With the first conference and home meet this Saturday, Kent State wrestling coach Jim Andrassy will be faced with multiple match-time decisions.

Men’s wrestling takes on Northern Illinois Saturday

With the first conference and home meet this Saturday, Kent State wrestling coach Jim Andrassy will be faced with multiple match-time decisions.

With the first conference and home meet this Saturday, Kent State wrestling coach Jim Andrassy will be faced with multiple match-time decisions.

Freshman Tyler Small (133) and sophomore Casey Newburg (184) have the flu, and sophomore Chase Skonieczny (141) may be out with a sore neck.

“I feel confident with the backups, so we’re just going to go from there,” Andrassy said. “Play it by ear and see where things go.”

Andrassy said sophomore Stevie Mitcheff will wrestle at 133 if Tyler Small is out, sophomore Sean Collins will wrestle at 141 if Chase cannot, and sophomore Keith Witt will wrestle at 184 if Newburg is out.

The marquee match of the night may be at 157, as Kent State’s No. 21 ranked senior Matt Cathell goes against Northern Illinois’ No. 16 ranked senior Bryan Deutsch.

Cathell is coming off two big weekends, scoring bonus points that were enough to give the Flashes narrow wins against Lehigh and Purdue.

Another match to watch is at 197, with Wrestlingreport.com’s No. 7-ranked junior Dustin Kilgore, who ranks third in career wins for Kent State Wrestling with 122.

Kilgore is 25-2 on the year, holds the second-highest winning percentage in school history at .917 and is now eying Alex Camargo’s 126 wins at second place.

The Huskies are currently 0-2 in conference play with losses against Central Michigan and Ohio. The team won four of the 10 matches against Wrestlingreport.com’s No. 16-ranked Central Michigan and three matches against Ohio.

The Flashes (9-5) were 4-1 in the Mid-American Conference last year with their one loss coming in the final conference match against Central Michigan.

The Flashes conclude this season as well against Central Michigan.

However, Andrassy said the team is not looking too far in the future.

“Right now we’re focused on Northern Illinois and taking it match by match,” Andrassy said.

The match against Northern Illinois is scheduled for Saturday in the M.A.C. Center at 7:05 p.m.

Contact Alex Atkinson at [email protected].