Vinson Is Runnerup At Midlands Championship

Graduate student Donnie Vinson won five matches to reach the finals at the prestigious 50th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championship at Northwestern’s Welsh-Ryan Arena. Vinson (18-1) dropped a 3-1 decision to fourth-ranked Nick Brascetta of Virginia Tech in the title bout - his first loss of the season.

Brascetta, the reigning ACC champion, utilized a first-period takedown and a third-period escape for his points. Vinson managed an escape in the second period but despite pressing in the third period, ran out of time. Brascetta was hit for stalling late in the match but fended off Vinson to win the title. The championships were shown on The Big Ten Network.

Binghamton is in 14th place (out of 48) in the team standings.

Vinson, ranked No. 3 at 149 and seeded second, went 4-0 on Saturday. He started with a pin and a technical fall in his first two matches. He then posted a 6-1 decision and in his closest bout of the day, edged seventh-seed David Habat of Ediinboro in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals Sunday afternoon, Vinson defeated third-seeded Steve Santos of Columbia, 6-1.

Senior 197-pound Nate Schiedel went 3-2 in the tournament, just missing out on top-8 honors. Seeded fifth and ranked sixth in the country, Schiedel began his tournament with a 15-7 major decision. But he then suffered a first-period pin against an opponent from CAA-rival Old Dominion in his second match. He rebounded with an 11-1 major decision over an opponent from North Dakota State late Saturday night and began Sunday with a convincing 13-0 major decision against an opponent from Central Michigan. But in the wrestleback round of 12, Schiedel was pinned by a former three-time All-American from Maryland. 

Senior 125-pound Patrick Hunter scored two wins - including an 8-5 upset of the No. 7 seed - before back-to-back losses ended his tournament. Hunter opened with a 16-1 technical fall.

More than 30 Division I teams, along with numerous national champions and finalists from Division II and III programs, are participating in the event. Of the 32 Division I teams at this year’s Midlands, 14 of them placed in the top-25 at the 2012 NCAA Championship.

Seven other Bearcats competed at the Lock Haven Brute Invitational on Saturday with senior 133-pound Dan Riggi gaining the most success. Riggi went 5-1 to place third. He notched three pins and a major decision. Redshirt 125-pound freshman Mike Sardo went 4-2 to place fifth. Sophomore 174-pound Caleb Wallace went 3-2 to place fifth and sophomore 141-pound Joe Bonaldi won twice to place sixth. Bonaldi, working his way back after an injury last month, picked up a pin and a major decision before injury defaulting out of the event after a quarterfinal loss.

Information: John Hartrick (hartrick@bingthamton.edu)

Post by: Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Interviews with Vinson and Schiedel 12/12

 Videos by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Bearcats return with 2 wins this weekend

Bearcat wrestling returns to Binghamton with two new wins under their belt, first beating Princeton University 23-12 on Saturday and then defeating Boston University 26-13 on Sunday.

The dual against Princeton was an exciting first win for the Bearcats.  After being neck and neck with Princeton throughout the match, the Bearcats won the final three matches, including a come-from-behind overtime win by junior 184-pound Cody Reed, to secure the win.

Hunter started off the dual with a win over Max Rogers (Princeton) 10-5.  Then, with Vinson's major decision vs Bintliff 17-5, Grella's defeat against Ziegler 11-5,  Reed's overtime victory vs Gibbons 7-5, and Schiedel and Deuel's tech falls vs Santoro and Lampman, Binghamton finished on top.

Sunday afternoon the Bearcats kept their same winning attitude and drive to capture another win against Boston University.  With 6 winning bouts, one being a pin and two being tech falls, the Bearcats racked up 20 bonus points and ended the weekend 2-0 in duals.

Senior 125-pound Patrick Hunter was the first to put the Bearcats on the board once again, scoring a technical fall in his match, defeating Mike Mayo 26-11. Steeley (133) followed with a major decision against Suitor 14-4.  Vinson pinned Colin Saunders early in the second period making the overall score 15-6 for the Bearcats.  The next wins were by Vincent Grella at 165, Reed at 184, and finally Schiedel with a tech fall against Meys 17-2- resulting with a final score of 26-13.

After a victorious weekend, Vinson and Schiedel still remain undefeated.

Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Vinson and Schiedel; rising to the top

For the first time in program history, Binghamton wrestling has two wrestlers ranked in nation's top-6. Donnie Vinson, senior 149 pounder, is ranked third while Nate Schiedel, senior 197 pounder is ranked sixth. Both wrestlers hold an undefeated season (Vinson 12-0, Schiedel 11-0) with a perfect dual record of 7-0.

Vinson, a reigning All-American, remains No. 3 in the latest InterMat rankings. He is No. 1 in the Amateur Wrestling News poll and No. 2 in both the WIN Magazine and D1CW rankings. At 11-0 to start the season, Vinson has also received the first regular season honor from the CAA, which named him its Wrestler of the Month. Vinson is 6-0 in duals, improving his career duals mark to a remarkable 60-8. He is 110-24 in his four-year career and is moving closer to the program’s all-time wins mark of 123, set by four-time NCAA qualifier and All-American Josh Patterson (2006-10).

