Tuesday, March 31, 2015

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!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

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)

Monday, February 23, 2015

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)

Saturday, February 21, 2015

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)

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

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)

Monday, February 9, 2015

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 31st 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)

Monday, February 2, 2015

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)

Sunday, February 1, 2015

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)

Thursday, January 29, 2015

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)

Friday, November 7, 2014

Videos: Meet our 125/133 Wrestlers

Want to know more about our 125 pounders Thierno Diallo, Kyle Kelley, Joe Nelson, and David White? Watch this video:



Want to know more about our 133 pounders Vlad Mordach and Rob Person? Watch this video:



Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Wrestle-Off Results and BEARCAT OPEN THIS SUNDAY!!!!!!!

Here are the results from our Intrasquad last weekend:

125: Thierno Diallo dec. David White 4-3
1
41: Dylan Caruana dec. Nick Tighe 5-2
157: Vincent Deprez dec. Colton Perry 11-5
157: Ben Price dec. Joe Jackson 2-1
174: Steven Schneider dec. Jake Kocsis 9-3
184: Jack McKeever dec. Mark Tracy 8-0
197: Caleb Wallace pinned Reggie Williams
HWT: Tyler Deuel mj. dec. Connor Calkins 10-2
133: Rob Person dec. David White 3-2


This Sunday is our Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open.  It will be fun to watch how our guys separate themselves in live competition.  Wrestling starts at 9 am. There are over 350 wrestlers registered, including wrestlers from Penn State, Lehigh, Rutgers, Cornell, Old Dominion, Arizona State, Maryland, Hofstra, Bucknell, Columbia, Princeton and many more.  It should be an exciting Sunday and it will be great seeing many familiar faces in the stands supporting our Bearcats!

Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Find out more about the new Bearcat wrestlers!

The BU wrestling team has restocked with a big recruiting class including 12 All-Americans, six state champions, and 18 state place winners.

Set to join the Bearcats in the 2014-2015 season are:

Connor Calkins HWT (Almond, NY/Alfred-Almond HS): Connor is a 2x NYS Qualifier.  He finished 5th as a junior and capped his senior year with a NYS title at heavyweight.  He finished 1st at the Flo Freakshow which is the toughest pre-season tournament in the country.

Vincent DePrez 157/165 (Hilton, NY/Hilton HS): Vincent is a 4x NYS place winner, finishing 4th, 2nd, 2nd, and 1st.  Vincent capped 46-0 record his senior season at Hilton with state championship at 145 pounds.  He is a Flo Nationals All-American and four-time All-Greater Rochester selection.

Anthony DePrez 165/174 (Hilton, NY/Hilton HS): Anthony will be joining his twin brother Vincent this year.  He finished 2nd in NYS this year at 152 lbs and became a Flo Nationals All-American.

Thierno Diallo 125 (Lanham, MD/Duval HS): Thierno transferred into Binghamton for the 2014 spring semester.  He is a 3x state place winner taking 2nd, 3rd, and 1st.  He is the first wrestler in Prince Georges County to win 4 county titles.  He is a Fargo All-American and a Flo Nationals All-American.

Jake Kocsis 165/174  (Phillipsburg, NJ/Phillipsburg HS): Jake is a 2x NYS qualifier.  Jake finished 2nd at the prestigious Reno Tournament of Champions during the 2013-2014 season.  He then finished 4th in the NJ State Championships at 170 lbs.  He will major in environmental studies.

Joe Nelson 125 (Oxford, NY/Oxford Academy): Joe is a 2x NYS Qualifier finishing 3rd in the state.  He was valedictorian at his high school and will be working towards an engineering degree at Binghamton.

Steven Schneider 174/184 (Levittown, NY/MacArthur HS): Steven is a 2x NYS qualifier.  He finished 2nd in the state as a junior and was a state champion this past season at 170 pounds.  He finished his high school career as a Senior National All-American and he will be majoring in engineering at Binghamton.

Ben Schroeder 157 (Eureka, MO/Eureka HS): Ben is a 2x Missouri state qualifier.  He received the Binghamton University Scholarship of Excellence award and will be enrolled in the Binghamton School of Management.

Mark Tracy 184/197 (Holtsville, NY/Sachem East HS): Mark won a NYS title at 182 lbs his senior season at Sachem East High.  He also finished as a Senior National All-American and Mark will be enrolling in the Binghamton School of Management. 

Reggie Williams 184/197 (Johnson City, NY/Johnson City HS): Reggie is a 4x NYS placewinner, finishing 2nd as a sophomore and winning a state title at 195 lbs this past season.  He is a 5x high school All-American and capped off his senior season as a Senior Nationals All-American.

