End of Season Update

The season has finally come to end.  Throughout the season we prided ourselves on battling through some adverse situations and I believe this helped the team make a jump in the last month of the season. The future looks bright!  Our team got some valuable experience that they can use over the next seven months to improve both academically and athletically.

2014/2105 Highlights

• The program had its first EIWA Champion in Tyler Deuel.
• Finished 9th/16 in the second toughest conference in the country, scoring more points than the previous year and placing 6 of our 10 wrestlers.
• Six members of the team had over 20 wins: David White, Dylan Caruana, Vincent Deprez, Zack Zupan, Steven Schneider, Jack McKeever, Tyler Deuel
• First time in our Division I history that we beat two Top-25 teams: Princeton and Bucknell
• Three members of the team were inducted into the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society: Vlad Mordach, Joe Jackson and Vincent Grella

We have a lot of work to do for next year but it's an exciting time to be a Bearcat!

Thank you for the support throughout the year and a special thanks to the fans that made the trip to the conference tournament and the NCAA Championships!

VIDEO: Tyler Deuel Athlete of The Week

Deuel takes it all this weekend as EIWA Champion; Deuel (285), McKeever (184) qualify for NCAAs with automatic bids

Senior Tyler Deuel didn't disappoint this weekend at the 2015 EIWA Championships. Coming into the tournament Deuel was seeded first at the 285 weight class. Deuel went into finals with three wins, two of which were tech falls against Alex Henry (Franklin and Marshall) and Ray O'Donnell (Princeton) During the finals Deuel faced off with number two seed Joe Stolfi (Bucknell) where he pinned him in the first period.

Another Bearcat that will be heading down to St. Louis is junior Jack McKeever. McKeever took sixth place this weekend, beating Samson Imonode (Army) and Zack Hernandez (Columbia). Also placing were seniors David White (125) and Caleb Wallace (197). Both White and Wallace took seventh place in their respective weight classes.

Other notable wins of this weekend were by freshman Steve Schneider and Zack Zupan. Defeating Grimes (American), Johnson (Harvard)  and McDonald (Brown) Schneider was able to take seventh place at 174 weight class. Zack Zupan was able to take eighth place at 165 weight class. 
 
On Wednesday the NCAA is expected to announce the at-large bids for the 2015 NCAA Championships, which will be held from March 19-21 in St. Louis, Missouri.

Photo Credit: Brent Hugo
Post by Donna Umana (dumana2@binghamton.edu)

Finished the Weekend Strong After a 32-9 Win Over Bloomsburg

We finished the weekend in PA strong winning our last two regular season duals after a 18-16 win over Bucknell on Friday and a 32-9 win over Bloomsburg on Saturday.  Vincent DePrez (157), Zack Zupan (165), Steve Schneider (174), Calleb Wallace (197), and Tyler Deuel (HWT) all picked up a pair of wins this weekend. 

We wrestled really strong against Bloomsburg.  David White (125) started off the match with a 20-9 major decision win againt Jon Haas.  At 141, Dylan Caruana started off his match with Tanner Cahill of the Huskies with a takedown in the first few seconds. Caruana kept dominance throughout the match and racked up his riding time.  He ended up winning by a 12-4 major decision.  Zack Zupan (165) also recorded a major decision win for the Bearcats, beating Kurt Meske 12-4 after recording 5 takedowns, 1 escape, and a point for riding time.

Calleb Wallace (197) and Tyler Deuel (HWT) finished their last regular season matches as Bearcats with victories.  Wallace earned three TDs and an escape in the first two periods, initially leading 7-2 going into the third period.  He finished out on top with a 10-6 decision win against Michael Mirra of
the Huskies.  Deuel (pictured to the right) did not waste any time taking down his opponent, Dominic Carfagno.  He continued to turn him to his back to earn 6 near fall points in the first period.  Deuel was hungry for a pin, but instead ended up winning by a 20-1 technical fall early in the third period.

We finished the regular season with a 9-10 record.

We will return to the mat at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships March 6-7. BU will send 10 wrestlers to Lehigh for the event.  Check my previous blog post for ticketing information & prices.

Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Exciting EIWA Victory against No. 22 Bucknell, 18-16

We had an exciting win last night against Bucknell University, ultimately winning the match 18-16.