Schiedel, also unbeaten in 2012-13 at 10-0, bumped up a spot in the InterMat poll to No. 6. He is No. 6 in the AWN rankings, No. 8 in the WIN Magazine version and No. 5 according to D1CW. Schiedel is also 6-0 in duals and has produced a team-high 24 dual points. He is 54-10 in career duals and 101-28 overall.







Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)
Information: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)

Binghamton Open: Bearcats capture 3 first-place titles

The Binghamton Open tournament on November 11, 2012 brought a full house of fans, over 15 teams, and 300+ wrestlers from the northeast into Binghamton University's West Gym.  Wrestling took place on seven mats from 9 AM up to early evening.  Binghamton had three wrestlers to make it to the finals, and all three persevered and came out with a win.

Joe Bonaldi at 141 lbs went 5-0 in the tournament, ultimately beating Joe Stanzione of Cornell 6-4 in his final match.  Donnie Vinson at 149 lbs went 5-0 in the tournament, beating out Mac Maldarelli of Lock Haven 17-3 in the final.  Nate Schiedel at 197 lbs went 4-0 in the tournament, with his final win at the score 5-2 against Micah Burak (All-American, ranked #5) of Penn.  

Sophomore heavyweight Tyler Deuel finished in 4th place, going 3-2 in the tournament overall.

Click here to see video footage from the tournament.  Also see our youtube page for more videos from the Open.

2012 Binghamton Open Champions

125 Nashton Garrett (Cornell)

133 Mason Beckman (Lehigh)

141 Joe Bonaldi (Binghamton)

149 Donnie Vinson (Binghamton)

157 Brian Realbuto (FLWC)

165 Ramon Santiago (Rider)

174 Kevin Bailey (Lehigh)

184 Lorenzo Thomas (Penn)

197 Nate Schiedel (Binghamton)

285 Joe Gingrich (Penn State)

The next dual is on Friday, November 16 @ Cornell University, 7PM.

Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Pat Popolizio to North Carolina State University

Original article posted by John Hartrick, BU Sports Info.


NSCU Press Release

VESTAL, N.Y. – Binghamton head wrestling coach Pat Popolizio has taken a position as the head coach at North Carolina State, both universities announced today. Popolizio, who spent six years building the Bearcats wrestling team into a top-20 program, will head to Raleigh and begin his new position with the ACC-member Wolfpack.

Binghamton will start an immediate national search for his successor.

“We wish Pat well in his new position,” Director of Athletics Patrick Elliott said. “He’s done an outstanding job here, building our program into one of the premier wrestling programs in the country. I want to thank him for his hard work and commitment to our student-athletes over the past six years.”

Popolizio’s tenure was capped with an outstanding 2011-12 season which ended with his second CAA Coach of the Year honors in the last three years.  His 2011-12 squad went 15-4 to set a program record for win percentage (78.9%), earned the highest national rank in its Division I tenure (18th), finished as CAA runnerup by the slimmest of margins and then showed its prowess at the NCAA Championship. In St. Louis, BU’s five national qualifiers produced 18 wins and crowned two All-Americans.

Popolizio, 81-53 in his six seasons as head coach, churned out 21 NCAA qualifiers and four All-Americans. The 14th-place national finish was the highest of any sport in Binghamton’s 11-year Division I tenure and the highest NCAA finish for a CAA wrestling program in the last five years.

“The last six years have been some of the most exciting and memorable of my career,” Popolizio said. “Binghamton is a special place, not only the administration and student-athletes but the alumni. I’m very thankful for the opportunity to help build the program at Binghamton and appreciate all the support that everyone has given. I’m also excited for the future of college wrestling and for the future for Binghamton. I know big things will happen with this program and I wish them all the success.”

North Carolina State placed fourth at the ACC Championship this past March and sent five individuals to the NCAA Championship, crowning one All-American.

D1 College Wrestling CAA Awards

D1CW did its own conference awards for 2011-2012 and here is how things shook out in the CAA:


2011-12 D1CW CAA Wrestler of the Year: Donnie Vinson (Binghamton) One of the biggest breakout stars of the 2012 NCAA Championships was Binghamton's Donnie Vinson who lost his first round match the proceeded to battle back through the consolations winning seven consecutive bouts to finish in third place. That feat has only happened four times in the last 14 years. It's not as if Vinson came out of nowhere either. He entered the tournament with a 33-4 record and held the #4 seed. In addition to getting onto the All-American podium for the first time, Vinson also won his first CAA Title after finishing as a runner-up his Freshman and Sophomore seasons. 


2011-12 D1CW CAA Coach of the Year: Rob Anspach (Hofstra) In his first season as the Head Coach for Hofstra Rob Anspach crowned for individual CAA Champions and sent six wrestlers to compete at the NCAA Championships. Two of them, Steve Bonanno and Justin Accordino were All-American's placing 8th and 6th respectively. Accordino, a Senior who missed most of two seasons due to injuries, was an unseeded wrestler who made the Semi-Finals at 149. Hofstra placed 23 overall at the NCAA Championships.


