BUFFALO, NY – Out of the ten weight divisions offered at the UB Open Sunday morning, the Buffalo squad placed wrestlers in the finals in eight of them as the Bulls capped off a strong opening week of the season. The team split the eight championship matches, with four titles and four second-place results, battling over 200 wrestlers from some of the top schools in Divisions I, II and III.
Taylor Golba, fresh off a great comeback victory at Boston, cruised through his bracket with four straight wins to take the 125-pound championship. The Buffalo, NY native defeated Kory Mines of Edinboro, 8-3. At 133 pounds, Kevin Smith found his way to the finals before facing another tough opponent - Ian Paddock of Ohio State - who came in ranked 16th in the nation at 133. Smith fell 6-0 to take second place.
Sophomore Andrew Schutt made his season debut at 141 count for Buffalo, sweeping his four matches to clinch the second team title. Schutt controlled tempo throughout his match with Kasey Davis of Edinboro and took the match with a score of 6-1.
Teammate Desi Green had more of a challenge in his championship match, after slicing through the 149 pound bracket with relative ease. Facing Jeffrey Pelton of Notre Dame College, who was a NAIA national champion last season, Green was frustrated through all three periods, earning the 2-1 win after his opponent was penalized for stalling late in the final period.
Mark Lewandowski had a terrific day at 157 pounds, winning three straight physical matches before facing Ohio State's Colt Sponseller in the final. Sponseller came into the match ranked fifth in the nation and he earned critical points late to earn a 4-1 win.
In the 165 pound bracket, junior John-Martin Cannon came out with a purpose and was one of the highest-scoring members of the team, posting totals of 20, 22, 13 and eight points in his four total wins to take the championship.
Senior Jimmy Hamel had a shorter trip to the finals in the 184 pound bracket, winning two matches before losing 6-3 in the championship. Brett Correll had a similar result, losing to the number one seed in the heavyweight finals after recording two straight wins.
The Bulls have will now rest up and prepare for one of the biggest dual meets in program history as it welcomes in Oklahoma this coming Friday. It will be the first time in program history the Sooners will be in Alumni Arena for a dual meet, with match time set for 3:00 pm.
No comments:
Post a Comment