Wrestling: Buffalo Bulls 9, Columbia Lions 27; Bulls Unable to Capitalize on Halftime Lead

John Stutzman's young Buffalo Bulls (5-8, 0-3 MAC) squad took to the mat inside Alumni Arena for the first time in 2015, taking on the Columbia Lions (1-1, 0-1 Ivy) in their second-to-last out-of-conference dual meet. Still looking for their first win on their home mat, the youthful Bulls squad, which featured 7 true freshman and redshirt-freshmen in the lineup had hopes of stunning the Lions, who have been one of the better squads in the Ivy League for some time.

After an uncharacteristic loss by senior Max Soria at 125 pounds, true freshman Sean Peacock put on an impressive performance against junior Angelo Amenta, a first team All-Ivy League selection last season, earning an 11-2 major decision. Peacock dominated for the majority of the match and had the victory secured coming into the final seconds but a nifty tilt put Amenta to his back and gave Peacock the near-fall points and gave him a bonus team point, putting UB up 4-3.

Not to be outdone by his teammate, redshirt-freshman Colt Cotten, in his first match for UB after suffering a torn LCL and hamstring in the offseason, sent the bench and the crowd into a frenzy after he took down Columbia's Jacob Maclolooy and planted him on his back earning a pinfall victory and put UB up 10-3.

Then a pivotal New York State Championships rematch between UB's Justin Cooksey and Columbia's Connor Sutton came down to the wire as Sutton earned a 2-0 decision over Cooksey. Both grapplers wrestled incredibly well throughout, but the junior was able to eke out the victory to bring Columbia back within 4. Cooksey did lose the meeting 11-2 at the NYS Championships and even in the loss today he has shown marked improvement as the season has gone on.

After Alex Smythe was defeated by Markus Scheidel in an 8-2 decision, UB had a 10-9 halftime lead, but they wouldn't score another team point in the second half. Rrok Ndokaj couldn't get a late takedown to earn a victory over Tyrel White in a well contested bout at 165 pounds.

Then, after Muhamid McBryde was pinned at 174 pounds, he walked off the mat in disgust and threw his headgear, resulting in UB being docked 1 team point for unsportsmanlike conduct. Then, Brett Perry, Joe Ariola, and Mike Silvis all lost by decision at 184, 197, and 285 pounds respectively giving Columbia the 27-9 dual meet victory.

UB will need to find more consistency across the back-half of the lineup if they want to be in contention for more dual meet victories as the season wears on. The loss today was particualrly frustrating given the early pin and major decision from Cotten and Peacock giving UB a huge 10-9 advantage going into halftime.

A couple notable absences from the lineup were senior Wally Maziarz, and freshman Jason Estevez. Estevez is likely still recovering from an injury suffered at the Southern Scuffle, but Maziarz wrestled up at 174 pounds this past weekend and was listed at 174 again tonight but was held out of the lineup. The Maziarz situation is odd seeing as he's wrestled at 157 for the whole season so far.

The Bulls will have a week off before heading down to Virginia Beach to take on MAC foe Old Dominion still looking for the elusive first MAC dual meet victory. You can also check out the full match results and updated season records below.

Go Bulls!

Full Results:

Columbia Lions: 27, Buffalo Bulls: 9

125: Johnson Mai (COL) dec. Max Soria (UB), 7-5

133: Sean Peacock (UB) maj. dec. Angelo Amenta (COL), 11-2

141: Colt Cotten (UB) pinned Jacob Macalolooly (COL)

149: Connor Sutton (COL) dec. Justin Cooksey (UB), 2-0

157: Markus Scheidel (COL) dec. Alex Smythe (UB) 8-2

165: Tyrel White (COL) dec. Rrok Ndokaj (UB), 4-3

174: Shane Hughes (COL) pinned Muhamid McBryde (UB),

184: Zack Hernandez (COL) dec. Brett Perry (UB), 6-2

197: Matt Idelson (COL) dec. Joe Ariola (UB), 7-4

HWT: Garrett Ryan (COL) dec. Mike Silvis (UB), 6-0

Updated Season Records: