From the Cleveland Plain Dealer
COLLEGE WRESTLING
Kent State gets measure of revenge against Vikings
Thursday, January 06, 2005
Pat Galbincea
Plain Dealer Reporter
One year ago, Kent State junior wrestler Ben Rings was serving in the military as a firefighter in Iraq.
Wednesday night, Rings was a major reason why the Golden Flashes edged host Cleveland State, 19-17, in front of a near capacity crowd.
Rings upset Vikings senior Joe Phillips with an unexpected ease, 5-1, with a double-leg takedown in the final 22 seconds and a near fall at the buzzer.
Rings, a Division I state champ at Marysville four years ago, showed no rust on the mat. He almost took the powerful Phillips down several times.
“I knew sooner or later I’d get him, because I was in deep on every shot I took, “Rings said. “It wasn’t tough to get back into wrestling after being in Baghdad. I just needed to sharpen up my technique and reaction time.
“I always felt safe being in Iraq. In fact, if they called me up to serve there again, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
Ring’s victory was necessary because CSU freshman David Armstrong (133) nearly pinned Mike Pierce in the evening’s final bout to tie the team score. Pierce had beaten Armstrong twice in earlier season tournaments, but this time Armstrong easily prevailed, 16-5.
KSU (4-4) won six of the 10 matches. Sterling junior heavyweight Tomas Rodriguez won a major decision, and juniors Jason Bake (149) and Alex Camargo (184) also won handily. Sophomore Aaron Miller (174) got a reversal in double overtime to edge senior Matt Klinger, 4-3.
The most exciting match the night took place at 157, where Kent freshman Kurt Gross came from behind to beat freshman Marcus Effner – CSU coach Jack Effner’s son – 5-3.
Effner’s double-leg takedown with 36 seconds left in the match gave him a 3-1 lead, but Gross reversed him in the final 12 seconds to tie, 3-3, and wipe out Effner’s riding time advantage by one second. In overtime, Gross won a scramble for a takedown at the buzzer.
“We outwrestled CSU in every match but the last one, “Kent coach Jim Andrassy said. “We pushed them around . . . a lot different from last year.”
CSU (1-3) also got solid decisions from freshman Mike Hurley (141) and sophomore David Gilkey (165). Freshman Joe Wornoff (125) won by forfeit.
“We’re a very young team which had breakdowns in intensity at key moments, “CSU coach Jack Effner said. “It hurts not to win, but we’ve beaten Kent the last three years, so I can’t be too critical of our guys.”
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