2011-12 D1CW CAA Freshman of the Year: Nick Gwiazdowski (Binghamton) Nick Gwiazdowski entered his collegiate career at Binghamton as the top 285lb recruit and did not disappoint. As a true Freshman, Nick won the CAA Championship prior to placing 8th at the NCAA's. Gwiazdowski lost his opening round match to eventual NCAA Champion Tony Nelson before winning five matches in a row to earn All-American honors. Overall in his rookie season, Nick won 30 matches against only nine losses.

Flo Interview with Coach Beasley

Watch more video of 2012 FloNationals on flowrestling.org

BEARCATS SWEEP 2012 CAA AWARDS

Original News Release from the CAA: 

Binghamton Sweeps 2011-12 CAA Wrestling Awards

NORFOLK, VA—Donnie Vinson of Binghamton University has been named the Colonial Athletic Association Wrestler of the Year in a vote by the CAA coaches. Teammate Nick Gwiazdowski was named the CAA Rookie of the Year and Binghamton head coach Pat Popolizio was named the CAA Coach of the Year.

Vinson, the CAA Championships’ Most Outstanding Wrestler, finished third at the NCAA Championships in his 149 pound weight class to earn All-America honors.

Gwiazdowski, the CAA Champion as the second seed, placed eighth at Nationals in the 285 pound weight class to also earn All-America honors.

As a team, Binghamton placed 14^th.

The CAA All-Freshman team featured four members of the Rider University team, 133 Jimmy Morris, 141 Vinny Fava, 184 Clint Morrison and 197 Donald McNeil.

Other members of the CAA All-Freshman team were 125 Vince Rodriguez of George Mason, 149 Pete Baldwin of Old Dominion, 165 Mitchell Wightman of Boston University and 174 Caleb Wallace of Binghamton.

Week in Review

Last week, we took off from practice as a built in recovery phase .  This is our spring break week here at BU and will also have this week off.  Last week the guys lifted three times but had no practice.  This week is completely an off week from training.  A lot of little nagging injuries through the season can heal up for some of the guys over this recovery phase.  Next week, we will start our training back up with wrestling practice followed by a lift everyday at 9AM.  Our coaching staff was at the NHSCA High School Nationals and FloNationals this past weekend.  Several of the incoming recruits did very well.  I am not allowed to comment on most of the recruits specifically yet (per NCAA rules) but when we are allowed to, I will release more information on them.  Also, in August and September, we will do a featured freshman segment to introduce all of the new team members.  What I will say is that we had multiple incoming recruits that reached All-American honors at these events.

Feelin' Good

For those of you who have not already seen this, wrestling photographer Tony Rotundo put this lovely little number together.

Check out Coach Popolizio & Athletic Trainer Noel Zeh in this video.  It's quality entertainment, I promise.

*make sure your volume is on for this*

Throwback Thursday Episode 22: Tim Borshoff Part II

If you missed part one of Tim Borshoff's Throwback, watch it here.

Hall of Fame Wrestler Passes Away

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VESTAL, N.Y.—Former wrestling great Mike Truncale passed away March 20 on Long Island. Truncale, inducted into Binghamton’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 1998, is survived by his wife, Donna, and their children Frank, Brianna and Gabriella.

He was a proprietor of Tennis Court Construction and Maintenance, Co., in Patchogue, N.Y

A native of Smithtown, N.Y., Truncale wrestled at Binghamton from 1983-85 after transferring from University of Tennessee. At Binghamton, Truncale became the school’s first three-time All-American. He placed seventh at the 1983 NCAA Championship, third in 1984 and second in 1985. His overtime match for the 150-pound national championship against an opponent from Trenton State was televised on ESPN. Truncale was a co-captain of Binghamton’s 1984 team that finished third in the entire country - the highest national finish of any team in school history. He went undefeated in duals that season (10-0) and finished his three-year career with an 18-3 dual meet record.

Truncale was named BU’s Athlete of the Year in 1984-85.

He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1985.

______________________

Former teammate Mark Gumble ...

“Mike was captain of the team when I was a freshman. He was my daily workout partner and taught me how to train to become an All-American. I vividly remember speaking with him in the spring of his senior year. He was disappointed in not winning an NCAA title but proud that he was the only BU wrestler ever to become a three-time All-American. His words were a source of inspiration to me during my senior year. I have yet to see another athlete train as hard as Mike did. I used to curse him when he made me run the library tower stairs with him early in the morning or ride the stationary bike for a half-hour every day after practice. Today I am glad I listened and learned from Mike because his influence helped me reach most of my athletic goals at Binghamton.”

Former coach Steve Erber ...

“Mike had a great work ethic and was always very focused. He kind of ran by himself but became a leader by virtue of the tremendous amoutn of time he put in. Other talented athletes started to follow suit and it boosted the whole team up - thus a third-place NCAA finish in 1984. I never really had to motivate Mike. He had a goal and was willing to work to reach it. It any of my athletes deserved a national title by virtue of their work ethic it was Mike.”

Former high school teammate and friend Sean O’Malley ...

