Flashes Open NWCA Duals Sunday Against Iowa State

Feb 14, 2014 by FloWrestling Staff

Dual meet supremacy is on the line Sunday and Monday (Feb. 16-17) as Kent State will be one of 14 teams participating in the NWCA National Duals, aka Mat Mayhem inside Ohio State’s St. John Arena. Coming off a near shocking upset of No. 5 Northern Iowa this past weekend, the Golden Flashes (10-9) will take on No. 17 Iowa State (8-4) in the opening round Sunday at 1 p.m. In its second dual of the day, the Flashes will take on either fourth-seeded Ohio State or Hofstra.

Defending NWCA Duals champion and No. 1 ranked Minnesota is the top seed. The Golden Gophers and second-seeded Cornell will each receive a first round bye, while the remaining 12 teams battle for six remaining quarterfinal spots.

Live Audio & Video

Live audio of every Kent State dual at St. John Arena can be heard free on Golden Flashes Radio on iHeartRadio with Matt Miller on the call. Monday’s semifinal and championship round will air live on Big Ten Network. Live streaming video can be seen with a subscription on Flowrestling.

The Competition

The Cyclones are No. 17 in this week’s NWCA Coaches Poll and No. 13 according to InterMat. Iowa State has earned notable victories over No. 19 North Dakota State, Arizona State and Old Dominion. All four of its losses have come against opponents ranked in the top 11 spots. Junior 197-pounder Kyven Gadson is the nation’s top-ranked wrestler at 197.

Last Season

The NWCA Duals followed a different format last season with four regional sites. Kent State served as a regional host and dropped its opening dual against No. 1 Oklahoma State. The Golden Flashes bounced back with a 33-10 victory over Wisconsin in the consolation. The following weekend, Minnesota downed Oklahoma State in the championship round.

Dual Success & MAC Duals
Since Head Coach Jim Andrassy's third season (2005-06), the Golden Flashes have gone 119-46-1 in dual meets.

History vs. Iowa State
Iowa State leads the all-time series with Kent State 2-0. The Cyclones last defeated the Golden Flashes at the beginning of the 2010-11 season 23-19 in Salem Va.

In The Rankings

This week, Kent State is No. 22 according to WrestlingReport.com, No. 24 in Takedown Wrestling’s Dual Impact Index and No. 33 in W.I.N.’s Tournament Power Index. The Flashes are also top point-getters in the NWCA (Top 25) Coaches’ Poll in the “receiving votes” category. Five Golden Flashes are ranked in this week’s Top 25 according to WrestlingReport and seven are in the Top 33. Six Flashes were in the Top 4 spots of the latest MAC rankings, putting Kent State in a tie for fourth in the MAC team rankings.

Sophomore Ian Miller is No. 4 in multiple polls, while sophomore Sam Wheeler is No. 10. Tyler Small is No. 11 according to W.I.N., while Michael DePalma and Mack McGuire are both No. 19.

Quick Shots

Tyler Small earned his 94^th career victory at Northern Iowa
Kent State does not have a single senior in its starting lineup
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 expected to make his return after missing three duals with an injury
Miller is tied for fourth place among Kent State's career pin leaders with 29.
Six of Kent State’s dual wins are by 15 points or more.
Six of the Flashes’ losses have come against teams ranked in the Top 16 of the latest coaches poll. Two of those losses have come on tiebreakers.

On the Horizon- The Golden Flashes close out their regular season hosting a pair of dual meets Friday night, Feb. 21 at the M.A.C. Center. The Tigers are No. 10 in this week’s coaches poll, while the Fighting Scots are No. 14.

Projected Lineup vs. Iowa State Sunday
125 – No. 27 Earl Hall (14-10) or Kyle Larson (18-8) vs. Del Vinas (17-13) or Alfredo Gray (11-18)
133 – Shayden Terukina (5-9) vs. No. 20 Mack McGuire (22-9, 13-6 duals)
141 – Gabe Moreno (15-14) vs. No. 23 Tyler Small (19-12, 11-8 duals)
149 – Luke Goettl (12-11) vs. No. 23 Mike DePalma (21-12, 11-7 duals)
157 – Jon Nicholson (11-9) or Logan Molina (11-5) vs. No. 4 Ian Miller (20-4, 11-3 duals)
165 – No. 9 Michael Moreno (21-6) vs. Tyler Buckwalter (6-9, 6-7 duals)
174 – No. 8 Tanner Weatherman (20-10) vs. No. 32 Caleb Marsh (12-8, 11-6 duals)
184 – Boaz Beard (8-3) or No. 31 Lelund Weatherspoon (21-8) vs. Mike Vollant (10-11) or Cory Campbell (9-6)
197 – No.1 Kyven Gadson (19-2) vs. No. 32 Cole Baxter (20-12, 13-6 duals)
285 – Quean Smith (6-11) or Ben Perna (9-7) vs. Mimmo Lytle (13-18, 6-13 duals)
Rankings from NCAA Coaches Panel