Coach Popolizio's Newsletter

The team was off last week for the holiday break.  Here is Coach Popolizio's most recent newsletter.


What’s New?

Binghamton University wrapped up its final competition of the semester in Reno this past weekend. The Bearcats had a solid showing at the Reno Tournament of Champions placing four out of the seven wresters in the Top-4. We finished fourth place overall, behind nationally ranked Oklahoma State (#2), Wyoming University (#13), and Oregon State (#11). Our team finished ahead of Cal Poly (#15), Stanford (#20), Ohio University (#32) and Air Force Academy (#34).

Reno Tournament of Champions:

The Bearcats were without three weight classes: 125, 141, and 174 lbs.

133: Patrick Hunter went 3-2 on the day and had some quality wins along the way. He made a couple of technical mistakes in his losses and we will continue to work on his technique over the winter break. Patrick continues to improve every time he steps on the mat.

149: Donnie Vinson went 4-1 on the day, beating his #19 ranked Michigan State opponent in the quarterfinals in overtime. In the semi-finals Donnie lost to his #5 ranked opponent from the Air Force Academy. After being ahead 4-0, Donnie got reversed and pinned in the 1st period. Donnie came back to win his next match and finished 4th on the day after medically defaulting for 3rd and 4th place.

157: Justin Lister went 4-1 on the day, beating his #17 ranked Michigan State opponent, 10-1. Justin had two falls on the day, putting him in the finals against a #15 ranked Boise State opponent. Justin scored the only points until the last 20 seconds of the match. There were some great scrambles and Justin came up on top. Unfortunately, in the last scramble of the match, Justin got taken down and put on his back, losing a 5-3 decision as time expired.

165: Matt Kaylor went 5-2 on the day. His first loss of the tournament was to the #6 ranked, returning All-American from Wyoming. Matt rallied, winning five matches in a row, beating the #2 and #4 seed of the tournament, who are both returning national-qualifiers. Matt finished 4th on the day after losing 6-1 to his Michigan State opponent.

184: Nate Schiedel had an impressive tournament finishing 5-2 on the day. Along the way he beat the #3 and #8 seeded wrestlers. Nate had two pins and two major decisions, dominating several of his wins.

197: Cody Reed finished at 3-2 on the day. In the first round of the day, he beat the wrestler who finished 5th at his weight. He lost a 3-4 match to the #5 ranked wrestler from Oklahoma State. Cody is making steady strides and is constantly improving.

Heavyweight: Nick Gwiazdowski went 3-2 on the day. He picked up a big win beating the #12 ranked wrestler in the country from Michigan State. Nick’s weight-class was stacked with many nationally ranked wrestlers. He dropped two close matches to the #2 and #11 ranked wrestlers in the country.

Coaches’ Corner:

“The number one objective for this trip was to travel to a different time zone and compete against nationally-ranked opponents in an attempt to simulate the national tournament. We were able to accomplish this and the team rose to the level of competition they were facing. As a team we brought back the 4th place trophy, a huge accomplishment at this level of competition. We had some minor injuries at the Reno tournament and elected to rest a few of our guys. Come January we expect to be 100% when we take on NY State rival, Buffalo.”

“The first semester has been very successful for our team. Every weight has faced top ranked competition at their weights. This will prepare us for next semester and eventually the national tournament.”

“As grades continue to come in, this appears to be our best semester in the class room. The majority of our student-athletes are posting above a 3.0 GPA.”

Tidbits:

Donnie Vinson is CAA Wrestler of the Month; Derek Heyman is Top Rookie:

http://www.bubearcats.com/index.php/new ... top_rookie

Matt Kaylor earns BU Athlete of the Week:

http://www.bubearcats.com/index.php/new ... ng_in_reno

Local newspaper article on Donnie Vinson and Justin Lister:

http://m.pressconnects.com/sports/artic ... 0361&f=965


Don’t forget to check out our blog with interviews and updates by Lyndsey Beasley and the coaching staff.

http://bearcatwrestling.blogspot.com/

Upcoming Events:

January 2nd: at Buffalo at 3pm

January 10th: Oklahoma University at the West Gym, at 7pm

January 15th: Cornell at the BU Events Center, at 5pm

There will be a wrestling social from 2-5pm in the Events Center prior to the match. Details to follow.

https://www.bconnectalumni.binghamton.e ... tID=1244--