“Although he was the toughest man on our Smithtown East teams of 1979 and 1980, he was also one of the nicest, funniest, easiest going guys you could ever meet. He was a real joker, and although our personalities were quite different, we always meshed. I always enjoyed my time with Mike. He was also a craftsman, working with his brother Jack since the mid 1980s building tennis courts, driveways, walkways and the like. Mike’s working legacy will be evident for years to come for anyone playing on the recently rebuilt tennis courts at Smithtown East and West. Mike’s wrestling legacy will also carry with us. Mike was awesome on his feet, and was a Suffolk County Runner up in his junior year in HS.”

A link to John Hartrick's original press release is here. 

The Bearcat wrestling family extends our deepest sympathies to Mike's family and friends. 

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Below, because we just can't stop talking about Nationals, is a video montage from the 2012 NCAA Championships.  

Video credit: John Hartrick.

Photo credit: Angelo Juliano Photography 

BEST DUAL MEET: POLL

Vote for the dual meet you thought was the most exciting during the 2011-2012 season! Go Bearcats!

Week in Review

Most teams immediately went to vacation or took off from training after the national tournament.  We did not.  We have recovery time built into our schedule and will recover soon.  We trained through last week.  We practiced every day at 9AM this past week.  The focus of the week was getting better on our single legs.  At the NCAA, World, and Olympic Championships, the move used to score most is a single leg takedown.  It is most effective at the highest level and we took this past week to get better as a team in various positions on finishing a single.  As a team, we have not had much of a problem getting into the leg, but finishing has been a place that we've struggled a bit.  Every day last week, we did technique on different ways to finish the single.  We worked on ways to get the corner and get behind, splitting the middle, cutting the leg out, and getting to our feet.  We drilled various scenarios from these positions and also went live in the positions.  In addition, we started to wrestle a little bit of freestyle.  The guys were responsible to get three lifts in last week and did a nice job in the weight room as well.

I think it was a very productive week for the team.  I could see significant improvements when they were wrestling live.  Now that season is over we can really focus on improving technically.  I think it is often overlooked by college coaches but the off season is the best time to technically improve.  Many colleges do not have their guys training or are just having them wrestle live.  We will be focused this off season on getting better technically.  Conditioning wise, we were very good.  The guys showed a lot of heart and determination throughout the season.  We certainly need to improve in the weight room and technically in some positions so we can continue to dominate next season.

Looking ahead, we are taking this week off from practice to recover.  It is the first week of a two week training break that we are taking.  The following week is spring break here at BU and we will be off for that as well.  After those two weeks, we will be back at it with the focus on freestyle and the University Nationals (May 31^st-June 3^rd).

Gwiazdowski Recaps NCAAs

Throwback Thursday Episode 21: Tim Borshoff

Tim Borshoff was a National Runner-up for the Bearcats in 1975 at 126lbs.  He is a member of the Binghamton Athletics Hall of Fame. 

Nationals Press

This is a lengthy post today, so I apologize, but it's very important for everyone to see all of the press/recognition that the BU Wrestling team has received in the last week. Below is a collection of articles and interviews by John Hartrick, Associate Director of Athletics for Communications, who was at Nationals with the Bearcats and did a phenomenal job recapping the events! Also listed are some articles from the Press & Sun Bulletin and some other random spots.  Enjoy!

Wrestlers Head to St. Louis for NCAA Championship

No. 9 Lister Wins Opener, Reed Stuns #4 Seed In NCAA First Round

Vinson And Gwiazdowski All-Americans!

Vinson Completes Incredible Run By Taking Third At NCAAs

All Five Wrestlers Still Alive At NCAA Championship

NCAA Wrestling Championship Day 1 Photo Gallery Part 1

NCAA Wrestling Championship Day 1 Photo Gallery Part 2

NCAA Wrestling Championship Day 2 Photo Gallery Part 1

NCAA Wrestling Championship Day 2 Photo Gallery Part 2

NCAA Wrestling Championship Day 2 Photos

2011-2012 Media Guide

March To The Arch (Poster & Sponsors)

Watch more video of NCAA Wrestling Championships 2012 on flowrestling.org

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Notorious Pinner Justin Lister Looks for Another “Cinderella” NCAA Run

Vinson has one goal in mind

Binghamton University wrestlers finish on a high

Four Section 4 products seek NCAA wrestling titles

Bearcats bumped from wrestling title track

Cornell's Dake goes 3-for-3 at NCAAs; Vinson finishes third

Your Bearcat NCAA Wrestling Championship Preview

NCAA Recap: ALL AMERICANS

NCAA Recap

Congratulations once again to Donnie Vinson and Nick Gwiazdowski on earning All America honors at the 2012 NCAA Championships and doubling Binghamton's All American total (Josh Patterson (2009) & Justin Lister (2010))! Also, congratulations to the rest of the Bearcats participating at Nationals who helped earn the #14 finish: Justin Lister, Nate Schiedel, and Cody Reed.  Nate and Cody will both return next year to make a run of their own for the podium.  Donnie and Nick will also return next year to improve upon their finishes this year.

