Central Michigan @ Kent State

Central Michigan topped Kent State 25-15 in Kent, Ohio on Feb. 16, 2024, taking the dual at the MAC matchup. The Chippewas piled up bonus points that proved decisive while Kent State answered with a big stoppage of its own.

Central Michigan’s margin came from a cluster of bonus-point wins. Sean Spidle blew out Adán Benavidez 16-0 by technical fall at 125 pounds for five team points, and Jimmy Nugent followed with a pin at 141 for six more. Johnny Lovett added another five-team-point technical fall at 157 with a 20-3 decision by tech fall. Those three bonus results supplied the backbone of Central Michigan’s scoring and created a gap Kent State could not close with decisions.

Kent State stayed competitive thanks to AJ Berkhart’s fall at 174, a six-point swing that kept the Golden Flashes within reach late in the dual. Beyond the listed bonus bouts, both teams split the remaining matches enough that the bonus-heavy stretch for Central Michigan ultimately decided the meet.

In the end Central Michigan’s combination of two technical falls and a pin made the difference, turning a closely contested MAC dual into a 10-point victory. Kent State’s pin provided resistance, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Central Michigan’s run of bonus-point finishes.