As Kent State’s seventh-ranked Dustin Kilgore grappled against Purdue’s ninth-ranked Logan Brown at the Wendy’s Duals in Ashland, Ohio this weekend, it was easy for fans to forget they were watching a wrestling match and not a mixed martial arts fight.

The matches between Purdue and Kent State remained relatively calm until the 197-weight class when Kilgore and Brown clashed. Kilgore dominated, leading 7-1 after the first period. Brown took a couple swipes at Kilgore’s eyes before successfully poking Kilgore in the left eye.

Kilgore lashed out and pushed Brown after the whistle had already blown. Illegal physical action continued throughout the match with no penalty points or disqualifications administered to either wrestler.

Unable to calm down their wrestlers during timeouts and intermissions, Kent State coach Jim Andrassy and Purdue coach Scott Hinkel pleaded for the referee to gain control of the match.

“I wish we would have had a Division I referee,” Andrassy said. “That guy just let the matches get out of hand. It’s frustrating. We have two top-20 teams in the country wrestling and we got this referee that should be refereeing high school matches.”

Kilgore stayed in the match and picked up a critical 13-3 major decision to extend Kent State’s lead 17-13.

“I thought Dustin did a hell of a job,” Andrassy said. “(Brown) is ranked ninth in the country and was beat 7-1 in the first period. From there, he just wanted to try to hurt (Kilgore), and it became an out-of-control match. Dustin did real well.”

In the following heavyweight match, junior Brendan Barlow fell to Purdue senior Roger Vukobratovich in a six overtime loss. The match was decided by Vukobratovich’s few extra seconds of riding time. Interestingly, Vukobratovich won the match without ever taking a shot and was never warned for stalling.

“(Barlow) needs to learn to get through all the calls and win anyways, and that’s what he didn’t do,” Andrassy said.

Purdue was awarded two points for its heavyweight match but still fell short 17-15 to Kent State.

The Flashes followed their win against Purdue with an easy 56 to -1 win over Campbell.

Freshman (133) Tyler Small, senior (157) Matt Cathell, freshman (165) Brandonn Johnson, sophomore (184) Casey Newburg and junior (285) Brendan Barlow all pinned their opponents.

Junior (125) Nic Bedelyon had a 12-4 major decision. Sophomore (141) Chase Skonieczny and junior (165) Ross Tice picked up technical falls, winning 17-1 and 19-4 in their respective matches. Junior (149) Marcel Clopton and (197) Kilgore won their matches due to Campbell forfeits.

The shutout against Campbell was Kent State’s first of a Division I school since 2005.

The Flashes’ home opener is also their first day of conference play, as they host Northern Illinois at 7:05 Friday evening in the M.A.C. Center.

Contact Alex Atkinson at [email protected].