Today Coach Beasley & Coach Borshoff discuss Justin, Nate, and Cody's performance at Nationals. Check out the video below..

NCAA Update

Check out the articles and interviews by the BU Sports Info department on bubearcats.com

Stay tuned for day 2 action this morning beginning at 11 eastern.

Throwback Thursday Episode 20: Dan Polhamus Part II

Follow the Bearcats at NCAAs on Twitter and Facebook!

Follow the Bearcats at NCAAs!

Beasley & Borshoff in the Morning: NCAA Preview

Week in Review

We had a light week of training this past week as we have tapered down to prepare for the national tournament.  One of the most important things this time of year is health.  Fortunately, all five guys are healthy and ready to go for nationals.  By this point in the season, everyone is dinged up, but the five guys going to nationals are very healthy right now and ready to compete.  Like I said, we scaled practices back in order to peak for nationals.  Last week, everything was short and hard.  All week, we spent a little time working on our arm bars and chicken wings on top.  Monday, we drilled hard for a short time and wrestled some live goes.  Tuesday, we drilled for a half hour.  Wednesday, we were off the mat.  Thursday, we had a short drill and short live situation goes.  Friday, we drilled and went live in short spurts.  We did few things at the end of practice to keep our conditioning up.  We lifted on Monday and Wednesday.  Saturday and Sunday, we took off from practice.  Rest is as important as anything this time of year.  We will be rested and ready to go on Thursday.  Coach Borshoff and I will discuss our first round matches tomorrow on the blog.  As usual, we will tweet the results at nationals.


Also, check out this article from New York Wrestling News about BU Senior, Justin Lister.

Spotlight on Matt Kaylor's Bearcat Wrestling Career

I was very disappointed that Matt Kaylor did not get a bid to the national tournament.  He beat five wrestlers (Blevins, Brundage, Warner, Peppelman, and Garcey) who  qualified this season and finished the season with a 24-10 record.  He qualified a spot for the CAA for the national tournament.  He was ranked 24^th in the last coaches ranking and 27^th in the last RPI.  He was "gold standard" based on his results going into the CAA tournament (gold standard wrestlers are usually the first to get an at-large bid to nationals if they do not qualify outright).  I feel as though he certainly deserved to be there one more time.  Matt is one of the all-time best in BU history in many ways.  It has been a pleasure to work with him.  Here is a brief look at his career here at BU.

Matt Kaylor is a fifth-year senior who has been part of the BU Wrestling Program for five seasons.  He was a two-year captain of the wrestling team and one of the wrestlers who brought the team back to the national spotlight.  Matt is second all-time on BU’s Division I win list with 112 wins.  Of those wins, 28 have come by way of major decision, 4 by technical fall, and 8 by pin.  He is a four year starter and a two-time NCAA national qualifier.  He has been nationally ranked for each of the last three seasons, including being ranked as high as 15^th in the country.  Matt redshirted his true freshman year.  He placed every year at the CAA Tournament with finishes of 4^th, 4^th, 1^st, and 5^th.  He has placed multiple times in the NY State Collegiate Tournament, the BU Open, and the Cornell Body Bar.  He has also placed at the Penn State Open and the Reno Tournament of Champions.  Matt has won tournament championships at the NY State Collegiate Tournament and the CAA Championships.

Matt graduated in the spring with a BA in history and well over a 3.0 GPA.  Matt currently is in his first year of graduate school.  He will graduate with a Master’s Degree in the Art of Teaching in the spring of 2013.  Currently, he holds around a 3.5 GPA in his master’s degree.  He was awarded the CAA Commissioner’s Academic Award last season and was named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll here at BU. 

I can’t tell you enough what a wonderful person he is.  He is a great wrestler and really was one of the main people to put BU on the map.  Moreover, he is as good of person as there is on the team.  He is selfless, as he cut hard and made 149 his freshman year because it was best for the team.  As a sophomore, he moved up to 165 because it was best for the team to have Donnie at 149, Lister at 157, and Matt at 165.  The following year, as a junior, he was asked to move down a weight class for the betterment of the team.  This year, he was back at 165.  All of these changes he made for the team.  Anytime he was asked to do anything, he did it without hesitation.  He always put the team first and was an unbelievable leader.  He may not have won every sprint, race, match, or whatever, but every single day, he gave Binghamton University Wrestling everything he had every second of every practice.  Certainly some days were better than others and he might come in sick or worn down, but as soon as practice started, he was giving 100%, no matter how he felt.  He never complained or spoke negativity about anything.  He is a true inspiration to others and everyone who knows him has the utmost respect for him.  He was a quiet leader (until you get to know him and realize he has quite the sense of humor) and the others followed him.

There are a few rare people out there that demand the type of respect that Kaylor does with his work ethic. He is a rare breed of everything that a coach wants in an athlete.  He made everyone around him better.  I know that I am a better coach and person for knowing and working with Matt.  I wish we had more Matt Kaylor's on the team.  He is truly a special person and is going to do great things in life.  He deserves nothing but the best moving forward.

