Wrestling Concludes Home Slate with Busy Weekend

Wrestling vs Buffalo (5-8, 2-3 MAC) & Kent State (11-7, 1-2 MAC)
Date	Friday & Sunday, Feb 2 & 4 \| 7 p.m. & Noon
Location	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Convocation Center
Game Notes	PDF Notes
Twitter	@EMUWrestling
Results	Buffalo \| Kent State
Live Stream	EMU All-Access ($)

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University wrestling team wraps up home dual action with a double-dip weekend Friday & Sunday, Feb. 2 & 4. EMU opens against the University at Buffalo at 7 p.m. Friday, and concludes the weekend with a noon bout against Kent State University on Sunday.

For those who can't make it out to the Convocation Center, the dual can be followed live on Twitter by following @EMUWrestling, while a live stream will be on EMU All-Access ($). Live results will be provided through TrackWrestling and will be posted to EMUEagles.com following the match. Admission into EMU home duals is free to the public.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: Friday will be the annual "Beauty and the Beast" meet with the EMU gymnastics team as they will take on the University of Illinois-Chicago at the same time as the dual.

SENIOR DAY: Meanwhile, Sunday will be Senior Day for two decorated EMU seniors. Gage Hutchison and Kyle Springer will be wrestling for the final time inside the Convocation Center. A ceremony will be held prior to the match to honor their careers.

ALL-TIME VERSUS UB: Friday will mark the 23rd all-time meeting between Eastern Michigan and Buffalo, with UB holding the slight edge, 13-9, in the all-time series. The Bulls won last years dual, 20-12, but EMU has taken victory in three of the last four match ups.

LAST SEASON VERSUS THE BULLS: The Eagles won the first four bouts of the day, but were defeated in the final six match ups, eventually falling to Buffalo, 20-12, Feb. 3, 2017 at Alumni Arena. Eastern returns Kyle Springer and Zac Carson, who won their match ups by decision.

Buffalo 20, Eastern Michigan 12 (Feb. 3, 2017)
141: No. 33 Kyle Springer (EMU) won by decision over Jason Estevez (UB), 9-4
149: No. 27 Nick Barber (EMU) won by decision over No. 29 Colt Cotten (UB), 9-3
157: Zac Carson (EMU) won by decision over Alex Smythe (UB), 3-2
165: Devan Marry (EMU) won by decision over Tyler Rill (UB), 8-4
174: Muhamed McBryde (UB) won by decision over Jacob Davis (EMU), 5-0
184: No. 29 Brett Perry (UB) won by sudden victory over Kayne MacCallum (EMU), SV-2 3-2
197: No. 22 James Benjamin (UB) won by decision over Derek Hillman (EMU), 4-2
HWT: No. 28 Jake Gunning (UB) won by decision over No. 17 Gage Hutchison (EMU), 7-2
125: No. 32 Kyle Akins (UB) won by decision over No. 17 Noah Gonser (EMU), 6-1
133: No. 18 Bryan Lantry (UB) won by tech fall over Sa'Derian Perry (EMU), 25-4

ALL-TIME VERSUS KSU: The EMU-KSU series dates back to 1967 when the two teams first met. The Golden Flashes hold a decided advantage in the series, going 44-2-1 all-time. The Eagles knocked off KSU for the first time since 1974 last season with a dominating 27-12 victory.

LAST SEASON VERSUS THE GOLDEN FLASHES: Eastern snapped a four-match losing streak with a 27-12 dual win over Kent State, Feb. 5, 2017, at the MAC Center. It marked the second win over the Golden Flashes in program history, and the first since 1974. EMU won seven of ten matches, including getting pins from Kayne MacCallum and Noah Gonser.

Eastern Michigan 27, Kent State 12 (Feb. 5, 2017)
174: Jacob Davis (EMU) over Isaac Bast (KSU) (Dec 6-2)
184: Kayne MacCallum (EMU) over Jerald Spohn (KSU) (Fall 7:31)
197: Stephen Suglio (KSU) over Derek Hillman (EMU) (Dec 8-1)
HWT: No. 17 Gage Hutchison (EMU) over Devin Nye (KSU) (Dec 6-3)
125: No. 17 Noah Gonser (EMU) over Cory Simpson (KSU) (Fall 6:06)
133: No. 23 Anthony Tutolo (KSU) over Armando Torres (EMU) (Dec 4-2)
141: No. 33 Kyle Springer (EMU) over Chance Driscoll (KSU) (Dec 13-9)
149: No. 27 Nick Barber (EMU) over Tim Rooney (KSU) (Dec 6-3)
157: No. 30 Casey Sparkman (KSU) over Zac Carson (EMU) (Fall 2:08)
165: Devan Marry (EMU) over Jared Walker (KSU) (Dec 10-4)

GUTIERREZ NAMED MAC SCHOLAR ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Redshirt freshman Tomas Gutierrez earned Mid-American Conference Scholar Athlete of the Week for the period ending Jan. 21, the league office announced Tuesday, Jan. 23. Gutierrez posted one of EMU's top performances in the Eagles' dominating, 30-3, win over Northern Illinois, Jan. 19. Gutierrez knocked off nationally ranked Brock Hudkins of NIU, who came into the match 19th in the country and first in the MAC, by decision, 5-3.

EAGLES IN THE NCAA COACHES PANEL: In the initial NCAA Coaches Panel released on Jan. 18, EMU had two grapplers ranked in the top-33 of their respective weight classes. Redshirt seniors Kyle Springer and Gage Hutchison came in at 33rd and 21st at 149 bs. and heavyweight, respectively. A full list of national rankings can be found on page 10 of the PDF notes.

WE MEET AGAIN...: When EMU and Buffalo square off, the heavyweight match is going to be one to watch. Gage Hutchison and Jake Gunning of UB are currently the top-two heavyweights in the conference, and both nationally ranked by the coaches panel. The two big guys have some history, having met four times in their respective careers, including in last year's MAC Championships heavyweight final. While Gunning has had Hutchison's number, winning three of four, Hutchison did pin Gunning in the 2015 dual for his lone win.

MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOK: In his five-year EMU career, Gage Hutchison has racked up 89 career victories, which ranks seventh all-time. EMU Hall of Fame inductee Steve Brown holds the all-time record with 117 wins.

TOTAL DOMINATION: This season redshirt senior Kyle Springer has been a bonus point machine for the Eagles. In his 15 wins, 12 of them have come with bonus points, including a team-high eight major decisions, a technical fall, and three pins.

UP NEXT ON THE MATS: EMU gets back on the road, Friday, Feb. 9, when it heads up to Mount Pleasant to take on in-state conference rival Central Michigan University. Action against the Chippewas is set to begin at 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Nick Barber

Zac Carson

Zac Carson

Jacob Davis

Noah Gonser

Noah Gonser

Tomas Gutierrez

Derek Hillman

Gage Hutchison

Gage Hutchison

Kayne MacCallum

Kayne MacCallum

Devan Marry

Sa'Derian Perry

Kyle Springer

Kyle Springer

Armando Torres

Eastern Michigan Athletics