Kent State flexes muscles

???After last week's loss to No. 9 ranked Central Michigan, the wrestling team looked to turn things around on their own mats.

???Kent State wouldn't let that happen.

???On Saturday, the Bulls (9-7, 1-3 Mid-American Conference) hosted the Golden Flashes (10-4, 2-0 MAC). Kent State came to Buffalo ranked No. 24 in the nation by the USA Today/InterMat/NWCA poll with four wrestlers nationally ranked in their respective weight classes.

???Buffalo witnessed Kent State's impressive dominance firsthand, losing to the Golden Flashes, 31-7.

???The Golden Flashes' four ranked wrestlers in the 133, 141, 184 and 285-pound weight classes captured wins. The Bulls managed a total of two wins on the night from redshirt-freshman Desi Green and senior Nate Rock.

???Green continued to impress against Kent State's Jeremy Depoy, taking him down just 45 seconds into the match and retained the momentum from there. Green dominated Depoy in the second with an escape, near fall and two takedowns. Green won the match by major decision, 16-5, for his team-leading 31st win on the season.

???The redshirt-freshman standout attributes his recent success to his coaches, all of whom have pushed Green hard since an early season loss at the Body Bar Invitational.

???"I have been pushing myself in the [wrestling] room with extra sprints and extra workouts with my assistant coach," Green said.

???The 174-pound match was Buffalo's only other win of the night as Rock defeated Kent State's Chris Estep. Rock revenged a 3-2 loss to Estep in the Body Bar Invitational.

???Saturday's match was just as close with a tiebreaker. During the extra period, Rock took a shot at Estep scoring a takedown for the 4-2 victory.

???"Nate has really been wrestling well for us and he feels good," Bulls head coach Jim Beichner said. "Anytime you can revenge a loss from earlier in the season to a tough kid, it's great."

???Green and Rock provided the only bright spots for the Bulls at the matchup.

???Nic Bedelyon of the Golden Flashes won by decision 6-3 over junior Dan Bishop in the first match of the night.

???A 133-pound bout followed between freshman Taylor Golba, who filled in for the injured Kevin Smith, and Kent State's Danny Mitcheff, who's ranked No. 16 in the nation. Mitcheff grabbed the victory with a first period fall.

???Freshman Mark Lewandowski looked to reverse Buffalo's losing ways against Drew Lashaway in the 141-pound weight class. Lashaway, currently ranked 12th in his weight class, won the match 6-1. Lewandowski managed to keep the match deadlocked at zero after the first period, but Lashaway managed to grab a lead in the second period and never looked back.

???Overall, Buffalo started five freshmen and had a tough time competing with the ranked Golden Flashes.

???"If they are the guys I know they are, I know they are disappointed," Beichner said. "This means they will come back harder, fight harder, and train harder."

???The Bulls have two home matches this weekend, both against nationally ranked opponents. Twelfth-ranked Edinboro rolls into Alumni Arena on Friday at 7 p.m., while No. 23 Hofstra faces the Bulls at 1 p.m.