KENT — Michael Furbee was an all-Ohioan and OVAC champion during his high school career at St. Clairsville.

He’s now the starting 285 pounder for Cleveland State University as a true freshman. He’s endured some growing pains already in the young season, but he received his biggest lesson to date on Tuesday evening during a triangular against Kent State and Ohio State.

Furbee found himself up against Ohio State junior and Olympic Gold Medalist Kyle Snyder during the final match of the evening.

“I wasn’t really nervous or anything like that,” Furbee said during a phone interview. “I looked at it as a nice opportunity to have a story to tell and it was also a match I thought I could try basically anything because the outcome was inevitable.”

As Furbee expected, Snyder, who also won the NCAA championship last March, took the match to him and eventually recorded the pin in the first period.

“Snyder isn’t the type of wrestler who’s going to really beat you up physically,” Furbee said. “He’s going to take you down, let you up, take you down again, so I wasn’t fearful or nervous about getting hurt. I just knew the worst thing that was going to happen was he was going to take me down a lot.”

When both Cleveland State and OSU released their lineups for the matches on Monday and word got out that Furbee could possibly see Snyder, his phone starting blowing up.

“I was getting all kinds of text messages from my buddies back home about the match,” Furbee said. “I wasn’t really sure if Kyle Snyder would even make the trip, so I just told those guys ‘yeah, I might get to wrestle him.’ It was pretty fun to see all the guys reaching out to me about it.”

Snyder, who was the chief clinician at the Wheeling Jesuit wrestling camp in June, sat out the first half of last season to focus on his quest for the Olympics. But, he eventually returned to the Buckeyes’ lineup in time for the latter portion of the season and won the national title.

“I definitely learned a lot from that match,” Furbee said. “Snyder was very technical. Everything he did was so crisp and well done. I blocked one of his shots, but he went right into another shot and took me down. I know if you work hard enough, take the time and practice what you’re good at, you’re going to get to that flowing style where things come together perfectly.”

As the Vikings, starter, Furbee is off to a slow start, but being 18 years old and wrestling against some much older and more experienced competition at a heavier weight has made for a tougher transition.

“It’s been a learning experience and I know I need to be more offensive,” Furbee said. “I’ve not done too well and it’s been tough mentally at times, but I know if I keep perserving, things will get better. The biggest difference from high school to college is that no matter who you’re wrestling or what division they compete in, everyone is good. There are no bad wrestlers.”

Furbee and his teammates have the majority of the weekend off for Thanksgiving and return to campus on Sunday. They’ll next see action a week from Saturday in the Storm Open.

Here’s a look at how other area products fared in the last week:

FOOTBALL

COLTON McKIVITZ, West Virginia — Union Local product started along the offensive line once again in the Mountaineers’ loss to Oklahoma last Saturday.

MICHAEL FERNS, West Virginia — St. Clairsville grad played on offense and special teams during the WVU game against the Sooners.

ELIJIAH BELL, North Carolina A&T — Wheeling Park grad had another big day, catching 3 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown that covered 80 of those yards. A&T qualified for the NCAA FCS playoffs despite falling to North Carolina Central last week.

Division III

ZACH HERRINGTON, Mount Union — Steubenville Central grad caught a pass for 12 yards in the Purple Raiders’ opening-round playoff road win.

ELLIOT NERO, Mount Union — Madonna grad appeared in last Saturday’s NCAA playoff victory.

DASHON REDMAN, Mount Union — Steubenville grad recorded six tackles and had two quarterback hurries in the victory last week.

SWIMMING

MICHAEL EATON, Ohio State — St. Clairsville grad continued his strong campaign by finishing third at the OSU Invite in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:01.51.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

JENSEN CARETTI, Ohio State — River product scored four points and grabbed nine rebounds in a win over LIU-Brooklyn.

ALLI DELANEY, Notre Dame College — Union Local grad played in her team’s win over West Liberty last weekend.

KARLI BONAR, Findlay — Shadyside grad scored nine points, passed out two assists and recorded two steals in a win last weekend.

ANNA DEFILIPPO, Cedarville — St. Clairsville grad scored three points in just four minutes of action in a win over Cincinnati Christian University.

HAYLEY HOLENKA, Bethany — Shadyside grad scored nine points and collected three rebounds in a loss last weekend. She had a season-high 21 in a game earlier this week.

MACALINE MURAD, Bethany — Bridgeport alumnus had seven points and six rebounds for the Bison in their loss last week.

MARISSA ROSE, Point Park — St. John Central grad scored eight points in just 10 minutes of action in a victory last Sunday.

KELSEA DAUGHERTY, Bethany — Frontier product scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a loss. She was named PAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week.

MONIRCA BRAGG, West Liberty — Madonna grad scored 16 points in 17 minutes of action in the Hilltoppers’ win against Urbana earlier this week. She also grabbed six rebounds, handed out three assists and blocked three shots.

EMILY BUCON, West Liberty — Wheeling Central product started for the Hilltoppers and had five points in 14 minutes of action against Urbana.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

CHASE HARLER, West Virginia — Wheeling Central product scored nine points and passed out two assists and made two steals in 14 minutes.

PHIL BLEDSOE, Marshall — Wheeling Park grad scored five points in 10 minutes of action in a win against Western Carolina. The Thundering Herd is at Ohio State on Friday night. Against Jackson State, he scored seven points and collected five rebounds.

PRESTON BOSWELL, Wheeling Jesuit — Magnolia alumnus poured in 16 points and dished out five assists in a win.

DAN MONTEROSO, West Liberty — St. Clairsville grad turned in his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He played 37 minutes in the win over Notre Dame College.

KYLE RITZ, Wheeling Jesuit — Cambridge product had 22 points in the win over Urbana.

CHAICE TRUEX, Bethany — St. John Central grad scored 14 points off the bench in a win over Juanita last weekend. He averaged 15 points and 7.5 rebounds a game for the Bison last weekend. His effort earned him PAC Freshman of the Week.

WRESTLING

DYLAN TAYLOR, Wheeling Jesuit — Wheeling Park grad went 5-0 at the University of Findlay Open last weekend. He was named the WJU Male Athlete of the Week for his efforts.