vs. No. 19 Mack McGuire (21-7, 12-4 duals)
141 – Nick Barber (9-6) vs. No. 21 Tyler Small (16-12, 8-8 duals)
149 – Mike Shaw (3-11) vs. No. 21 Mike DePalma (19-11, 9-6 duals)
157 – No. 31 Brandon Zeerip (14-8) No. vs. T.J. Keklak (8-11)
165 – Dean Vettese (11-12) vs. Tyler Buckwalter (4-8, 4-6 duals)
174 – Jake Davis (9-12) vs. No. 24 Caleb Marsh (10-7, 9-5 duals)
184 – No. 28 Phillip Joseph (15-5) vs. No. 8 Sam Wheeler (25-4, 14-2 duals)
197 – Nick Whitenburg (5-4) vs. No. 33 Cole Baxter (18-11, 11-5 duals)
285 – Khodar Hoballah (8-13) vs. Mimmo Lytle (12-16, 5-11 duals)
Rankings from WrestlingReport.com

 

 

Aaron Chimenti

Assistant Director, Athletic Communications

Contact for Football & Wrestling

Kent State University