Unfortunately, the college wrestling chapter of his life is over for Matt.  Whether he continues to wrestle Freestyle or Greco or begin coaching, or both, is yet to be determined for sure.  He has one more year left of graduate school here at BU, in which, of course, he will continue to do very well.  Whatever he chooses to do, he will certainly be successful.  Matt permanently left his stamp on BU Wrestling and will continue to grow with Matt's assistance.

Matt, thank you for all that you have done for Binghamton University Wrestling!

Throwback Thursday Episode 19: Dan Polhamus... and NCAA Brackets!

Below are snapshots of each of the NCAA Qualifier's portion of the bracket.  A link to the full set of brackets is provided here.

Missed the selection show last night? Watch it here.

CONGRATULATIONS, CODY REED!

Cody received a wild card bid to the 2012 D1 National Championships!!

Your Questions, Answered.. and NCAA Information

Before we get to the questions.. today is a big day for NCAA information.  Starting at 1pm, the NCAA will release the list of competitors at each weight class.  You can follow along on the NCAA Wrestling Facebook page (link).  Also, this evening at 6:00, NCAA.com will host a selection show.  All first round matchups will be revealed at this time.

Now.. on to the questions.  Coach Beasley answered most of the questions posed to us last week.  

Well I wanted to answer some of the questions that have come up on the blog over the last couple of weeks.  One question that came up was who is the best dressed coach.  For that question, we will be doing a video to discuss and answer that question.  If you have other questions, feel free to leave them below.

For a redshirt, how many opportunities are there to wrestle in a given year?

Redshirts have many opportunities to wrestle during the season. There are several open tournaments that they can go to and for us there are a lot of open tournaments that are within reasonable driving distance.  Open tournaments that we had wrestlers compete in this season were the Buffalo Open, Binghamton Open, Lock Haven Open, Penn State Open, Nassau Open, Millersville Open, New York State Collegiate Tournament, Jamestown Open, Edinboro Open, and National Collegiate Open.  Redshirts should, in my opinion, wrestle at least 20 matches in a season and shoot for thirty or more. I know that Heyman, Grella, Perry, Riggi and Deuel all got over twenty matches in this season.  We will also have our team at the University Nationals to wrestle freestyle.

How is John Paris doing? Can we hope to see him back next year?

John tore his ACL in the first match of the year.  He had surgery in December on it and is currently rehabbing.  He has been running and lifting but is unable to get back on the mat yet.  He will be off the mat till the summer.  We are not going to rush him back as we need him healthy and ready for next season.  We will definitely have him back next season.  He is a big part of the team and as you recall was the CAA Freshman of the Year last season.  He is bigger right now as he has been lifting a lot.  He could wind-up anywhere from 174-184-197 but I would expect him at either 174 or 184 pounds next year.

I get asked by a friend who is also a college ref. who the ref happens to be at the Binghamton matches... I don't know because their name is not announced at the beginning of a match. It would be helpful to let us know who is reffing the evenings match.

I will have the referee announced at matches next year.  We have had a variety of referees this season.  We try to have a lot of different officials throughout the year.  I know we had around a dozen officials at the open tournament and have had probably 6-7 different officials for home dual meets this season.  Also this season, we added a second referee for home matches so there isn't a question of time being up or not, close calls get two different sets of eyes, etc.

How do you scout wrestlers/teams from outside the geographic area? For example Central Michigan and Arizona State.

I would say that I try to scout everyone who we compete against or who is good and we may see at nationals.  I personally watch a ton of wrestling to scout others.  However, I do not like to say much about the opponent to the guys on the team.  I can come up with a game plan or whatnot for our guys but I feel like if I say a lot about the other guy that we will wrestle tight.  For example, if I told Steeley that Matt Snyder was going to cradle a certain way on a certain side on top and that he get a cradle this way on his feet and that he switches to the left on bottom, Steeley may get distracted with watching those things and not wrestle well and wrestle to stop those things.  Where if I give him a game plan to focus on things that I know will work against an opponent or that he needs to be aware of one thing the opponent does, it will benefit him.  I think there are teams that over analyze opponents and their wrestlers are tight in matches because they are to worried about all the things the other guy can do.  Actually scouting is easy as we see most of the teams in the country somewhere or another at a tournament (Reno, Body Bar, Penn State, etc)  or duals (Norhteast Duals, etc).  Moreover, youtube and flowrestling have made it very easy to scout other teams.  You can almost always find at least one match and usually multiple matches of an upper-level division I guy online.  I watch all the matches on the big ten network as well.  I love watching wrestling, so it is a hobby of mine to just watch wrestling, which makes scouting easy.  Also, I have a pretty good memory, so once I scout someone once, I usually remember what they do so it makes scouting them the next year that much easier.

Week in Review: CAA Championships Review 165-HWT

Fear not, Patrick Hunter's Two Minute Tuesday will return after Nationals.

Week in Review: CAA Championships Review through 157

BU Events Center Ready for CAA Championships

Beasley & Borshoff in the Morning: Part II

Coaches Frank Beasley & Jasen Borshoff preview 165 through HWT in the CAA Conference Championships.

