More National Recognition for UB Wrestling

Three of UB's top wrestlers were recently ranked by theopenmat.com in their preseason rankings.  Kevin Smith, Desi Green, and John-Martin Cannon were all ranked in the top 20 in the country by theopenmat.com's September 27th preseason ranking.  Kevin Smith (Redshirt Junior from Mexico, NY) is ranked #16 at 133 pounds.  Desi Green (Redshirt Junior from Henrietta, NY) is ranked #15 up at 157 pounds (NOTE: Desi will be wrestling at 149 again this year).  John-Martin Cannon (Junior from Brockport, NY) was ranked #20 in the preseason poll at 165 pounds.  We are glad to see these three young men ranked and are looking forward to having more ranked soon!

Linda Yalem Safety Run Notes

This past Sunday was the 21^st Annual Linda Yalem Safety Run.  There are over 1,500 runners that enter the race every year.  The race honors the memory of UB student Linda Yalem that was raped and killed.  As the race honors her memory it also promotes personal safety and has become one of UB’s most enduring traditions.  All race proceeds support safety awareness and rape prevention programming at UB.

Every year for the past 15 years that Coach Beichner has been the head coach at UB, our team has either volunteered or participated in the race to lend our support to his great cause.  This year was no different as our entire team came out to provide support for the runners.

There were many important people on hand at this great event, but a couple stood out as UB Wrestling Family (there may be more that I did not see and if so, I am sorry that I did not mention you).  UB Wrestling Alumni John Kopalek and his son, UB Graduate, Paul Kopalek both ran in the race.  John is a very well know referee and has always been very supportive of our program.  He has refereed many UB matches, several UB Opens, NYS Collegiate Tournmants, etc.  He always does a great job and calls it right down the middle (even though I always try to get him to give us some calls!!).  It’s always great to see the Kopalek family at UB!  Both John and Paul were in the top 15 in their respective groups at the race.  Also, the legendary Coach Ed Michael ran in the race.  He is the all-time winningest coach in UB history.  Coach Michael is a living legend as he won 213 dual meet matches as the head coach at UB, won the NCAA Division III National Team Title, and crown countless All-Americans over his illustrious coaching career.  Coach Michael’s career is what young coaches like myself dream of achieving.  Coach Michael was greeted at the finish-line with cheers from the entire team.  I’m sure there are other people that are connected to the UB Wrestling Family that I missed at the race, but those are the guys I saw.  Thank you current UB Wrestlers, Coach Michael, John Kopalek, and Paul Kopalek for your support of this great event!

Coach Beasley


For more information on the Run, click here.

Coach Beasley's Wrestling Notes: First Day of Official Practice

Yesterday was a great first practice.  Coach Beichner ran a great, hard workout.  Overall it was a great team effort.  However, there were a few guys that really stood out.  I could go through the entire roster and tell you about great things that every single guy did today, but there were a pair of wrestlers that really caught my eye in the drill and a few that I was impressed with going live.  Chris Conti and Justin Farmer started-off the year by setting an outstanding pace for the drill.  Taylor Golba, Mark Lewandowski, and Brett Correll were all very impressive in the live part of the workout.

Chris Conti (Redshirt-Sophomore from Fredonia, NY) and Justin Farmer (Redshirt Freshman from New Lenox, IL) have been two of the hardest workers in their time at UB.  They are two of the guys that individually do a lot of extra work to be great on their own because they want to be All-Americans.  Chris has been a spot-starter in the past and has stepped in whenever needed at whatever weight class he has been asked to wrestle.  His freshman year, he was sidelined with a serious neck injury.  As a redshirt freshman last year, he started off last year at 133 pounds, but moved up to 141 and 149 for the betterment of the team.  He has been a great student and role-model for the rest of the team.  Chris is the kind of wrestler that coaches dream of coaching – focused and committed to the team in every way.

Justin Farmer, perhaps more than anyone last year, put in more extra workouts with the coaches individually than anyone.  He wants to be an All-American in the worst way and trains like it on a daily basis.  He is a very hard worker and tough kid.  We are planning on redshirting him this year as he is moving up to 133 pounds from 125 pounds.  He is doing a great job but has to get more confident in his ability.  Once he does that, the sky is the limit.  Both Chris and Justin have very bright futures at UB and beyond.

Taylor Golba is a 125 pound redshirt-sophomore from right here in Buffalo.  He was going after it hard and has really stepped it up this year.  He has committed to dropping back down to 125 pounds after redshirting at 133 last year and going 8-4 on the year.  Two years ago, he was a part-time starter at 125 pounds and won 11 matches.  He had a great drill with Mike Soria and brought an intensity to the room in live wrestling with Soria and Farmer that I’ve never seen from him before.  Keep an eye on Taylor and don’t count him out.

I talk to the guys about coming into practice every day with a purpose and I discuss their daily goals with them a lot.  Mark Lewandowski really came in with a purpose today.  He wanted to dominate everyone he wrestled; he wanted to break his opponents.  He did just that yesterday.  He physically and mentally broke two different partners in the practice with his short offense and attacks.  Mark is also a redshirt sophomore and is from just down the road in Lancaster, NY.  He wrestled at 141 pounds two years and started for us with a 14-11 record.  Last year, he redshirted at a more natural weight of 157.   Even though he battled some injuries, he soldiered to a solid 11-4 record.  Lewandowski is poised for a breakout 2010-2011 season at 157 pounds.

