/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/44171174/g06f6ad9qwesy8db.0.0.jpg)
Second year head coach John Stutzman had his team start the season with a head of steam, and they have looked very impressive thus far.
The team came out opening weekend starting with a dual against Campbell and UB dominated their way to a 46-6 victory. The following day they traveled to Boone, NC to participate in the Appalachian State Duals.
Wrestling Roundup - UB off to 3-1 Start - Bull Run
UB went 3-1 on the day, led by the efforts of redshirt-senior captain Max Soria and true freshman Sean Peacock, who both went a perfect 3-0 on the day. Soria also served as the catalyst for UB's 20-18 upset victory over host Appalachian State, by coming out and taking down #29 Dominic Parisi. Later on in the match, redshirt-freshman Joe Ariola sealed the win for Buffalo by dropping a 13-1 major decision over Tyler Radford.
UB also dominated Cumberland 50-0, and lost their only match of the young season to Gardner-Webb 32-7
Buffalo Wrestling Notches A Pair Of Dual Meet Wins At Appalachian State Duals - Buffalo Athletics
After starting out the season with a strong dual meet performance the Bulls took the short trip to Brockport to participate in the Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Invitational, facing off against grapplers from Army, Brockport, Lock Haven, Kent State, and Bloomsburg.
Leading the way once again was Max Soria, claiming the 125 pound title after winning his first 3 matches with successively faster pins against opponents from Lock Haven and Oklahoma. He took down Oklahoma's Ryan Millhoff in a 3-1 decision to claim UB's lone championship on the day.
Wrestling Roundup: Max Soria Wins Oklahoma Gold Title - Bull Run
Including Soria, UB had 10 wrestlers place in the top 8 of their respective weight classes, with 285 being the only class without a Bull on the podium. Joe Ariola was impressive once again, placing 4th after only falling to Oklahoma's Brad Johnson, who was a former Big XII place finisher. True freshmen Alex Smythe and Sean Peacock also performed well, with both posting a 4th place finish in their weight class. Smythe advanced to the semifinals of the 157 pound bracket before falling to #12 Justin DeAngelis of Oklahoma, a former Big XII runner-up. After dropping a close 4-2 decision to Bloomsburg's Andy Schutz, Peacock won 3 straight matches before falling to Lock Haven's Ronnie Perry.
Soria And Hall Named Athletes of the Week - Buffalo
For his efforts so far, Soria was named male student athlete of the week, and he is now werstlingreport.com's #29 wrestler at 125 pounds. Congratulations Max!
NCAA D-I Rankings - Wrestling Report
This week the team will take to the road on Sunday to compete at the New York State Collegiate Championships at Cornell. In addition to host Cornell other notable teams in attendance will be: Army, Columbia, NYU, Hofstra, Brockport, and several other teams.
Last season, Tony Lock was UB's highest place finisher, the runner-up at 184 pounds, and the Bulls will look to build on early season success to better last year's result.
Matt and I talked about the wrestling team extensively on this week's Olympic Round-up, check it out by clicking the link below.
UB Bulls Olympic Spotlight: Soccer Season Ends - Bull Run
That's the season so far, stay tuned to Bull Run for updates on the team as the season progresses.
Go Bulls!