Buffalo Bulls Athletics Weekend Roundup

As I said on Friday evening, we're getting to the point of the year where UB once again has multiple teams in action every weekend. I would say 'finally,' but the winter/spring overlap in late February and March is going to be even more daunting than the fall/winter overlap in October and November.

Anyway, a number of UB teams that deserve more pub competed this weekend. John and I may revive the weekly Olympic Spotlight videos on Sunday nights, but it hasn't happened yet. In lieu of that ball of fun, catch yourself up on the lesser-known action this week.

Swimming and Diving hasn't seen much action since competing in the Magnus Invitational at Cleveland State at the end of November. But in that stretch, they haven't lost an event, first sweeping Canisius back in December and yesterday blowing Niagara out of the pool less than 48 hours after returning from their winter training in Florida.

The Bulls will take on St. Bonaventure in a few weekends. The first event they lose (if any) will be their first defeat at the hands of WNY competition this year. That's great.

In addition to the win, we also got a bit of a surprise in newcomer to the team Sharne Tiller. Like Courtney Wilkins and Stephanie Reid on the Women's Basketball team, Tiller hails from Australia. Unlike Wilkins and Reid, she joins UB after a gap year. I do not know at the moment how that affects her eligibility, but redshirts are rarer in Olympic sports, regardless. Anyway, don't miss our look into Tiller and her background.

Buffalo Bulls Swimming and Diving Squads Sweep Niagara
It's been a bit for UB Swimming and Diving, but this afternoon the Bulls picked up right where they left off: With a pair of dominating wins over a local rival.

Buffalo Bulls Swimming and Diving: Newcomer Sharne Tiller
I was caught by surprise during yesterday's swim dual against Niagara by the news that there was a new Bull in the pool in Sharne Tiller.

Wrestling was also in action, with three dual meets this weekend, and even for the young team, it was a bit of a downer for UB fans. In previewing the weekend, our own John McWhinnie didn't have high hopes for Saturday's competition against Northern Iowa, but felt that today's duals against South Dakota State and South Dakota Wesleyan were both winnable for the Bulls.

UB struggled this weekend in part because of a number of lineup changes. Joe Ariola, Wally Maziarz, and Jason Estevez have been three of the more consistent grapplers on the mats this season for John Stutzman, and Buffalo struggled without them - or, in Maziarz's case, wrestling up two weight classes - getting shut out 37-0 by Northern Iowa yesterday and losing 29-8 to SDSU this afternoon after beating an overmatched South Dakota Wesleyan squad 45-3 earlier in the morning.

Justin Cooksey was the only Bull with two wins on the day, though Rocco Russo also topped his SDSU foe and claimed a forfeit against SDW at 141.

Wrestling: Buffalo Bulls 0, Northern Iowa Panthers 37: Bulls Fall in Road MAC Dual
Wrestling took to the mat against MAC foe Northern Iowa for their first dual in 2015, and it wasn't pretty.

Like the higher-profile basketball teams, it was a mixed weekend for the Olympic sports. Next weekend, Swimming and Diving heads out on the road, Wrestling returns home, and our Olympic workload doubles as Track and Field and Men's Tennis kick off the spring season.

Go Bulls!