Links Roundup: Tommy Forte, Track Rankings, New Recruits, Navigato breaks record

A busy week for me has yielded a handful of links that didn't really fit into FanShots and that you definitely don't want to miss:

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In a recent interview with his local TV station, future UB Wrestler Tommy Forte spoke about his pursuit of a second Indiana state title after finishing second last year:

"I want another picture up on that wall. I'd chop off my arm if it was needed. To me second place isn't anything."

Fortunately, we'll be seeing a two-armed Forte in Blue and White next year, as last night the senior from Mishiwaka High School claimed his second state title and fourth top-three finish in his career, capping a 37-0 season. I'm not sure if there's more beyond the state level (ask John) but things are good.

Forte is ranked 9th and 15th nationally by Intermat and FloWrestling respectively, in his weight class. He is a beast. Scroll to Page 11 of this .pdf to see his run through the 152 bracket. 
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It's been a bit since we've looked at Nate Navigato and Nick Perkins. While Perkins' Milan team continues to roll through Michigan, Navigato is doing the same with Geneva in Illinois. This past weekend he became the all-time leading scorer for the Vikings, passing a mark that was set way back in 1961.

Navigato breaks Geneva's career scoring record - Daily Herald

At the 2:45 mark of the second quarter against Elgin on Friday night, Nate Navigato became the highest scorer in Geneva basketball history -- and he did it with an exclamation point.

Navigato entered the game needing only 9 points to top Haskell Tison's 54-year old record of 1,588 points during a career from 1959 through 1961. Cutting off a screen and powering down the lane, Navigato rose up for a resounding slam dunk for his 9th and 10th points of the night to top the record.

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We've of course been covering a lot of Track and Field this winter, as they set new records weekly. But I haven't been paying attention to the regional rankings. If you'll remember, during cross country season, the women climbed as high as 11th before dropping back out of the poll, while the men finished the season at 11th.

It turns out when you take a top 15 team and add some of the best throwers and jumpers in the region, they end up ranked a little higher:

Men:

Women:

I'm pretty sure that these rankings are updated on Monday, so it may be different tomorrow. That said, I also think that the score used to determined the rankings is transferable across regions, unlike the Cross Country poll. Since UB is in an entirely different region than the rest of the MAC, this is useful. The only conference opponent with a higher score for either team is Akron, who "leads" both the men and the women.

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Finally for now, a pair of new recruits! Yaayy.

First, for my *favorite* UB team (Am I allowed to have favorites?), Meghan Simmons of Toronto signed an NLI to play Women's Soccer:

@MegSimmons17 congrats on signing a NLI to attend the University at Buffalo! So proud of you Megs! #UBWS we r #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/y5rFWMVXtG

— Mike S. (@proudpopsx4) February 21, 2015

I can find precious little on Simmons, but she's from Canada, so insert my usual excited spiel about drawing from that population. I'm fairly sure she's a 2015 graduate who will be joining UB next year, and I *think* (THINK) she was previously committed to Kentucky, per TopDrawerSoccer and this newspaper blurb.

Club churns out record number of soccer stars
Megan Simmons, who joined the Glen Shields 96 club this season, already received a scholarship to attend the University of Kentucky.

For the record, that makes two players, along with transfer Moira Petrie, that have come to UB this spring after being committed to SEC programs.

Joining Simmons as an NLI signer is swimmer Kerry Giovanniello from Nassau County. Kerry placed second and third at separate events at the state meet this year.

Three Pirate athletes sign with Division I squads - LIHerald.com

So that's exciting.

Go Bulls!