Throwback Thursday Episode 5: Stephen Erber - The Final Chapter

Today is the final segment of our Throwback Thursday segment featuring former coach, Steve Erber.  Stay tuned for another alumni to be featured next week!  Also, if you're interested in being interviewed for this piece, please send an email to Coach Frank Beasley fbeasley@binghamton.edu.





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BU Wrestling was featured in yesterday's Press & Sun Bulletin, Binghamton's local newspaper.  The article is below.

Binghamton U. wrestlers building on success

Coach says squad has talent, experience

The last two seasons have yielded considerable success for the Binghamton University wrestling team.

The Bearcats won the Colonial Athletic Association championship in 2010, and finished second last year. Each of the last two years, BU has sent six wrestlers to the NCAA Championships.

With seven starters returning, four of them NCAA qualifiers, there's little reason to believe there will be a dropoff this season.

"We have a lot of talent this year, a lot of experience," BU head coach Pat Popolizio said. "I think overall with the returners and the transfers, having a whole year with these guys will be a huge difference in getting them used to the style of wrestling we want.

"My only concerns are relying on a few freshmen to win right away. They've won in high school, but that's a transition going to college."

BU is picked to finish second in the CAA, behind defending champion Hofstra, according to the league's preseason rankings.

The top returners for BU are the quartet of 157-pound senior Justin Lister, 149-pound junior Donnie Vinson, 184-pound junior Nate Schaedel, and 165-pound senior Matt Kaylor. All four qualified for the NCAA Championships for a second time last season.

Lister, a two-time CAA champion and former NCAA All-American, is the preseason No. 1 in his weight class in the CAA.

Vinson, a Whitney Point High graduate, is coming off a season in which he earned a victory over two-time NCAA champion Kyle Dake of Cornell but went a disappointing 0-2 in the 149-pound weight class at last season's NCAA Championships despite being seeded ninth.

"I'm actually really excited, I don't think I've had a better preseason," Vinson said. "But you have to take it one match at a time. I know a lot of people say that, but I think I was flustered losing at the CAAs last year and my head wasn't on right going into the NCAAs."

Lister, Vinson, and Schiedel are nationally-ranked in their weight classes by several publications, and Kaylor and sophomore 197-pounder Cody Reed, a Walton High graduate, have earned rankings in WrestlingReport.com.

Also back are Derek Steeley (125) and John Paris (174), while junior Patrick Hunter, a transfer from Iowa State and former junior college national champion, steps into the 133-pound weight class.

Among those in a potentially strong freshman class is Tioga graduate Derak Heyman, a two-time state champion and winner of 255 varsity matches in his scholastic career with the Tigers. He'll vie for a starting spot at 141.

Heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski, another freshman, is coming off a senior season at Duanesburg in which he went 50-0 and won a state title as well as a Senior National title. Heyman , Gwiazdowski, Adam Morris (165) and Tyler Deuel (197) all were named to the CAA Preseason All-Freshman Team.

"We don't feel like we have any holes in the lineup; there's some inexperience, but I'm confident with every guy," Popolizio said.


A link to the Press & Sun article is here.