Edinboro Match Notes
 
Edinboro Lineup  
125 -- #19/2#20 Kory Mines (R-Sr., 22-6, 77-53, Bedford, Ohio/Maple Heights)
133 -- Anthony Rivera (R-Fr., 3-8, 3-8, Mardela Springs, Md./Parkside)
141 -- #2/#2 Mitchell Port (R-Sr., 24-0, 120-15, Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte Area)
149 -- #3/#4 Dave Habat (R-Sr., 23-1, 121-25, Parma, Ohio/St. Ignatius)
157 -- Kasey Burnett-Davis (R-Sr., 11-8, 29-11, Meadville, Pa./Meadville)
165 -- Casey Fuller (R-Jr., 14-10, 43-42, Hamlin, Pa./Western Wayne)         
174 -- Patrick Jennings (R-Jr., 21-8, 46-45, Ridge, N.Y./Longwood)               
184 -- #12/#12 Vic Avery  (R-Jr., 18-6, 68-28, Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro)
197 -- Vince Pickett  (Jr.,12-12, 55-38, Galloway, Ohio/Central Crossing)
Hwt. -- Warren Bosch (R-Jr., 10-15, 26-36, Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park)       
 
HEAD COACH:  Tim Flynn (Penn State '87, 192-72-5, 18th year)
Rankings:  InterMat/Flowrestling


Kent State Golden Flashes Probable Lineup 
Record -- 5-7, 1-1 MAC (NOTE: Wrestle Ohio on Friday, Jan. 16)  
 
125 -- Del Vinas (Jr., 9-17, Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg)
133 -- #17/#13 Mack McGuire (Jr., 20-8, Upper St. Clair, Pa./Upper St. Clair)
141 -- Tyler Small (R-Sr., 27-5, Littlestown, Pa./Delone Catholic)
149 -- Mike DePalma (Jr., 16-10, Jeannette, Pa./Jeannette)
157 -- Andrew Candiello (R-Sr., 2-9, Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) OR #2/#3 Ian Miller (So., 5-2, Oak Harbor, Ohio/Oak Harbor) OR Nate Valentine (R-Fr., 7-13, Wapakoneta, Ohio / Wapakoneta)
165 -- Tyler Buckwalter  (Jr., 18-11, Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain)         
174 -- Jerald Spohn (R-Fr., 19-15, New Lexington, Ohio/New Lexington) OR #15/#15 Caleb Marsh (Jr., 12-3, Marysville, Ohio/Marysville) OR Mike Vollant     (Jr., 7-15, Erie, Pa./McDowell)
184 -- Charlie Keenan (R-Fr., 9-8, Steubenville, Ohio/Steubenville)
197 -- Cole Baxter (Jr., 14-6, Butler, Pa./Butler)
Hwt. -- Mimmo Lytle (R-So., 20-12, Swanton, Ohio/Swanton)
 
HEAD?COACH:  Jim Andrassy (Kent State '95, 139-84-1, 12th year)
Rankings:  InterMat/Flowrestling


The Match Stories
 
An injury-depleted Edinboro lineup has survived a brutal stretch over the last month, beginning with the Grapple at the Garden, followed by the Midlands Championships, and finally the Virginia Duals. Along the way the Fighting Scots have battled adversity while facing four nationally-ranked teams along with numerous highly-ranked wrestlers. The going doesn't get much easier as Edinboro returns to McComb Fieldhouse for the first time since December 13, hosting Kent State on Sunday, January 18.            

Edinboro finished fourth at the Virginia Duals last weekend. The Fighting Scots won the James River Pool with a 21-17 win over Chattanooga and a 21-16 triumph over West Virginia. The recent injury to two-time All-American A.J. Schopp proved too much to overcome in the next two matches, however. No. 16 Virginia rallied for a 20-17 win over Edinboro in the semifinals, and it was a similar scenario in the third place match against 24th-ranked Old Dominion, as the Monarchs won the last three matches to hand the Scots a 16-15 defeat.   

Head coach Tim Flynn is making do with a patched-up lineup that will be minus two top-ten wrestlers for a period of time. All told, three starters are missing. Edinboro has been without Austin Matthews for over a month now at 157 lbs. and the Clarion transfer is out indefinitely.  Zach Towers is once again out of the lineup at 174 lbs. The Fighting Scots were dealt another blow when A.J. Schopp went down at the Midlands Championships. Ranked number one at 133 lbs. entering the tournament, he was injured in his consolation semifinal match. He was able to finish the match but did not wrestle in the third place match. Schopp, who is now 15-1 and ranked as high as second by Flowrestling, is out indefinitely.

