Wrestlers take first at Body Bar Invitational

Sophomore Dustin Kilgore and senior Danny Mitcheff extended their undefeated seasons to help lead the Kent State wrestling team to victory at the Body Bar Invitational in Ithaca, N.Y., on Saturday.

The Flashes placed a wrestler in all 10 weight classes and won the overall team competition, scoring 147.5 points. Kent State coach Jim Andrassy said he was pleased with his team’s success at the tournament.

“They all wrestled well,” Andrassy said. ” We got a young team; a lot of freshmen and sophomores, and they keep getting better.”

Sophomores Dustin Kilgore and Brendan Barlow won their weight classes, as did senior Danny Mitcheff.

Mitcheff pinned his first opponent, but needed overtime to defeat Drexel’s Steve Mytych to move into the 133-pound finals against Buffalo’s Kevin Smith.

Kilgore defeated a ranked opponent for the fourth time this season after finishing off fourth-ranked Joe LeBlance of Wyoming in the 184-pound finals.

Barlow defeated Ithaca’s Matthew Mahon in the semifinals and 23rd-ranked Patrick Gilmore of Maryland in the 285-pound finals

“I was proud of the guys that won,” Andrassy said. “Dustin and Danny were in more competitive classes, but still performed well.”

The competition included third-ranked Cornell and tenth-ranked Maryland who shared second place, scoring 109 points a piece.

Junior Matt Cathell and freshman Chase Skonieczny also had good showings for Kent State with matching 3-1 records and second place finishes in the 149-pound and 141-pound classes respectively.

Sophomore Ross Tice at 165-pounds and freshman Mallie Shuster at 157 pounds did well on the mats and earned third place finishes.

The Flashes will have three weeks off before hosting matches against Michigan and Newberry on Dec. 13.

Andrassy thinks the time off will help Kent State’s youth mature.

“We’ve already improved so much since the first week, and we’d like to see what we can do later,” Andrassy said.

Contact sports correspondent Jake Kauffman at [email protected].