We were down 15-16 going into the last match with Tyler Deuel and Joe Stolfi still to wrestle at heavyweight.  Deuel grabbed a quick 4-0 lead in the first period. Stolfi responded in the second frame, scoring all six points to go ahead, 6-4. Deuel tied the match in the third period, setting up a frantic finish. In the final seconds, Deuel earned two back points to take the lead, but Stolfi reversed him and got 2 points to even the bout again. Time expired and Deuel had accumulated enough riding time to earn a point, giving he and the Bearcats the win.

Other important wins came from Vincent DePrez (157), Zack Zupan (165), Steve Schneider (174), and Calleb Wallace (197).

The loss is Bucknell's first in the EIWA this season.  Check out the highlights video:



Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Senior Night Win against Buffalo; Two Matches in PA this weekend

We had a successful senior night this past Friday against Buffalo.  We competed tough and executed in front of a great crowd for our last home match of the year.  It was good to see a couple of our guys secure come-from-behind wins and I know that will help their confidence in conferences and nationals.  Check out the dual results tab for more information on the scores.

This weekend we have two away matches, Bucknell this Friday at 7 PM and then against Bloomsburg Saturday at 7 PM (different than previously advertised).  There should be some great individual match-ups in both duals and we are looking forward to a great weekend of wrestling.

EIWA Tickets

The EIWA Championships will take place March 6th-7th.  Pricing for Session 1, on Friday, March 6, is $28 for Adults and $14 for Students. Pricing for Session 2 and for Session 3, both on Saturday, March 7, are $23 for Adults and $11 for Students for each session when purchased in advance. Tickets may be purchased online at LehighTickets.com, over the phone at 610-758-4263 or in person at the Stabler Arena Ticket Office during normal business hours.

Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Our weekend in Washington, D.C.

On Friday, we traveled to George Mason University for a dual.  Our final match score was 16-22.  George Mason forfeited the 125-pound bout and then won the next six matches of the dual. Our only wins were picked up by the last three bouts featuring Jack McKeever (win by 6-2 dec.), Calleb Wallace (win by 7-2 dec.), and Tyler Deuel (win by 14-0 major dec.). 
 
With Jack McKeever's win vs. Ryan Hembury, he tabbed 31^st in the NCAA Coaches' Panel Rankings.

At heavyweight, #22 Tyler Deuel wrestled #25 Jake Kettler (pictured to the left).  Deuel showed dominance throughout all three periods and did not let Kettler score on him once.  

On Saturday, the Bearcats spent the afternoon working out and practicing for Sunday's dual.

On Sunday, we faced American University in an EIWA conference match at Bender Arena.  It was a close dual, but unfortunately we were not able to make a winning comeback.  Our final match score was 15-20.  Caruana (141), Zupan (165), Schneider (174), and Deuel (HWT) all earned wins, but our team record dropped 6-10 overall and 4-4 in the EIWA.

Caruana (141) got BU on the board, winning 6-3 against Michael Sprague (pictured to the right).  Caruana scored two takedowns, an escape, and an extra point for riding time to secure the win.

At 165, Zupan had an exciting 11-2 major decision win against Brad Mutchnik.  Zupan is a freshman and scored his 18th victory of the season.  At 174, Schneider picked up a 9-1 major decision over Nick Carey and he earned his 17th win of the year.  Deuel also picked up a major decision at HWT, beating Chris McDermand 9-0.  Deuel improved his record to 20-4 overall with this win.

 
Our next home dual is this FRIDAY (2/13) in the West Gym.  We will be wrestling Buffalo at 7 PM.  See you there!




 Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Binghamton Shuts Out Sacred Heart 42-0; Falls 15-21 at Brown

Binghamton wrestling (6-8, 4-3 EIWA) split a pair of road duals Saturday afternoon, falling at Brown, 21-15, before shuttling two hours from Providence to Fairfield, Conn. and steamrolling Sacred Heart, 42-0 to end a busy day.

In Providence, the host Browns snapped a 9-9 tie with three straight wins in the upper weights and clinched the victory before the heavyweight match. Binghamton tied the match when redshirt freshman Zack Zupan (above) earned a 6-1 decision at 165 pounds. But narrow losses at 174 and 184 plus a pin at 197 cost the Bearcats a shot at the win. Brown also posted an overtime win at 125 and a one-point decision at 149. Freshman 133-pound Joe Nelson  notched his first dual win of the season with a 9-3 decision. Sophomore Dylan Caruana followed with a 4-0 win at 141, giving BU an early 6-3 lead.

