UB Wrestlers Invade Virginia

The team will compete at the Virginia Duals tomorrow and Saturday.  We have the Virginia Cavaliers first round at 11AM.  Then, we will have either Michigan or Liberty at 3PM.  All of our dual meets this weekend will be web-cast for FREE on livesportsvideo.com.

Here is a look at Virginia...

125 pounds is Snyder, an ACC Runner-up that is ranked in the top 20 in the country with a 11-3 record, including 9-1 in dual meets.  Fun fact: he is also Coach Beasley's future brother-in-law.  At 133 pounds, UVA has Spisak.  He is a very talented freshman that was a Pennsylvania State Champion and four-time place winner that has a current record of 13-6.  The starter at 141 is Sako, who is ranked nationally.  He won two Ohio State Titles, was a three-time finalist, and holds a currently has 13 wins on the season.  The 149 pounder Valenti, has been ranked in the top 20, was a National Qualifier last year, and won matches at the national tournament.  He has 10 wins on the season and was 3rd at the ACC last season.  At 157 pounds, they have returning National Qualifier (he won a match at the national tournament) and top 20 ranked Harris. He has a current record of 13-6 and was 3rd in the ACC last year.  The starter at 165 pounds could either be Moore (who has yet to wrestle this season) or Miller.  Moore redshirted last season but had a great year the season before that.  He finished 3rd in the ACC, was nationally ranked, and qualified for nationals.  Miller is a freshman that was a two-time Virginia State Champion and four-time place winner that has 9 wins so far this season.  Leading their team is Henrich at 174 pounds.  He took 3rd at the National Tournament last season and 7th at nationals the previous year.  He has been ranked 2nd most of the season.  He is a three-time National Qualifier, three-time ACC finalist, and two-time ACC Champion.  UVA has Fausey at 184 pounds.  He has been ranked in the top 20 all season and currently has a record of 14-3 and a 9-1 dual meet mark.  They have two possible wrestlers that are looking to start at 197 pounds:  Salopek and Coggins.  Salopek is ranked in the top 20 in the country and is a returning ACC Champion.  He has seen limited action this season and has a 5-2 record.  Coggins is a true freshman from Long Island that won the New York State Championship last year.  Their heavyweight, Danilkowicz, is a returning National Qualifier that won matches at the national tournament.  He is nationally ranked and holds a 13-6 record.  He took 3rd in the ACC last season.  They have a well balanced team and it should make for an exciting dual meet.

Lewandowski and Hamel Honored

Mark Lewandowski was recognized at the UB Athlete of the week this week and Jimmy Hamel was recognized at the MAC Wrestler of the week after his performance at Reno.

Here are the notes on Mark's recognition...
Mark Lewandowski of the wrestling team scored a major decision over Binghamton's Matt Kaylor as UB defeated the Bearcats, 24-12. Lewandowski, a redshirt sophomore, defeated Kaylor, Binghamton's returning national qualifier, 11-2, as the Bulls scored wins in six of 10 matches. For the season, Lewandowski, wrestling at 157 pounds, is 20-10 overall and 4-1 in dual meets. 

Here are the notes on Jimmy's recognition...

Following a six-win effort at the Reno Tournament of Champions Sunday, senior Jimmy Hamel was named the conference's wrestler of the week for December 6-12, the Mid-American Conference announced from its offices in Cleveland this morning. This is Hamel's third weekly honor in his time with the team.

Hamel had an impressive day at Reno, finishing third overall after losing only one match and winning six others. The Natick, MA native opened the day with a wins over Ty Vinson of Oregon State and Spence Patrick of Stanford by decision before his first loss. He battled through the wrestle-backs, starting with a win over the third-seed in the tournament, Austin Trotman of Appalachian State. He then won a 3-2 decision over Mac Mancuso of West Virginia and a 5-3 decision over Taylor Meeks of North Carolina to set up a rematch with Jason McCroskey of Chattanooga, who had handed him his only loss of the tournament. Hamel took a 5-3 decision to end his day on a high note.

He is now 20-9 for the season and his 108 career wins moved him in to sole possession of third place in program history, passing Mark Budd. Hamel needs only six more wins to move to the number two position as Gary Cooper currently holds the spot with 113 wins.

The team will take a week off before facing Binghamton and the United States Merchant Marine Academy to ring in the New Year Jan. 2. Buffalo currently sits at 3-2 in dual meets and hopes to get an important win over the Bearcats who are receiving votes in the most recent NWCA/ USA Today wrestling top 25.

Bulls Down Binghamton, 24-12

VESTAL, NY - The Buffalo Bulls wrestling team opened the New Year in a big way Sunday afternoon, registering a 24-12 win over regional rival Binghamton. The team rode the effort of three wrestlers who earned major decisions to upset the Bearcats, who came into the dual meet receiving votes in the most recent NWCA/USA Today coaches poll.

