Cleveland Reporter

The Golden Flashes head to the historic Virginia Duals this weekend, wrestling a pair of duals on Friday and Saturday.

Kent State will take on Campbell and South Dakota State on Friday then face off against Virginia and Navy on Saturday. The Flashes and Camels will start at 11:30 a.m. on Friday while the nightcap will be at 2:30 on Friday against the Jackrabbits. On Saturday, the Flashes will face Virginia at 1 p.m. and will have a quick turnaround as they will take on the Midshipmen at 2:30.

The Flashes return to the Hampton Duals for the 20th time in school history. They have been a mainstay at the Duals, appearing every season dating back to the 2005-06 season. Kent State ranks fourth all time in wins at the Duals, recording 41 through 19 trips to Hampton including the 2012 college title.

In the opening dual, it will be the first time the Flashes take on the Camels since 2018 and they are 4-1 all time against them. The Camels lone win came at the 2017 Virginia Duals. The Camels have a trio of wrestlers ranked in the Wrestle State top-40 including Anthony Molton at 125 pounds, Dom Zaccone at 133, Caleb Hopkins at 184 and Taye Ghadiali at 285. The matchup to watch will be at 125 pounds as Molton and Jake Ferri are each ranked in the top-40.

The Jackrabbits and Flashes have met twice all-time, most recently at the Huskie Duals in DeKalb back in 2021. Friday will be the "rubber match" between the teams as they split the previous two meetings. They come in ranked 17th by Wrestle Stat and have five wrestlers inside the Wrestle Stat top-20. Topping that list is junior Tanner Cook, who is ranked 10th by Wrestle Stat at 165 pounds and is 9-2 overall. His projected match with Enrique Munguia will be one to watch.

Saturday will start off with the Virginia Cavaliers. The Flashes are 6-5 all time against Virginia and have met three previous times at the Virginia Duals, most recently in 2020. Virginia has a pair of wrestlers ranked 13th overall by Wrestle Stat, Justin McCoy at 165 pounds and Neil Antrassian at 184 pounds. McCoy against Munguia will be one to watch, as will Kody Komara against Jarod Verkleeren at 149 pounds. The two have faced off twice in their collegiate careers and Komara will look to even the score from a setback earlier this year at the Mountaineer Invite.

The Duals wrap up with the Flashes taking on Navy on Saturday afternoon. The Flashes and Midshipmen often face each other in a tournament setting at the Navy Classic, but have met only four times in traditional duals with Kent State owning a 3-1 advantage. The Naval Academy has three top-40 wrestlers, led by heavyweight Grady Griess who is 12th in the latest Wrestle Stat ranking. The match to watch for will again be at 165 pounds. Enrique Munguia captured the title at the Navy Classic with a 6-4 win over Navy's Val Park and the two are slated to meet again on Saturday.

The Virginia Duals will be streamed via Flo Wrestling and live stats will be available through Track Wrestling. Fans can find all information to follow along as well as ticket information on the Kent State wrestling schedule page.

The Flashes projected lineup is below. Kent State will enter the heart of the conference schedule following the Duals, first up is a trip to Buffalo to wrestle the Bulls. The dual is set for Sunday, February 22nd with a 2 p.m. scheduled start time.  

125 Jake Ferri

133 Brendon Fenton

141 Louis Newell

149 Kody Komara

157 Ethan Barr or Keegan Knapp

165 Enrique Munguia

174 Ashton Breen or Michael Ferree

184 Tyler Bates

197 Blake Schaffer

285 Jacob Cover

Original source can be found here.