EXPECT GREATNESS!

Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

2014-2015 Schedule has been posted!

Check out the schedules tab and mark your calendars for the upcoming 2014-2015 season!  We will be beginning the season with the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open on Sunday, November 9th.  Last year, the athletic department hosted the event for the first time and it was easily the best tournament we have ever had on campus with over 420 wrestlers competing.  We hope this year will be even better!

We also have 5 home duals scheduled where we will be hosting Hofstra University, Columbia University, Drexel University,University of Pennsylvania, and University of Buffalo.

To close out the season, the NCAA Championships will be in St. Louis, Missouri this year on March 19 through March. We will consistently put in hard work to get as many wrestlers as possible into the tournament.

Post by Marissa Sarfati (msarfat1@binghamton.edu)

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Reed went 2-2 at the NCAA; 2013-2014 Season Final Thoughts

Senior 197-pound Cody Reed came up one win short of All-American honors in Friday evening’s session of the NCAA Championship at the Chesapeake Engery Arena.

After advancing to the quarterfinals with a pair of wins on Thursday, Reed, a red-shirt senior, fell in both his matches on Friday to end Binghamton’s run at the NCAA Championship. Reed fell to No. 1 Nick Heflin of Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the championship bracket before losing to No. 3 Morgan McIntosh of Penn State in the wrestle-backs of the consolation bracket.

With an All-American spot on the line Reed fell to McIntosh by major decision, 13-4. McIntosh secured a pair of first-period take downs to take a 4-0 lead into the second frame. Reed was able to escape a McIntosh leg-lock to record his first point, but another takedown by the No. 3 seed gave McIntosh a 7-1 lead heading into the final three minutes. In the final period, Reed was again able escape McIntosh’s grasp but another takedown and riding time gave the Nittany Lion the victory and All-American status.

Reed, who went 2-2 at the NCAA Championship, finishes his career at Binghamton with a record of 94-62 and completes the 2013-14 season with a record of 29-12. Reed became just the second Binghamton wrestler to win his first two matches of the NCAA Championship and advance to the quarterfinals. The Walton, N.Y. native is a three-time NCAA qualifier and compiled a record of 4-6 at three NCAA Championships.

Read the full article and NCAA recap, brackets, videos, and more here.

Final Thoughts on the Season

This is the first year we competed in the EIWA Conference Championship.  We went from the smallest conference in the country, to the largest and second toughest conference.  This was a huge adjustment for our team.  We saw a different level of wrestling from the very start of the year to the very end.  With everything new, we had some growing pains.  But the coaching staff saw a marked and consistent improvement in our wrestlers from the beginning of the season to the end.

We were picked to finish 14th out of 18 teams that made up the EIWA.  We finished 7th, putting 5 guys on the stand.  We would have liked to get more guys out to the big dance, but not going to nationals has left an empty pit in stomachs of our wrestlers and I know they will use that as motivation to reach their goals during the 2014/2015 season.

#9, #8, #1, #3- That was the order of wrestlers that Cody Reed faced to get to the Round of 12 at this years NCAA Championships. He wrestled four seeded wrestlers and beat two of them.   Cody Reed was 18-16 last year and 0-2 at the NCAA Championships.  This year he finished 29-12. 

David White went 1-2 at this year's Championship.  Last year he wasn't a starter and went 17-7 during the year.  This year he went 27-13 and beat four kids he lost to last year- seeing huge improvement.

Other Notable Improvements

Jack Mckeever- His Division I record went from 2-18 during the 2013/2014 season to 18-14 and a national ranking before a serious injury sidelined him for the second half of the year.

Caleb Wallace- His last years record was 6-6.  This year he finished 17-15 and placed in the EIWA conference.

Vincent Grella- He tripled the number of wins he had the previous year and he placed in the EIWA conference.

Tyler Deuel- Tyler went from a .500 wrestler last year, to a record of 28-10 this year and he earned a
Top 20 ranking.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Reed and White to take on the NCAA Championship!



Senior 197-pound Cody Reed took home runnerup honors to pace Binghamton wrestling at the EIWA Championship, which concluded Sunday night at The Palestra on campus at University of Pennsylvania. The Bearcats had five placewinners in their inaugural appearance at the championship and finished in a tie for seventh out of 18 teams. Reed and junior 125-pound David White (4th place) earned berths to the upcoming NCAA Championship.
Read the full article about the EIWA results here.

The NCAA Championship will take place next weekend, March 20-22, in Oklahoma City.  The brackets have been released and you can view them here.  Cody Reed, making his 3rd consecutive NCAA appearance, will be facing ace ninth-seeded Christian Boley of Maryland in the opening round.