Edinboro currently has seven wrestlers showing up in the various national rankings. The rankings include the WrestlingReport.com rankings which ranks 33 wrestlers per weight class. The trio of A.J. Schopp, Mitchell Port, and Dave Habat are ranked second at 133, 141, and 149 lbs., respectively.  Schopp, who had been the consensus number one at 133 lbs., is now ranked second by Flowrestling and The Open Mat.  Port has been second all year in every poll, while Habat moved up to second in five of the six national polls this week. Newcomer Austin Matthews, a transfer from Clarion, has been ranked as high as fifth at 157 lbs., and is still ranked as high as sixth by InterMat. However, he has been out of the lineup for over a month due to an injury and is now missing from several rankings. Vic Avery is ranked as high as ninth by WIN at 184 lbs. Kory Mines has been in and out of the 125 lb. rankings the last few weeks. He used a strong showing at the Midlands Championships to vault back into the rankings and is now as high as 14th by WrestlingReport.com and 15th by WIN. Patrick Jennings is 33rd at 174 lbs. for the second straight week.

Kent State has a 5-7 record entering Friday's dual against Ohio. Like Edinboro the Golden Flashes are battling injuries to several key wrestlers.   They are ranked 20th in the latest InterMat Tournament Rankings.  Kent State also competed in the Virginia Duals. The Golden Flashes lost to Arizona State (31-6) and Virginia Tech  (29-15) before defeating The Citadel (23-9). On Saturday they lost to Chattanooga (27-9).     

Edinboro comes off the finest season in school history. The 2013-14 Fighting Scots finished with an 11-3 record, winning the EWL and PSAC?Championships. Seven national qualifiers then combined to help Edinboro finish fifth at the NCAA?Division I?National Championships, the highest finish in school history. Three Fighting Scots earned All-American honors -- A.J. Schopp (133 lbs.) and Mitchell Port (141 lbs.) for the second time and Dave Habat (149 lbs.) for the first time. Port placed third with Schopp and Habat coming in fourth.

Edinboro's season-opening lineup featured five returning national qualifiers, along with a sixth in Clarion transfer Austin Matthews. Leading the way are All-Americans Mitchell Port, A.J. Schopp, and Dave Habat. Port earned All-American honors for the second time at 141 lbs. with a third place finish, while Schopp is also a two-time All-American after coming in fourth last year at 133 lbs. Habat earned his first All-American certificate with a fourth place finish at 149 lbs. Kory Mines made his first appearance at Nationals last year at 125 lbs. Matthews earned a trip to Nationals for the first time while wrestling at Clarion. He competed at 157 lbs.  

Head coach Tim Flynn has always liked to challenge his squad, and this year is no exception. The Pittsburgh match was the first of a very difficult dual schedule for the Fighting Scots. Using the USA?Today/NWCA?Division I?Coaches Poll, Edinboro's schedule currently includes six teams in the top 25, including two of the top seven squads.  Edinboro already faced Pittsburgh, with the Panthers currently ranked ninth.  On November 15 the Fighting Scots competed in the EWL?Duals and upset a Michigan team that was eighth at the time and now ranked 16th. The Scots faced a grueling day at the Grapple at the Garden on December 21. They wrestled third-ranked Cornell (now 7th) in their first match, then met 11th-ranked Lehigh (now 10th). The Scots defeated West Virginia, now 23rd, in the Virginia Duals and still have an upcoming match against the Mountaineers. Ohio State, currently ranked fourth, will visit McComb Fieldhouse for a first round match in the NWCA?Cliff Keen National Duals on February 15. 25th-ranked Rider is also still ahead on the schedule.  Throw in matches against Kent State, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, and West Virginia, plus the other four EWL opponents, and the Scots will be battle-tested by March.

THE KENT STATE SERIES
EDINBORO LEADS 6-4  
The Fighting Scots have won the last two meetings --  27-9 a year ago at Kent State and 20-19 two years ago at McComb Fieldhouse.  Kent State won by a 22-15 margin in 2011-12. 
 