Beasley & Borshoff in the Morning: Part I

Today we pause from our regularly scheduled Throwback Thrusday episode to bring you Part I of II episodes of  Beasley & Borshoff in the Morning.  Coaches Frank Beasley and Jasen Borshoff are doing video previews of the CAA tournament this weekend.  Today they discuss weights 125 through 157.  Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow..

Spotlight on David White

David White transferred into Binghamton this semester from Army.  He is a true sophomore who started both as a freshman and last semester for the Black Knights.  He went 20-19 last season and won seven matches with bonus points.  He finished 6th at the EIWA Championships, 2nd at the Millersville Shorty Hitchcock Tournament, and 4th at the New York State Collegiate Tournament.

Last semester at Army, David started and turned in a 19-13 record wrestling primarily at 125 pounds.  He took 3rd at the Millersville Shorty Hitchcock Tournament, 5th at the Oklahoma Gold Classic, and finished in the top twelve at the Southern Scuffle.

Since coming to BU, White has wrestled in two tournaments:  the Edinboro Open and the National Collegiate Open.  At the Edinboro Open, he dropped a match in the semifinals by getting defensively pinned when he was winning and injury defaulted to sixth.  This past weekend at the National Collegiate Open, White dropped a hard fought bout in the finals to Dixon of Cornell 2-3 and placed 2nd.  He now stands at 23-16 on the season.  David has quality wins this year over nationally ranked wrestlers, Robinson (ODU), Boylan (Bloomsburg), and Pickrel (South Dakota State).

Here is a video of David's finals match this past Sunday at the National Collegiate Open:  

In high school, David was a PIAA AA State Champion his senior year at 112 pounds.


We are very glad to have David join the Bearcat Wrestling squad and are excited about his future at Binghamton!

Two Minute Tuesday with Patrick Hunter: Episode 22

Week in Review

We had a very good week of training last week.  We lifted on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  The lifts were intense and and the guys responded to them well.  We were on the mat on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Our practices were short and intense.  We worked technique on top each day for a short time.  We did short hard drills this week and going live we did a combination of situations and short goes.  Saturday and Sunday were both recovery days as the guys need to have their legs under them and feel fresh this coming Saturday.  This week, we will continue to get better on top technically, as we do some fine-tuning.  Our practices will be short and hard.  This morning, we did a little top work, followed by a short hard drill then short live goes.  Tomorrow, we will go over some finer points on top and drill hard for about a half hour.  Wednesday is an off day.  Thursday, we will be back with a short top session followed by short live goes.  Friday, we will have a short hard drill and a little live wrestling.  Saturday, we will host the CAA Championships, of which I will preview later this week.  It will be an exciting tournament and we will host it in the Events Center, which is a change from the originally scheduled West Gym.

What do *YOU* want to know?

Usually on Fridays, we preview the dual/tournament for the upcoming weekend.  Since the Bearcats aren't competing this weekend, we'd like to use today's post to find out what our fans and friends would like to know about the Bearcat Wrestling Program.  

Please leave your question or comment below this post in the Comments and we'll start working on getting answers back to you! 

Throwback Thursday Episode 18: Adam Cirlincione

NCAA Conference Qualifiers, Coaches Panel, and RPI

Here is a copy of the press release associated with the qualifier allocations:

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA has announced the qualifier allocations for the 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships as listed in the chart below.

Each qualifying tournament was awarded spots per weight class based on current year data. Each wrestler was measured on the following: Division I winning percentage; rating percentage index (RPI); and coaches ranking. 

For each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories, his qualifying tournament was awarded a qualifying spot in that weight class. Each qualifying tournament, with automatic qualifying status, was awarded a minimum of one wrestler per weight class, which will go to the tournament champion, even if they did not have any wrestlers reach at least two of the three thresholds. NCAA tournament spots for each qualifying event will be awarded at the tournament based solely on place-finish.

After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 40 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 7. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers. The at-large selections will be made based on the following criteria: head-to-head competition; qualifying event placement; quality wins; results against common opponents; winning percentage; RPI; coaches ranking and the number of matches contested at that weight class.

Final Coaches Panel Ranking: 

Donnie Vinson #4

Justin Lister #9

Matt Kaylor #24

Nate Schiedel #19

Cody Reed #30

Nick Gwiazdowski #17

Final RPI: 

Donnie Vinson #4

Justin Lister #3

Matt Kaylor #27

Nate Schiedel #18

Cody Reed #27

Nick Gwiazdowski #8

Ranking Roundup 02.22.12

Today's Ranking Roundup will be the last edition of the season.  I will do a post later this week regarding the Coaches Panel & RPI rankings, since they determine the number of qualifiers at each weight per conference.

NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll 02.21.12
BINGHAMTON #19

NWMA Mid Major 02.23.12
BINGHAMTON #6

The Open Mat 02.20.12
Donnie Vinson #4
Justin Lister #12
Nick Gwiazdowski #11

Intermat 02.21.12
BINGHAMTON #28
Donnie Vinson #4
Justin Lister #10
Nick Gwiazdowski #17

D1 College Wrestling 02.20.12
BINGHAMTON #24
Donnie Vinson #4
Justin Lister #9
Matt Kaylor #24
Nate Schiedel #21
Nick Gwiazdowski #8

WIN Magazine 02.21.12
BINGHAMTON #30 (Tournament)
Donnie Vinson #5
Justin Lister #13
Nick Gwiazdowski #16

Wrestling Report 02.21.12
BINGHAMTON #21 (Tournament)
Donnie Vinson #4
Justin Lister #7
Matt Kaylor #30
Nate Schiedel #19
Nick Gwiazdowski #12

Amateur Wrestling News 02.20.12
Donnie Vinson #4
Justin Lister #7
Nate Schiedel #19
Nick Gwiazdowski #17

CAA 02.21.12
BINGHAMTON #2
Donnie Vinson #1
Justin Lister #1
Matt Kaylor #4
Caleb Wallace #4
Nate Schiedel #2
Cody Reed #3
Nick Gwiazdowski #1

Takedown Wrestling Media Dual Impact Index 02.20.12
BINGHAMTON #20 (Duals)
BINGHAMTON #31 (Tournament)
BINGHAMTON #26 (Dual Component)
Derek Steeley #53
Patrick Hunter #54
Joe Bonaldi #50
Donnie Vinson #11 / #99
Justin Lister #7 / #65
Matt Kaylor #31
Caleb Wallace #58
Nate Schiedel #19
Cody Reed #39
Nick Gwiazdowski #14

Two Minute Tuesday with Patrick Hunter: Episode 21

Week in Review

We had a great week last week as we finished our regular season on a high note.  We beat Old Dominion 29-9 on Friday night.  It was also our senior night and we honored Matt Kaylor, Justin Lister, and Mike McKeever.  I will post more about the seniors and all the great things they have done at BU in the coming weeks.  Here is a recap of the match…

125 – Derek Steeley wrestled one of his best matches this season.  He beat #29 Robinson after giving up the first period takedown.  Derek has been wrestling a little better of late and performing well in the wrestling room but he showed his ability Friday.  It was a back and forth match that was wrestled mostly on the mat.  Derek won 7-5.

133 – Partick Hunter was coming off a very good win over a ranked opponent in the Hofstra dual and we were hoping to carry that momentum into this match but he did not wrestle well.  He looked flat and did not wrestle the match in the positions that he is good in.  He let his opponent wrestle where he was best and it cost him the bout 9-4.

141 – Joe Bonaldi wrestled hard but not nearly his best.  He took several half shots but did not move #26 LaValle enough to get in deep on his shots.  He got caught out of position a few times as LaValle stayed in better position.  He allowed LaValle to wrestle from his best positions (underhook) and not where Joe was best, much like Hunter did in the previous match.  Joe dropped the bout 11-4.

149 – Donnie Vinson again put a lot of points on the board and dominated his opponent.  He scored four takedowns and several sets of back points en route to a 15-5 major decision.  He shut down a bit in the third period as his opponent just tried to hold him out.  Donnie is working this week to get better when a guy is just trying to hold him out.

157 – Justin Lister picked up his 100 win in front of a boisterous home crowd.  He made quick work of his opponent as he threw him to his back in the first twenty seconds.  His opponent fought off his back hard but Lister turned him again and pinned him in just over a minute.  It was a fitting way to wrestle his last home match and pick up his 100th win and his 36^th pin.

165 – Matt Kaylor recorded win number 110 in exciting fashion.  He picked apart his opponent, #21 Warner.  He scored two takedowns, back points, and riding time to secure a 8-2 win over a higher ranked opponent.  Matt is coming on strong at the right time and is looking to close his career on a high note.  We were all excited for him to dominate a nationally ranked opponent on senior night.

174 – Caleb Wallace picked up a nice win.  He scored the first takedown in the first ten seconds in the match and never looked back.  He did a nice job controlling the pace and tempo of the match.  He rode well on top and took his shots when they were there.  The final score was 6-3 but he controlled the entire match and looks to start peaking at the right time.

184 – Nate Schiedel kept the momentum going and put the match away.  He scored a takedown about a minute into the match.  Not long after, he threw a half nelson in and ran his opponent over.  It’s great to get a pin but Nate made it look easy Friday; it’s not like he had an easy match either as Curling has some good wins this year.

197 – Cody Reed did not do enough to win.  He needed to wrestle at a higher pace and force more action in the match.  He allowed his opponent to stand around as neither of them took any real shots till the last twenty-five seconds.  In the last twenty-five seconds, Cody took a bad shot and got scored on.  He immediately got out but it was too little too late.  He will learn from the loss and improve because of it.

 285 – Nick Gwiazdowski got scored on off of his shot as he let his hand up in the first period, but kept his composure and focus.  At the end of the first period he was down 1-2 but broke his opponent.  He ran up the score and put a takedown clinic on his opponent, scoring six takedowns in the final three and a half minutes, including four in the last forty-five seconds.

Next up for the Bearcats are the CAA Championships here at BU in two weeks.  I hope that we can pack the gym and have a great crowd.