The pairing is a rematch of the 2012 NCAA Championship first round, when Reed posted a shocking 2-1 upset over then-No. 4 Boley. Last weekend, Reed made a strong showing at the EIWA Championship, winning three of four matches to earn an automatic bid. He posted a major decision in the first round and then recorded a dramatic pin in overtime over fellow NCAA qualifier James Fox of Harvard in the quarterfinals to seal his return trip to the national championship. Reed has four wins against the NCAA field. Boley (22-4) was the No. 1 seed at the ACC Championship but placed fourth.

White (26-11) will make his first NCAA Championship appearance and has drawn 12th-seeded Tim Lambert of Nebraska in the opening round. Lambert (22-11), a redshirt freshman, placed fifth at the Big Ten Championship. White went 4-2 at the EIWA Championship to finish fourth and claim an automatic berth.  

Thursday, March 6, 2014

EIWA Championships This Weekend!

Binghamton wrestling is headed to Philadelphia for its first EIWA Championship this weekend. The 18-team event, which doubles as the NCAA qualifier, is being hosted by Penn Saturday and Sunday at The Palestra.

Head coach Matt Dernlan's 10-man squad will open competition at 10 a.m. on Saturday with 47 NCAA automatic bids on the line. The championship concludes with the finals beginning at 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Senior 197-pound Cody Reed, a two-time NCAA qualifier and reigning conference champion, begins his quest for a return to the national tournament. Reed (24-9) was ranked fourth in the latest EIWA poll and is 24th in the NCAA Coaches’ Panel Rankings. He has won 11 of his last 12 matches. There are seven spots allocated to EIWA wrestlers at 197 pounds.

Junior heavyweight Tyler Deuel (25-7) will also gain a top-four seed in his bracket. Deuel leads the Bearcats with 10 pins and five technical falls and is No. 23 in the latest NCAA Coaches’ Panel Rankings. He will be aiming for his first NCAA Championship berth. There are four qualifying berths allotted to EIWA heavyweights.

Junior 125-pound David White is also in the mix for a tournament seed. He was ranked sixth in the last EIWA poll and is No. 33 in the NCAA Coaches’ Panel Rankings. White (22-9) will be in the hunt for one of the six NCAA spots allocated to 125-pounders at the conference championship.

Sophomore 174-pound Jack McKeever returns to the lineup after missing five weeks with an injury. McKeever (19-10) was on the cusp of the national rankings when he went down. Junior 149-pound Joe Bonaldi, nationally-ranked for much of his sophomore season, is also expected to contend. Bonaldi (14-9) also missed considerable time this season.

The Bearcats have produced 21 NCAA qualifiers in the last four years, including four in 2012-13.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Weekend Updates: Regular Season is Over! Results from Bucknell and Bloomsburg

2/21 Bucknell Dual
Friday night brought a full house to the West Gym as we honored our two seniors, Cody Reed and John Paris.  Despite the 10-23 loss, our wrestlers got experience wrestling top ranked wrestlers.

Bucknell took control with five straight decisions to open the match. The match between No. 23 Paul Petrov and BU’s 32nd-ranked David White was a wild affair that went to a third sudden victory period. Petrov prevailed 10-8 and the Bison gained another toss-up match at 149 when Victor Lopez edged Joe Bonaldi 7-6. By the time sophomore 165-pound Vincent Grella earned a 6-4 decision, the Bearcats were in a big deficit.

Junior 184-pound Caleb Wallace gave BU its second win of the night and Reed followed with a 12-2 major decision at 197. The win extends Reed’s win streak to 11 matches and raises his record to 24-8 overall, 14-3 in duals. In a battle of ranked heavyweights, Bucknell’s Joe Stolfi shook off an early 2-0 disadvantage and posted a major decision over junior Tyler Deuel. The loss snapped Deuel’s 10-match win streak and was just his third dual defeat of the season.

Highlights from Bucknell:



2/22 Bloomsburg Dual 
Once again, despite the 12-28 loss, the boys got a lot of experience against ranked wrestlers at the Bloomsburg dual.


The highlight win for BU was junior 149-pound Joe Bonaldi, who worked into a second sudden victory period to edge No. 19 Bryce Busler.

Junior 184-pound Caleb Wallace (pictured to the left) earned a 6-4 decision and junior 125-pound David White got the team’s other win with a forfeit.

Senior 197-pound Cody Reed had a strong match against No. 6 Richard Perry, battling to the final whistle in a 3-2 loss. The defeat snapped Reed’s 11-match win streak.

These matches wrapped up the regular season for the Bearcats and they will now be preparing for postseason EIWA Championship and the NCAA's!