LAST?MEETING
2013-14:  EDINBORO 27, KENT?STATE?9 -- The Fighting Scots jumped out to a 16-0 lead with wins in the first four matches and won seven of ten bouts in all. Edinboro won three matches by bonus points, as Mitchell Port won by fall and A.J. Schopp and Ernest James picked up major decisions. 

THE?COACHES
EDINBORO -- Tim Flynn (Penn State '86) is in his 18th season as the helm of the Fighting Scots.  He has elevated the Edinboro program to one of the best in the country, compiling a 192-72-5 record.  Edinboro has had 12 top-20 finishes and four in the top ten at the NCAA?Division I?National Championships during his tenure.  He has produced three national champions and 33 All-Americans.  All told, Flynn has been named the EWL?Coach of the Year six times and the PSAC?Coach of the Year 12 times. last year Flynn captured nearly every Coach of the Year award, including being named the NWCA?NCAA?Division I Coach of the Year, WIN's Dan Gable Coach of the Year, and was InterMat's Co-Coach of the Year along with Minnesota's J Robinson.
 
KENT?STATE -- Jim Andrassy (Kent State '95) is in his 12th season at the helm of his alma mater.  During that time he has posted a 139-84-1, producing seven All-Americans, including one national champion.  Over his last nine seasons Kent State has sent at least five wrestlers to Nationals each year and in eight of those years finished either first or second in the Mid-American Conference standings.  Including his time as an assistant coach and wrestler at Kent State, Andrassy has spent 25 seasons with the Golden Flashes.
 
SCOUTING?KENT?STATE
Like Edinboro, the Golden Flashes are a bit banged up. Kent State has six wrestlers ranked according to WrestlingReport.com, but several are questionable for the match. Leading the way is Ian Miller, sho is ranked second by InterMat at 157 lbs. The junior competed in the NWCA?All-Star Classic earlier in the year and earned All-American honors last year with a fourth place finish at Nationals. He ended the year with a 31-6 record and is 5-2 this year. He ranks fourth in career falls with 31.  Caleb Marsh is ranked 15th at 174 lbs. and Mack McGuire is 17th at 133 lbs. Marsh is a two-time national qualifier who is 12-3 this year. McGuire is also a two-time national qualifier with a 20-8 record. Fifth-year senior Tyler Small is another two-time national qualifier who has a 27-5 record and owns 123 career wins.  
 
TICKETS?AVAILABLE?FOR?OHIO?STATE?MATCH
Tickets are currently on sale in the Edinboro athletic offices for the upcoming NWCA?National Duals match with Ohio State on February 15. Advance tickets are on sale for $8 for adults and $4 for students. Tickets at the door are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Group tickets and reserved seats are also available. For additional details contact Denise Dobos at (814) 732-1824 or ddobos@edinboro.edu. 
 
WELCOME?BACK?MATT?HILL
Kent State assistant coach Matt Hill was a standout wrestler for the Fighting Scots from 2002-07. He was a three-time national qualifier who compiled a 105-42 record as a Fighting Scot while competing at 157 lbs., including 32-7 as a senior.
 
FORMER?SCOT?DEPALMA?IN?KENT?LINEUP?AT 157
Mike DePalma, who competed for two seasons for Edinboro, is expected to start at 149 lbs. for Kent State.  He has a 16-10 record and will square off against Dave Habat. Last year Habat edged DePalma 2-1.  DePalma would go on to finish third at the MAC Championships to automatically qualify for the NCAA?National Championships. He ended with a 26-20 record.  Prior to that the two workout partners met several times in wrestleoffs, but the only official meeting came two years ago in the finals of the UB?Invite, with DePalma winning by fall.  DePalma was 21-12 for the Fighting Scots in 2012-13, mainly competing at 157 lbs.  Assistant coach Matt Hill wrestled for Edinboro from 2002-07 and was a three-time national qualifier.  He compiled a 105-42 record as a Fighting Scot while competing at 157 lbs., including 32-7 as a senior.
 
GOLDEN?FLASHES?ROSTER?HAS?LOCAL?FLAVOR
The Kent State roster features a pair of local products in Michael Vollant and Sam Breese. Vollant is a McDowell High School graduate who has recorded a 7-15 record while competing at 174 and 184 lbs. Breese is a freshman from Lakeview High School who won back-to-back PIAA state championships. He has an 11-13 record.