Brett Correll of Shelby Township in Michigan is also a redshirt-sophomore that had a great workout yesterday.  He was a full-time starter as a true freshman that won 15 matches in 2008-2009.  Last year, he was the starter again at the beginning of the year but was hurt after the second tournament.  He finished last season with a 6-4 record and received a medical redshirt for the season.  He is 100% healthy and ready for a great year.  Look for Brett to surprise a lot of people this year.  I have always said that Brett could be great if did just a little better job of managing his time so he could get the most out of every workout.  He’s done a good job in the past, but he really is making the most of everything this year.  He has made a total commitment to being great, which is what it takes to be a Division I All-American.  He is stronger, leaner, faster, more focused, and better than he has ever been.  Today, he set a great tone for the rest of the season with his outstanding work ethic.  Brett is going to be our “heavyweight closer.”  He will be ready to win with the match on the line; watch for him to come-up for us big in close matches.

We will continue to give you more updates from the wrestling room as the season progresses.  Check back for more information, video, etc. throughout the week.

Coach Beasley

Preseason Wrap Up

The 2010 preseason has officially ended for the Bulls.  Coach Beasley comments below on how the last several weeks wrapped up...

Today is the best day of the school year so far as it marks the first day of official practice.  Preseason ended on Friday and the team is anxiously awaiting practice.  I woke up excited about the opening day of season and I know the guys on the team did too, as many of them commented about it at the morning lift today.

The team had the best preseason they have ever had in my time at UB.  Across the board, they made huge gains in the weight room and in their runs.  Every single returning wrestler improved their times from last year in all of the timed runs.  The freshman set a great pace and steadily improved their times during the preseason.

Looking through the race results in the timed mile, stadium run, bike path run, long bike path run, and the plate run, there are several congratulations to be given.  Congratulations to Mike Soria for winning the most races (including the mile race 2X and the difficult plate run) of anyone on the team.  Twins Max and Mike battled on all the runs and did a great job.  Great job to Rickey Bronson for winning the first race of the preseason (the short bike path) and Chris Conti for winning the short bike path the second time we ran it.  James Donner was the most improved in the short bike path run from the first time we ran it to the second.  Brian Sheehan won the endurance battle in the long bike path.  Kevin Smith dominated the stadium run and has yet to be defeated in his time at UB.  As a team, from the first week of preseason when we ran the timed mile to the last week of preseason when we ran a timed mile, we knocked 20 seconds off on average.  Three wrestlers in the mile race were at five minutes and ten seconds or less (Mike Soria – 5:07, Max Soria – 5:09, & John-Martin Cannon – 5:10).  Most improved times on the mile run went to Kris Duge, Mibo Aiono, Desi Green, and Andrew Schutt. Brett Correll was the most improved returner in the runs from last year.  Overall the team did a great job.  Like I said, every single returning wrestler had their best time since coming to UB in both the mile run and the short bike path run, which shows great effort and improvement.  We are excited about the season ahead.

Coach Beichner has a great workout planned for today and I will give you all a few notes on that tomorrow.  More updates will come throughout the season.  Watch for big things out of the Bulls!

Coach Beasley

Interview with Desi Green

DESI GREEN - 149 LBS

National Qualifier

2009-10: Led the team with 30 wins and also led the team in technical falls (3) and takedowns (62) en route to becoming a national qualifier for the second straight year… finished first at the UB Open in the 149 weight class… defeated #20 Justin Accordino of Hofstra to lead the Bulls to a 16-16 tie… fought to an 8-6 win over #6 Jason Chamberlain of Boise State at the National Duals and was named the MAC wrestler of the week for his efforts (1/12)… Earned three straight major decisions in the “A” bracket of the New York State Championships to finish second overall, highlighted by a win over #1 nationally ranked wrestler Blaine Woszczak of Ithaca… Defeated Seth Morton of Ohio to win the MAC Championship, then defeated the #19 nationally ranked Morton in a rematch at the NCAA Championship wrestle-backs... has 70 career wins and is poised to become the program's first wrestler to win 100 matches as a junior.

2008-09: Compiled an overall record of 40-9 at 149/157, finished the season with nine-straight victories including a 4-3 decision over then tenth-ranked Steve Brown of Central Michigan... second-team All-MAC in the 149-pound weight class, finishing second at the MAC Championships... 149-pound NCAA qualifier, making his first appearance at the national championships... besides nine-bout win streak also recorded a seven-bout, a six-bout and three five-bout win streaks... led the Bulls in overall wins (38), dual-meet wins (19), falls (3) and takedowns (71)... set the all-time record for most takedowns in a season (71)... 18th nationally-ranked at 149 in the Intermat/NWCA/NWMA NCAA Division I Individual Rankings (2/18)... named MAC Wrestler of the Week (2/2) after defeating Central Michigan’s Brown... placed second in the 149-pound weight class at the NYS Intercollegiate Championships... placed third at the Body Bar Invitational in the 149-pound weight class... placed sixth in the 157-pound weight class at the UB Open... competed in the Body Bar Invitational and Reno Tournament of Champions.    

2007-08: Redshirted... saw action at the UB Open, finishing 1-2 in the 157-pound weight class.

High School: Won three letters and captained two seasons at Rush-Henrietta for coach Mickey Marlowe... first-team All-League as a senior... won the 2007 New York State Championship and the 2007 Empire State Championship. 

Personal: Born October 11, 1989... son of Chavela Green... has a brother, Jerome and a sister, Janee... favorite athlete is Lebron James... favorite TV show is The Simpsons... lists McDonald’s as his favorite food and says his strangest superstition or habit is eating three times a day.