NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion wrestling team (6-10, 2-5 MAC) will host Kent State (2-14, 0-7 MAC) Sunday at the Ted Constant Center at 1 p.m. on Senior Day in the Monarchs' final dual meet of the season. Seniors Kevin Johnson, Michael Hayes and Jack Dechow will be honored just prior to the match.
The Monarchs enter Sunday's dual meet after splitting matches last weekend, pulling out a 19-18 triumph on criteria over Ohio Friday night before falling on the road at American, 25-14, last Sunday.
ODU brings five nationally ranked wrestlers into Sunday's match, as four Monarchs were ranked in the latest NCAA coaches' panel including: Michael Hayes (27), Seldon Wright (21), Kevin Beazley (14) and Jack Dechow (8). Additionally, 157-pounder Larry Early was ranked No. 25 according to Trackwrestling.
Kent State (2-14, 0-7 MAC) comes to Norfolk Sunday on a six-match losing skid, as the Golden Flashes were most recently defeated by Eastern Michigan, 27-12, and No. 1 Oklahoma State, 36-6, two weekends ago. Kent State's two dual meet victories of the season came against Citadel and Cleveland State.
The Golden Flashes boast just one nationally ranked wrestler in Casey Sparkman, who checked in at No. 33 on the latest NCAA coaches' panel rankings.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Old Dominion Monarchs (6-10, 2-5 MAC)
125: Steven Simpson (5-19)133: Alex Madrigal (8-10)141: Kevin Budock (18-13)149: #27 Michael Hayes (15-11)157: Larry Early (14-5)165: #21 Seldon Wright (18-7)174: Antonio Agee (9-12)184: #8 Jack Dechow (24-3)197: #14 Kevin Beazley (19-4)285: Will Hilliard (6-16)
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Kent State Golden Flashes (2-14, 0-7 MAC)
125: Cory Simpson (9-20)
133: Anthony Tutolo (18-5)
141: Chance Driscoll (19-14)
149: Tim Rooney (16-21)
157: #33 Casey Sparkman (21-10)
165: Isaac Bast (8-14) or Jared Walker (14-19)
174: Jerald Spohn (13-15)
184: Shane Mast (13-13)
197: Stephen Suglio (19-15)
285: Devin Nye (16-17)
*Rankings according to NCAA coaches' panel (2/10)
COVERAGE
Fans who cannot make it to the Ted Constant Center Sunday can tune into the Monarch Media live stream ($).
As always, follow @ODUWrestling on Twitter for live updates and 'like' Old Dominion Wrestling on Facebook for match recaps and statistics.
UP NEXT
Sunday's match will serve as the last dual meet of the season for Old Dominion, as the Monarchs will then have two weeks to prepare for the Mid-American Conference Championships to be held March 4-5 at Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa.