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1.0 Early History

1.1 National placements

2.0 Notable Varsity Athletic Teams

2.1 Baseball

2.2 Men's Basketball

2.3 Women's Basketball

2.8 Women's Gymnastics

2.9 Softball

2.10 Wrestling

2.11 Other Varsity Sports

3.0 Facilities

4.0 Rivalries

5.0 References

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Kent State Golden Flashes Wiki Information

Kent State University's intercollegiate athletic teams are known as the Golden Flashes or simply as the Flashes . The university fields sixteen varsity athletic teams, all of whom play in the Mid-American Conference and in the NCAA's Division I (Division I-A Football Bowl Subdivision for football). In addition, Kent State has a men's ice hockey club team, which plays in the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division I as part of the Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) and has its home games at the KSU Ice Arena.

Several Kent State athletic teams have enjoyed considerable success in the Mid-American Conference over the years, in particular in the fourteen years since the arrival of current athletic director Laing Kennedy. Since 1994 through the 2006-2007 season, Kent State has won 208 individual MAC titles, 50 team titles, 17 tournament titles, and 71 All-America honors. In addition, Kent State has won three men's all-sport trophies (known as the Reese Trophy), the most recent being in 2005-2006, while the Golden Flashes women's program finished first or second for eleven consecutive years in the women's all-sport trophy (known as the Jacoby trophy) from 1995-2006. In 1997 and again in 2004, Kent State received full-certification status from the NCAA. ^[1] Kent State is the only MAC school to have both its men's and women's basketball teams accomplish the following in the same season: appear in their respective MAC Tournament Championship game (1999, 2001, 2002, 2006); win their respective East division title (2001, 2002); win their respective MAC Tournament title (2002); and win their respective overall conference title and appear in the NCAA tournament (2002).

KENT STATE GOLDEN FLASHES TICKETS

EVENT	DATE	AVAILABILITY
Ohio Bobcats Wrestling vs. Kent State Golden Flashes Tickets 2/7	Feb 07, 2025 Fri, 7:00 PM

Early History

Athletics at Kent State began shortly after the school was first organized in 1910 and the first classes held in 1912. The school's first sporting event was a men's basketball game in 1913 against Kent High School and the following spring (1914) the baseball team was organized. The football team followed in 1920 and held their first game on October 30, a 6-0 loss to Ashland College. ^[2] Around this same time, the teams became known as the "Silver Foxes" because then-president John McGilvrey raised silver foxes on his farm. After McGilvrey's controversial firing in 1926, the new administration held a contest to choose a different team name and "Golden Flashes" was chosen. ^[3] The school colors of Navy Blue and Gold were originally Orange and Purple as outlined in the original 1910 charter. When the basketball team's uniforms were taken to a local cleaner, the hot water caused the colors to fade to blue and gold. The team and student body liked the new colors and voted to change them. ^[4] Kent State joined the Mid-American Conference in 1951.

National placements

Although no Kent State team has won a national title in any sport, several Golden Flashes teams have placed highly in NCAA national tournaments. Notable national finishes include:

Men's basketball : tie-5th (2002)
Men's golf : 9th (2000); 6th (2008)
Men's indoor track and field : 5th (1972), 2nd (1973)
Men's outdoor track and field : 6th (1972 and 1973)
Softball : 7th (1990)
Wrestling : 5th (1941 and 1942) ^[5]
Co-ed cheerleading : 8th (2008); 9th (2009) ^[6]

Notable Varsity Athletic Teams

Baseball

The baseball team is Kent State's second oldest sport, though it is the school's oldest intercollegiate team. Formed in 1914, they were known originally as the "Normal Nine" (Kent State was originally known as Kent State Normal School). The team has enjoyed significant success both in the Mid-American Conference and on the national level and has sent several players to the major leagues over the years. The baseball team currently plays at Olga Mural Field at Schoonover Stadium, formerly known as Gene Michael Field. Their current coach is Scott Stricklin, a 1995 Kent State grad who began coaching at KSU in 2005. The Flashes have a 143-87 record ^[7] in his four seasons and won the 2006 and 2008 overall conference titles, the 2006, 2007, and 2008 East division titles and the 2007 and 2009 MAC tournaments.

MAC East division titles : 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008
MAC overall titles : 1964, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008
MAC tournament titles : 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009
NCAA Tournament appearances : 1964, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2009

Men's Basketball

The men's basketball team, which began play in 1913 and intercollegiate competition in 1914, plays in the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center and is Kent State's oldest sport and second-oldest intercollegiate team. After decades of near anonymity, the Golden Flashes men's basketball team became the standard of excellence in the Mid-American Conference with a league record ten straight twenty-win seasons beginning with the 1998-1999 season and ending with the 2007-2008 season (the previous record was five straight). The Golden Flashes were one of only eight NCAA Division I men's basketball programs in the entire nation to have ten-consecutive seasons with twenty or more wins. ^[8] Kent State also holds the MAC record for consecutive seasons with double-digit conference wins, also for ten consecutive seasons (the previous record was eight straight), ^[9] and in 2002 finished 17-1 in conference play, setting a MAC record for conference wins in a season. The Flashes amassed thirty victories in the 2001-2002 season which culminated in a berth in the NCAA Elite Eight. In the tournament they defeated seventh-seeded Oklahoma State, second-seeded Alabama, and third-seeded Pitt. Kent State has made ten MAC tournament title game appearances (second most in conference history) and has won five (second most), along with three regular-season MAC overall titles and six MAC East titles.

MAC East division titles : 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008
MAC overall titles : 2002, 2006, 2008
MAC Tournament titles : 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008
NCAA Tournament appearances : 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2008
NIT appearances : 1985, 1989, 1990, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005

Women's Basketball

The women's basketball team, which began play during the 1975-1976 season, also plays home games at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center. Currently, they are coached by Bob Lindsay, who has been with Kent State for nineteen seasons. They have seven MAC East titles, six MAC overall titles, and four MAC tournament titles. In addition, they have five NCAA tournament appearances, the most recent being in 2002, and one WNIT appearance. Kent State has appeared in eleven MAC Tournament championship games (tied for most appearances with Toldeo), including seven in a row from 1996-2002. In fact, the 1996-2001 MAC title games all featured Kent State vs. Toledo. In 1998, Kent State became one of only two MAC schools (Bowling Green being the other) to complete the regular season and tournament with a perfect record, going 18-0 in the regular season and winning the conference tournament. Prior to the start of the 2007-2008 season, Kent State had an overall record of 526-366 and a MAC record of 275-168.

MAC East division titles : 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006
MAC overall titles : 1981, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002
MAC Tournament titles : 1981, 1998, 2000, 2002
NCAA Tournament appearances : 1982, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002
WNIT appearances : 2004 ^[10]

Field Hockey

The Field Hockey team plays its home matches at Murphy Mellis Field, which opened in 2005 and is adjacent to Dix Stadium. The Flashes Field Hockey team has won nine MAC titles and has eight MAC tournament titles and NCAA appearances. In 2001, Kent State hosted the NCAA Division I national championship at Dix Stadium, where they played their home games from 1997-2004.

MAC titles : 1988, 1991, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008
MAC tournament titles : 1988, 1991, 1992, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2008
NCAA tournament appearances : 1988, 1991, 1992, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2008

Football

The Golden Flashes football team plays in the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. Home games are played at Dix Stadium on the far eastern edge of the Kent State University campus. Their current head coach is Doug Martin, aided by assistant coach Casey Wolf. Behind Dix Stadium are practice fields, as well as the Kent State Field House, which contains a full indoor football field. Kent State has two post-season bowl appearances: a 1954 trip to the now-defunct Refrigerator Bowl in Evansville, Indiana, where they lost to the Delaware Blue Hens 19-7 and a 1972 bid to the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Florida, where they lost to the University of Tampa 21-18. ^[11] Although the team has not enjoyed many winning seasons, Kent State has sent a fair amount of players to the ranks of the National Football League as well as in other areas of college football. Don James coached the team from 1971-1974 during the era which also saw future NFL great Jack Lambert and current Alabama head coach Nick Saban playing for the Golden Flashes and Kent State's only Mid-American Conference championship in 1972 and their most recent bowl appearance. Current NFL players who played football at Kent State include Joshua Cribbs of the Cleveland Browns and James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers. In addition, Antonio Gates, who played for the men's basketball team, plays for the NFL's San Diego Chargers. Other notable football alumni and former coaches include current ESPN analyst and former University of Notre Dame and University of South Carolina head coach Lou Holtz, former Houston Texans head coach and current Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Dom Capers (graduate assistant at Kent State), former Toronto Argonauts standout Jim Corrigall (who also served as head coach at KSU) and Gary Pinkel, head coach of the Missouri Tigers.

MAC overall titles : 1972
Bowl appearances : 1954, 1972

Men's Golf

The Men's Golf team has enjoyed considerable success both in the Mid-American Conference and at the national level, winning seventeen MAC Titles and making twenty-two trips to the NCAA level competition, including twelve trips to the championship round and two regional championships. ^[12] Most recently they won the 2005, 2006, and 2009 MAC championships and qualified for the NCAA level of play. They play their home matches at Windmill Lakes Golf Club in nearby Ravenna and practice at the Kent State Golf Course, located just east of campus in Franklin Township. The program has produced several pro-golfers and in 2003, former Golden Flashes standout Ben Curtis won the British Open in what ABC commentator Mike Tirico called "one of the most amazing stories in the history of the Open Championship" and the "all-time Cinderella story." ^[13] The team is coached by Herb Page, a Kent State alum who has been head coach since 1978. He has led the Flashes to fourteen of their seventeen MAC titles, ^[14] their two regional titles, and twenty of their twenty-two trips to NCAA competition. In 2008 he coached Kent State to its highest finish ever at the national level, finishing sixth in the country at the NCAA championship ^[15] as well as a ninth-place NCAA finish in 2000. Page has been named MAC Coach of the Year fifteen times and NCAA district IV Coach of the Year eight times. ^[16]
In the summer of 2007, Kent State opened the Ferrara and Page Golf Training and Learning Center located at the southern edge of the Kent State Golf Course. The facility includes a 350-yard outdoor practice range, outdoor practice tees, and outdoor short-game practice areas as well as an indoor putting and chipping area, a video analysis room, and a Science and Motion Putt lab. In addition, the rear of the facitily features heated stalls which allow team members to access the driving range even during the winter months to provide year-round training for both the men's and women's teams. ^[17]

MAC titles : 1954, 1968, 1977, 1984, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009
NCAA appearances : 1954*, 1977*, 1984*, 1987, 1989, 1990*, 1991, 1992*, 1993*, 1994*, 1995*, 1996, 1998*, 1999, 2000*, 2001, 2003, 2004*, 2005, 2006, 2008* ^[18], 2009

:*= advanced to championship round

Women's Golf

The Women's Golf team, founded in the fall of 1998, has enjoyed success from its beginning. Every year of the program's existence it has won the Mid-American Conference title and is so far the only school to win the MAC's women's golf championship, which began in the spring of 1999. They have advanced to NCAA play in the last seven seasons, reaching the championship round in three of them. 2001 saw the Flashes finish fifteenth in the country, their highest finish to date, ^[19] while 2008 saw the Flashes win two regular-season tournaments, gain a national ranking of thirteenth, and win their tenth consecutive MAC title by 51 strokes. ^[20] Like the men's team, they play their home matches at Windmill Lakes Country Club in Ravenna and practice at the Kent State Golf Course and the Ferrara and Page Golf Training and Learning Center. The team is coached by Mike Morrow, who has been with the team since its inception. In addition to the eleven MAC titles and nine NCAA appearances, Morrow has also coached the team to twenty-seven titles at various regular-season tournaments. ^[21] ^[22]

MAC titles : 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 ^[23]
NCAA appearances : 2001*, 2002, 2003*, 2004, 2005, 2006*, 2007, 2008, 2009

:*= advanced to championship round

Women's Gymnastics

First developed in 1959 with their first intercollegiate meet in 1964, ^[24] the women's gymnastics team has enjoyed consistent success throughout their existence, which includes ten Mid-American Conference meet championships ^[25] and twelve regular-season titles. The team began play in the MAC in 1981. Since 2005, the team has its home meets in the MAC Center main gym. Prior to 2005, home meets were held in the MAC Gymnastics center, an annex on the north side of the building which opened in 1979 and still serves as the main practice site for the team. ^[26] The current coach is Brice Biggins, a Kent State alum of the men's gymnastics team who has been coach since 1992. Through the 2008 regular season, he has a record of 130-80 in dual meets at Kent State. ^[27]

Ohio state championships *: 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978
MAC regular-season titles : 1981, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, ^[28] 2009 ^[29]
MAC championships : 1981, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2009 ^[30]

*- the Ohio state championship is no longer held as there are now only three division I teams in the state (Ohio State, Bowling Green, and Kent State). It was held prior to the Mid-American Conference adding gymnastics. Today, the three Ohio teams meet in the "All-Ohio Meet" early in the regular season.

Softball

The Kent State Softball team plays its home games at the Diamond at Dix, adjacent to Dix Stadium. The team has enjoyed success recently, winning regular season MAC titles in 1990, 2007, and 2008; MAC East division titles in 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009; ^[31] as well as the conference tournament in 2006 and 2008. In 1990, the team went 43-9 en route to their first MAC title, an NCAA regional championship, and a berth in the College World Series. Currently, the softball team is coached by Karen Linder, who has been with the team since the 1997 season. The team was established in 1976 ^[32] and began regular-season play in the Mid-American Conference in 1983 when the MAC added softball as a conference sport. ^[33]

MAC East division titles : 1999, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 ^[34]
MAC regular-season titles : 1990, 2007, 2008
MAC tournament titles : 2006, 2008
NCAA tournament appearances : 1990, 2006, 2008
NCAA regional titles : 1990

Wrestling

300px at the MAC Center.The wrestling team is one of Kent State's oldest sports, going back to its establishment in 1927. It has historically been one of the school's most successful teams winning multiple conference titles and making a series of appearances in the NCAA tournament, finishing as high as 5th nationally in both 1941 and 1942. For 42 seasons, the team was led by legendary coach Joseph Begala, who compiled a career record of 307-69-5 and the national reputation as the "winningest wrestling coach" coaching Kent State from 1929-1942 and again from 1945 until his retirement in 1971. ^[35] More recently, the Flashes have again received national attention appearing in the national top-25 rankings in each of the past three seasons ^[36] and began the 2008-2009 season ranked 23rd. ^[37] The wrestling team is currently led by head coach and Kent State alum Jim Andrassy, who has been with the team as a wrestler, graduate assistant, and assistant coach since 1990 and as head coach since 2003. ^[38]

MAC regular-season titles : 1958, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2003, 2009 ^[39]
MAC tournament titles : 1958, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1990 ^[40]
NCAA tournament appearances : 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1954, 1959, 1960, 1971, 1978, 1981, 1985

Other Varsity Sports

'''Co-ed and all-women's Cheerleading
'''Men's Cross Country
Women's Cross Country
'''Men's Indoor Track and Field
'''Women's Indoor Track and Field
'''Men's Outdoor Track and Field
'''Women's Outdoor Track and Field
'''Women's Soccer

Additionally, Kent State used to sponsor the following sports, which were eliminated due to either budget constraints and/or Title IX compliance:

Ice hockey (now a club sport)
Men's Gymnastics
Men's Swimming and Diving
Women's Swimming and Diving
Men's Tennis
Women's Tennis

Facilities

Dix Stadium (Football)
Golf Teaching and Learning Facility (Golf)
Kent State Field House (Indoor Track and Field)
KSU Ice Arena (Ice hockey club team)
Kent State Outdoor Track (Outdoor Track and Field)
Kent State Soccer Field (Women's Soccer)
Diamond at Dix (Softball)
Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (Basketball,Wrestling, Women's Gymnastics, Women's Volleyball)
Murphy Mellis Field (Field Hockey)
Schoonover Stadium (Baseball)

Rivalries

Kent State's most prominent rivalry is with the nearby University of Akron Zips, also a member of the Mid-American Conference, located just fourteen miles southwest of Kent. The rivalry is the most competitive in football and men's basketball, although the rivalry is played out in other sports as well. The two schools' football teams have played for the Wagon Wheel trophy since 1946 and each year since 1972. The Zips hold a 29-20-1 edge in football, while Kent State holds a narrow 66-61 edge in men's basketball. The rivalry, however, has only been a conference game since 1992 when Akron joined the Mid-American Conference as well as from 1932-1936 and 1944-1951 when both schools were members of the Ohio Athletic Conference.

Kent State also has rivalries with fellow MAC-member and sister school Bowling Green State University as well as non-league schools Youngstown State University and Cleveland State University, both of which are located in close proximity to Kent.