Five Golden Flashes competed in their first college dual meet against the Hokies Saturday, including Adam Cogar (197) and Brendan Barlow (285), who grabbed a major decision and a pin in the final two matches to complete the comeback.
Sophomore Dustin Kilgore began the late rally at 184 with a 9-6 decision over Tommy Spellman in a battle of two nationally ranked wrestlers. Cogar followed with a 12-4 victory over Chris Penny. With his team down 18-14, Barlow finished the comeback with a third period pin of Tim Miller.
"I just wanted them (Kilgore, Cogar, Barlow) to wrestle well," Jim Andrassy said about trailing 18-7. "I never thought about getting a team win at that point. I never expected Adam to get a major or Brendan to get the pin. There's not too many times in your career a heavyweight gets the chance to win it for your team with a pin and he did it his first dual. He knew he needed the pin and he just kept scoring points and going at him."
While the opening bout was a loss, it may have been a positive sign for things to come as sophomore Troy Opfer took 12th ranked Jarrod Garnett to overtime before falling 8-6 at 125 pounds.
"Troy wrestled as well as he could have," Andrassy said. "He's right around where Nic Bedelyon was at this time two years ago and he could be our guy for the rest of the season."
Senior Danny Mitcheff followed with 3-2 victory over Eric Spjut at 133. The Hokies took the lead back when redshirt freshman Chase Skonieczny fell to seventh ranked Chris Diaz 6-0.
True freshman Tommy Sasfy got the start at 149 and stayed competitive with 15th-ranked Pete Yates in a 4-1 loss. Sasfy started in place of junior transfer Matt Cathell who is expected to make his debut with the Flashes soon.
Redshirt freshman Mallie Shuster made the most of his first college dual meet with a 12-4 major decision over Taylor Knapp.
At 165, junior Sli Bostelman competed in his first varsity dual in two seasons and was pinned with 40 seconds remaining in the third period. Junior Chris Estep was then edged 3-1 at 174 before the comeback began.
Immediately after an emotional team victory, the Flashes took on Chattanooga.
Redshirt freshman Stevie Mitcheff competed in his first dual against the Mocs and fell 3-1.Older brother Danny then earned his second win of the day with a 12-4 major decision over Josh Sandoval.
Skonieczny was then pinned by 20th ranked Cody Cleveland to give the Mocs a 9-3 lead, but Sasfy swung the momentum back in KSU's favor with an 8-5 win. Shuster followed with his second win of the day, a 7-5 victory over 16th-ranked Joey Knox.
"Mallie did a very good job today," Andrassy said. "He's one of the reasons I feel very comfortable with our young guys out there."
Back-to-back losses by senior Obie Simpson (165) and redshirt freshman Casey Newburg (174) put the Flashes in another hole (15-10) with three matches to go. Kilgore, Cogar and Barlow all responded once again with victories.
Kilgore grabbed a first period pin before Cogar came away with a 3-2 decision. Barlow ended the Flashes' day with a little more drama, this time a 3-1 overtime triumph.
"We're a better program than Chattanooga right now," Andrassy said. "And we were able to wrestle some different guys (Stevie Mitcheff, Simpson, Newburg)."
KSU extended its dual meet winning streak to nine after winning its last seven during the 2008-09 season. Of the 10 KSU starters competing at last year's MAC Championships, only three got the starting nod against the Hokies.
The Golden Flashes will head to the nearby Salem Civic Center tomorrow (Nov. 8) when 447 wrestlers compete in the Hokie Open.
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