At Sacred Heart, BU won all 10 matches, including three by pin and two more by major decision. Nelson made it a 2-0 day with a pin in 2:49 at 133. Seniors Calleb Wallace and Tyler Deuel finished the match off with back-to-back pins at 197 and heavyweight, respectively. Deuel, who received a forfeit win at Brown, improved to 18-4 overall, 12-2 in duals. He needed just 1:06 to end his match in the first period.

Zupan raised his record to 17-12 overall and Caruana grabbed his 14th and 15th wins of the season.

Binghamton travels south next weekend for matches at George Mason (Feb. 6) and American (Feb. 8).

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

Binghamton splits pair of home duals

Last weekend, we wrestled Drexel and UPenn.  We had a great bout Friday against Drexel and came out with a 22-14 win.  It was great to see some of our guys step up that had tough losses the week before like Steven Schneider and Caleb Wallace. On Sunday we faced off against UPenn and although we wrestled tough we wound up on the losing side.

UPenn has been one of the best teams in the conference for a long time.  One of the reasons we moved into the conference was to compete against some of the best wrestling in the country.  UPenn is very good at what they do and they won't go out and beat themselves.  In a couple close matches that we lost you can pinpoint the one critical mistake we made and they capitalized on it.  I think it was great learning experience for our guys and will undoubtedly help the team during the EIWA's and NCAA's.


Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Winter Break Updates

Here is a recap of some of the duals that happened towards the end of fall semester and during winter break!

12/12 Princeton

Facing Princeton's best team ever, we were able to win 5 matches, two by bonus points, to secure a
20-16 win.  Winning matches for the Bearcats were Thierno Diallo, David White, Vincent Deprez, Steven Schneider, and Tyler Deuel.  The biggest difference between this match and our prior competitions was the guys didn't just wrestle hard, they wrestled tough.  That is something we harped on over the last couple weeks.  Wrestling tough means we stay in position, we score when we get in and we finish periods.

Click here to watch the Princeton Highlights video!

12/29-12/30 Midlands Championship
For everyone on our team, this was the biggest and toughest tournament they have ever competed in.  The Midlands is a sneak preview of the NCAA Championships. Overall, I think we had a strong showing by our young team.  It was highlighted by David White who finished in 8th place after being unseeded. He is only the second Binghamton wrestler to ever place at the tournament, following Donald Vinson's 2nd place finish from two years ago.  It was the first time the program has ever had two wrestlers compete on the second day with Jack McKeever making the Round of 12.

It was a great experience for our young guys and they will get better from it.  Most of the team went 2-2 or 3-2, and a couple of guys had the opportunity to finish a little bit better than they did and they'll learn from the mistakes that were made. As the tournament progressed, we had a number of wins over seeded and ranked wrestlers.

1/9-1/11 Gardner-Webb & Appalachian State
The Bearcats won 20-15 over Gardner-Webb winning six out of the ten bouts.  Staying in North Carolina, the Bearcats faced Appalachian State.  The Bearcats lost 15-22, but Caruana, Perry, McKeever, and Wallace all picked up wins. Check out the dual results tab to see each of the individual wins!

1/16-1/17 Hofstra & Columbia
Thanks to all the fans that came to the NYAC to watch the Hofstra match!  We had a great turnout and great support during and after the match.  I think the crowd really fired up the team.  It was great that all 10 of our starters forced their style on Hofstra and we won 19-16. Unfortunately we did not wrestle the same way against Columbia on the 17th. In some matches we wrestled their style and we came up short in the end.  We had some great individual performances, but at the end it was not enough and we lost 19-18.

Click here to watch the Hofstra highlights or here to watch the Columbia highlights!

Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Meet all of our wrestlers- Check the Videos tab!

Check out the "Videos" tab to hear the wrestlers talk about why they chose Binghamton University, what their goals are for the season, what they like to do on their free time, and more!

Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Wrestling Brown and Sacred Heart This Weekend - Schedule Changes

SAT (1/31) we wrestle at Brown at 1pm and then travel to Sacred Heart to wrestle at 7:30 (Date/time is different than previously advertised).

Winter break dual results and updates will be posted this weekend.

Questions? Contact: Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)