Butler's Baxter joining Kent State wrestling

By John EnriettoEagle Sports Editor

BUTLER TWP — Ultimately, it came down to money.
Torn between playing college football or wrestling, Butler senior Cole Baxter has accepted a wrestling scholarship to Kent State University in Ohio.
He opted for the Golden Flashes while turning down a wrestling offer from West Virginia and a chance to walk on and play football at Michigan State.
“Going to Michigan State would have cost $37,000 a year and Kent State's offer was better than West Virginia's,” Baxter said. “Basically, money, I guess, made the final decision.
“But I love where I'm going.”
Matt Hill, a Freedom High School graduate, former Seneca Valley assistant coach and now an assistant at Kent State, heavily recruited Baxter.
Carrying a 3.8 grade point average, Baxter will be a pre-dental major. His 160 high school wins were 42 more than any other Butler wrestler ever. His 86 pins were 28 more than the next matman on the Golden Tornado's all-time list.
Baxter also led Butler's football team in overall tackles and tackles for loss last fall. The linebacker was the only Tornado gridder to make the All-Northern Seven Conference first team.
“I'm considering walking on the football team next spring,” he said. “I'm 90 percent sure I'm going to do it.
“Not too many Division I athletes play two sports. I'd love to get the chance to be one of them.”
For now, however, wrestling is his game. Baxter is headed to one of the more consistent mat programs in the country.
Jim Andrassy has been Kent State's wrestling coach for eight years. His teams are 85-26-1 in dual meets while finishing no worse than second in the Mid-American Conference over the past five years.
The Golden Flashes have sent at least five wrestlers to the national tournament in each of the past five years and have produced five All-Americans over the past three seasons.
Redshirt junior Dustin Kilgore won the NCAA title at 197 pounds this year, becoming the first MAC wrestler since 1999 to win a national crown. He is Kent State's first-ever national wrestling champion.
“Kilgore may opt for an Olympic Development redshirt and pursue a spot on the Olympic team,” Butler coach Scott Stoner said. “If that happens, he would still be practicing with the team and would be one of Cole's workout partners.”
Baxter is being looked at as a 184 of 197-pound wrestler by Kent. He currently weighs 190. He will likely redshirt next year.
“We've had three true freshmen start here in the past eight years,” Andrassy said. “But if he's good enough to make our lineup right away, he'll be in there.”
“He's going to have to make a transition here,” Stoner said. “Cole is used to being the beater, not the beatee. A dethronement, so to speak, is something every college freshman wrestler has to deal with.
“He's no longer the big fish in a little sea.”
Baxter recognizes the physical challenges ahead.
“I know the guys I'll be working with in the room are going to be bigger and physically stronger than me,” he said. “I'm pounding the weight room now. I definitely have to get stronger.”
Andrassy agreed.
“He's pretty thin right now,” the coach said. “The bigger you get in this sport, the easier it gets. How hard he hits the weights will help dictate how quickly he progresses.
“We've taken a number of small high school kids, diamonds in the rough, and turned them into pretty darn good wrestlers here. We think Cole will be one of those.”
Baxter will become the third Butler wrestler actively in a Division I program. Josh Pascazi is wrestling at Pitt and Chris White is at Lock Haven.
“I'm 0-0 now, starting over,” Baxter said. “My goal is to become a four-time All-American. I want to be on the podium four years in a row.”
Lyneil Mitchell was a Division II All-American wrestler at Gannon in 2002 and 2003 — the only Butler graduate to achieve that honor in collegiate wrestling.
“I'm proud of the fact that I was able to coach that kid,” Stoner said of Baxter. “The natural talent he's always had, coupled with the coaching he'll receive at the next level, I'm anxious to see where it all takes him.
“For Cole to still love (wrestling) after all these years, knowing how physically and emotionally demanding the sport can be, I'm ecstatic about it.”

BAXTER’S BOUNTY
Butler senior Cole Baxter has signed a wrestling scholarship with Kent State University. Here is where he stands in the Golden Tornado record book:
• Only three-year captain in program’s history
• One of two three-time section champions in program’s history (Mike Crawford)
• Only PIAA state champion, placer in program’s history
• Only three-time winner of Butler’s Outstanding Wrestler Award
• 1st, wins in a career with 160
• 1st, wins in a season with 45
• 1st, winning percentage in a career at 90.395 (160-17)
• 1st, winning percentage in a season at 95.745 (45-2)
• 1st, most pins in a career with 86
• 1st, most pins in a season with 26 (tied with Ian McLaughlin)
• 2nd, career 3-point near falls with 72 (1st-Alex Evanoff 103)
• 2nd, most takedowns ina career with 229 (1st-Garrett Boarts 231)