After a forfeit at 125 pounds, junior Kevin Smith earned a major decision at 133 pounds with a 13-3 win over Dan Riggi. His 21-8 record this season is a team best for overall wins.

Teammate Andrew Schutt found equal success, earning an 8-0 major decision over Brian Guilfoyle in his match to extend the Bulls' lead. Mark Lewandowski had the team's other major decision after recording an 11-2 win in his 157-pound match, taking down Matt Kaylor.

"After Desi (Green) had a tough loss, Mark comes in and beats a wrestler who is a returning national qualifier by major decision and that really is where we got started," head coach Jim Beichner said about the Depew, NY native's big win.

In other action, sophomore Josh Peters won 9-5 at 197 pounds over Cody Reed.

"His attitude in training has increased significantly and he's starting to believe. He's big, he's strong and he knows how to wrestle, but he's now starting to believe in himself," Beichner said. "That's the biggest thing because we really need him and he's a significant part of the team thus far."

Classmate Brett Correll brought home the team's win with a 3-0 win in his heavyweight bout against Matt Berretta. Peters, Correll and Lewandowski all won their fourth dual match of the year Sunday afternoon, a mark that puts the sophomore trio as the team leaders in duals action.

"Today we looked 100 percent better than we have been and we hope to build off of that and get better," Beichner added.

The team now sits at 4-2 and has won three straight dual meets. It will now head South for the Virginia Duals, hosted by Hampton University. Buffalo will face the Cavaliers of Virginia in its first match, with the winner moving on to face either Liberty or Michigan. The duals tournament will begin at 11 am Friday, with each team having two dual meets on Friday and another two on Saturday.

Buffalo 24, Binghamton 12
125: Sean Walton (BUF) forfeit 
133: Kevin Smith (BUF) maj. dec. Dan Riggi (BU) 13-3
141: Andrew Schutt (BUF) maj. dec. Brian Guilfoyle (BU) 8-0
149: Donnie Vinson (BU) dec. #13 Desi Green (BUF) 3-2 
157: Mark Lewandowski (BUF) maj. dec. Matt Kaylor (BU) 11-2
165: Justin Lister (BU) dec. John-Martin Cannon (BUF) 4-2
174: Ryan McGarity (BU) dec. Brian Sheehan (BUF) 6-1
184: #9 Nate Schiedel (BU) dec. #19 James Hamel (BUF) 3-0
197: Josh Peters (BUF) dec. Cody Reed (BU) 9-5
285: Brett Correll (BUF) dec. Matt Berretta (BU) 3-0

Here is the link:  http://www.buffalobulls.com/sports/wrest/2010-11/releases/20110102f8c521.

UB Blasts Past Binghamton

Our team wrestled really well yesterday at Binghamton, in a match we dominated 24-12.  We beat them for the fourth time in the last five years.  Binghamton was receiving votes in the latest Intermatwrestle.com/NWCA National Team Rankings, which puts them in the top 30.  We moved to 4-2 as a team this season.

Here is the breakdown...
We started the match at 149 pounds, where Desi Green lost a heart-breaker to nationally ranked Vinson by a point.  Desi is looking to bounce-back to old form this weekend at the Virginia Duals.  I think we will all see a much better performance out of Desi this weekend.  At 157 pounds, Mark Lewandowski dominated nationally ranked Kaylor.  Kaylor has been ranked in the top 20 all season and Mark out-wrestled him from the opening whistle.  Mark got offensive right away and never looked back in a very solid 11-2 major decision victory.  At 165, John-Martin Cannon was again the aggressor (which was the case throughout the dual meet) and set a high pace in his match against returning All-American, Lister.  He was the aggressor and scored the only takedown in the match.  In the third overtime, Cannon got deep on a single, lifted, and threw Lister to his back but did not end up finishing the takedown.  Lister came-back to score on a double leg.  At 174 and 184, we dropped close, hard-fought bouts to two nationally ranked grapplers.  Josh Peters got us back on track at 197 pounds.  Josh controlled the match and we didn't look back as a team.  Brett Correll picked up a solid win at heavyweight.  Sean Walton was awarded a win by forfeit at 125 pounds.  We finished the match with major decision victories at 133 and 141 pounds.  Kevin Smith dominated his match at 133 pounds by scoring several takedowns.  Andrew Schutt finished off the match with a major decision and nearly a fall at 141 pounds.  Overall it was a solid outing by the Bulls.

Coach Beasley

Binghamton Dual Live Video

Today's dual meet at Binghamton University will be broadcast live on LiveSportsVideo  The dual meet can be watched FREE at www.livesportsvideo.com.  Although Binghamton is not currently ranked by Intermat, they are receiving votes.  Returning All-American Justin Lister leads the squad along with 4 other returning National Qualifiers.  The match begins at 4pm. Go Bulls!