Jan. 9, 2008

Contact: Gene Natale, Jr.

KENT, Ohio - The Cleveland State wrestling team lost eight of 10 matches in dropping a 25-6 decision to Kent State in dual meet action Tuesday evening at KSU's MAC Center.

"Kent State a big rival for us, and it stings to lose," head coach Jack Effner said, "Despite the loss, I am very proud of our guys and how hard they fought."

The meet got underway at 165 pounds in a matchup of nationally ranked wrestlers, as the 26th ranked Marcus Effner of CSU faced off against the 24th ranked Kurt Gross of KSU. The closely contested match resulted in a 9-6 win for Gross, giving the Golden Flashes a 3-0 lead.

"A lot of these guys were rivals in high school," said Effner. Marcus Effner and Gross have faced each other many times in the past, and both were state champions while in high school in the state of Ohio.

The 174 pound bout got the Vikings on the board as JT Miller scored a 9-6 decision over Chris Estep, pulling CSU into a 3-3 tie with KSU. This would prove to be the closest the Vikings would get to taking the lead, as the Golden Flashes reeled off seven straight victories in the next seven matches.

Derek Cummins at 184 was the next to drop a decision as he was defeated by a 6-2 margin. Following a 12-4 major decision loss by Alek Hughes at 197, the heavyweight bout between KSU All-American heavyweight Jermail Porter and CSU's Eric Schwartz. A very close match resulted with a 3-1 loss for Schwartz to Porter, currently the 17th ranked heavyweight in NCAA Division I.

The lower weights got underway with the 125 pound bout, with senior Ryan Riggs dropping a 5-1 decision to KSU's highly touted freshman Nic Bedelyon. Josh Palivoda followed with his 133 pound bout where he battled KSU's Dan Mitcheff to a scoreless tie after the first period. Mitcheff tallied four points in the second that would prove to be enough for a KSU victory as Palivoda fell by a 4-0 margin.

The Hurley brothers, each had very close matches at their respective weight classes, 141 and 149 pounds. Mike Hurley was narrowly defeated by a 4-1 margin at 141, while Ryan Hurley's match at 149 went into sudden victory where he dropped a 6-4 decision.

Rob Michaels closed out the meet with a convincing 9-3 decision over Kent State's Patrick Lanham to push the final score to 25-6. Michaels is now 4-0 in his last four matches, leading the team with a 23-4 record.  

"Kent State has a very good team," Effner said, "But I think we are doing good things. We just need to attack the little things and keep getting better. I am very proud of all of our guys to see them wrestle this hard."

The Vikings are back in action this Saturday, January 12 in a dual meet against Eastern Michigan. The competition, held at the Woodling Gym, will begin at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Kent State 25, Cleveland State 6

165: Kurt Gross (KSU) dec. Marcus Effner (CSU), 9-6              0-3
174: JT Miller (CSU) dec. Chris Estep (KSU), 9-5                 3-3
184: Eric Chine (KSU) dec. Derek Cummins, 6-2                    3-6
197: Michael Blackwell major dec. Alek Hughes, 12-4              3-10
285: Jermail Porter (KSU) dec. Eric Schwartz, 3-1                3-13
125: Nic Bedelyon (KSU) dec. Ryan Riggs, 5-1                     3-16
133: Dan Mitcheff (KSU) dec. Josh Palivoda, 4-0                  3-19
141: Drew Lashaway (KSU) dec. Mike Hurley, 4-1                   3-22
149: Clint Sponseller (KSU) dec. Ryan Hurley, 6-4 SV             3-25
157: Rob Michaels dec. Patrick Lanham (KSU), 9-3                 6-25 KSU