Two Kent State Grapplers Win University Titles

AKRON – Kent State’s Dustin Kilgore (Berea, Ohio) and Ian Miller (Oak Harbor, Ohio) each won individual titles at the ASICS University Nationals Sunday at the University of Akron’s Field House, while competing for the Golden Pride Wrestling Club.  Both wrestlers went 5-0 in the two-day freestyle competition and each won their championship matches in convincing fashion.

“There was only one other team (Minnesota) with two champions,” Jim Andrassy said.  “And it’s the first time we’ve ever had someone win this event.”

Competing in the 96-kilogram bracket, Kilgore tallied two first period pins, including one in the semifinals over Adam Fager that took only 57 seconds.  He won each of his other three matches in two periods with a combined score of 15-2.  In his final bout, Kilgore defeated Matt Wilps 2-0, 6-1, to earn his fourth freestyle tournament crown in the last eight months.

“I don’t know if anyone touched Dustin’s legs the whole tournament,” Andrassy said.  “He was very controlled, his defense has gotten tremendously better and when he shot, he scored.  He’s gotten a lot stronger and he looks like monster.”

n the 51-member, 70-kilogram bracket, Miller was nearly as dominant as Kilgore, dropping just one period in five matches.  In his final match, he knocked off Frank Hickman 4-1, 6-0.  Miller posted three shutouts on the weekend, including a 2-0, 3-0 blanking of Bryce Busler in the semifinals.

“I think Ian’s even better in freestyle than folksyle, because he’s so explosive on his feet,” Andrassy said.  ‘He hit a couple 3-point takedowns and a 4-pointer, which is really hard to do.  He really wowed the crowd and some people thought he made a good case for Outstanding Wrestler.”

The Golden Pride Wrestling Club also got a fifth place on Friday from Alfredo Gray (Wadsworth, Ohio) in the Greco-Roman competition.

Other strong performances in freestyle came from Kyle Bauer (Wheeling, W. Va.), who reached the quarterfinals at 63 KG and Stevie Mitcheff (Lorain, Ohio), who went 3-2 at 60 KG.

“Kyle’s really starting to come into his own,” Andrassy said.  And there were a lot of bright spots from our other young guys.  After this weekend, I’m really excited to see where we’ll be as a team next season.

Clay Wenger (Wadsworth, Ohio), Sam Wheeler (Copley, Ohio) and Caleb Marsh (Marysville, Ohio) each won a pair of matches on the weekend.