Colt Cotten, James Benjamin earns titles at NYS Collegiate Wrestling Championships, Bulls finish 2nd

It was a fry cry from the first time that John Stutzman coached the Buffalo Bulls at the New York State Collegiate Championships when his 2013-2014 squad finished 7th. Colt Cotten and James Benjamin claimed individual championships at 149 and 197 pounds respectively to lead the way for the Bulls while 9 of the 10 grapplers in the ‘A’ bracket earned spots on the podium. The Bulls also earned a runner-up finish as a team, the team’s best ever finish at the tournament.

It was a dominant day from start to finish for Cotten, earning two 20-2 technical fall victories before pinning TJ Fabian of LIU-Post in the semifinals to punch his ticket to the first place bout. Cotten then controlled the action throughout against Danny Reed of Columbia, racking up over 3 minutes of riding time to a 10-1 major decision. Cotten’s efforts earned him Most Outstanding Wrestler - he is the first Bull to earn the award since Kevin Smith in 2011.

In a somewhat unique twist Nate Rose and James Benjamin squared off in the 197 pound finals with Benjamin coming out on top. Both Rose and Benjamin took down opponents from Cornell in the semifinals before the teammates duked it out for the championship gold. Benjamin earned a hard fought 5-2 decision over his redshirt freshman teammate.

Also shining for UB were true freshmen Derek Spann and Kobe Garrehy, both of whom made it to the semifinals at 125 and 157 pounds, respectively. Spann earned a hard-fought 3rd place finish, ending his day with a 4-1 record with his lone loss coming to Army’s Sean Badua. Garrehy ran into nationally ranked Taylor Simaz in the semifinals and lost a heartbreaker in the consolation semifinals to Ray Jazikoff but rebounded with a pin of Jake Kaminsky of Hofstra to earn a spot on the podium.

Muhamed McBryde also had himself an eventful tournament, recovering from an opening round loss to Jack Wendholm of Army winning four straight before falling in the consolation final to earn a 4th place finish. Nolan Terrance wrestling at 285 pounds took a similar path to McBryde, overcoming an early round loss winning four straight to reach the consolation finals. However, Finally, Brett Perry and Derek Holcomb finished 4th and 5th at 184 and 165 pounds respectively.

In the ‘B’ bracket the Bulls were led by 3rd place finishes from Ian James and Brandon Gould at 285 and 133 pounds respectively. Also placing were Ryan Peters (4th), Eric Fasnacht (7th), Ryan Therrien (4th), and Cameron Calderelli (7th).

Overall, an extremely successful weekend for Stutzman and co., taking #7 Cornell to the edge and then earning a 2nd place finish as a team at the NYS Collegiate Championships without several big names in the lineup. The Bulls will have a week to prepare for the Grapple at the Garden next Sunday.

Full Results - A Bracket only

A 125 - Derek Spann - 3rd Place

Champ. Round 1 - Derek Spann (Buffalo) won by fall over Carlos Aucancela (Binghamton University) (Fall 4:41)

Quarterfinal - Derek Spann (Buffalo) won by decision over Anthony Sparacio (Long Island University-Post) (Dec 7-5)

Semifinal - Sean Badua (Army) won by decision over Derek Spann (Buffalo) (Dec 5-3)

Cons. Semi - Derek Spann (Buffalo) won by major decision over Jacob Martin (Hofstra) (Maj 8-0)

3rd Place Match - Derek Spann (Buffalo) won by decision over Anthony Sparacio (Long Island University-Post) (Dec 7-4)

A 149 - Colt Cotten - 1st Place

Champ. Round 1 - Colt Cotten (Buffalo) won by tech fall over Sean Miller (Nassau Community College) (TF 20-2)

Quarterfinal - Colt Cotten (Buffalo) won by tech fall over Brock Morgan (Columbia) (TF 20-2)

Semifinal - Colt Cotten (Buffalo) won by fall over Tj Fabian (Long Island University-Post) (Fall 4:29)

1st Place Match - Colt Cotten (Buffalo) won by major decision over Danny Reed (Columbia) (Maj 10-1)

A 157 - Kobe Garrehy - 5th Place

Champ. Round 1 - Kobe Garrehy (Buffalo) received a bye () (Bye)

Champ. Round 2 - Kobe Garrehy (Buffalo) won in sudden victory - 1 over Jackson Mordente (Long Island University-Post) (SV-1 4-2)Quarterfinal - Kobe Garrehy (Buffalo) won by tech fall over Adrian Berry (SUNY-Cortland) (TF 16-1)

Semifinal - Taylor Simaz (Cornell) won by major decision over Kobe Garrehy (Buffalo) (Maj 11-1)

Cons. Semi - Raymond Jazikoff (New York University) won by decision over Kobe Garrehy (Buffalo) (Dec 14-12)

5th Place Match - Kobe Garrehy (Buffalo) won by fall over Jake Kaminsky (Hofstra) (Fall 1:52)

A 165 - Derek Holcomb - 5th Place

Champ. Round 1 - Derek Holcomb (Buffalo) received a bye () (Bye)

Champ. Round 2 - Dillon Artigliere (Cornell) won by major decision over Derek Holcomb (Buffalo) (Maj 17-8)

Cons. Round 2 - Derek Holcomb (Buffalo) received a bye () (Bye)

Cons. Round 3 - Derek Holcomb (Buffalo) won by decision over Adrian Herrera (New York University) (Dec 11-4)

Cons. Round 4 - Derek Holcomb (Buffalo) won by fall over Evan Wallace (Oneonta State) (Fall 1:04)

Cons. Round 5 - Derek Holcomb (Buffalo) won by injury default over Brendan Dent (SUNY-Cortland) (Inj. 1:20)

Cons. Semi - Nick Velez (Ithaca) won by major decision over Derek Holcomb (Buffalo) (Maj 12-4)

5th Place Match - Derek Holcomb (Buffalo) won by major decision over Troy Keller (Niagara Community College) (Maj 9-0)

A 174 - Muhamed McBryde - 4th Place

Champ. Round 1 - Jack Wedholm (Army) won by decision over Muhamed McBryde (Buffalo) (Dec 14-11)

Cons. Round 1 - Muhamed McBryde (Buffalo) received a bye () (Bye)

Cons. Round 2 - Muhamed McBryde (Buffalo) won by major decision over Jake Kocsis (Binghamton University) (Maj 16-7)

Cons. Round 3 - Muhamed McBryde (Buffalo) won by major decision over Joshua Glantzman (Merchant Marine) (Maj 10-2)

Cons. Round 4 - Muhamed McBryde (Buffalo) won by decision over Austin Weigel (Buffalo) (Dec 6-4)

Cons. Round 5 - Muhamed McBryde (Buffalo) won by decision over Graham Ratermann (Army) (Dec 2-1)

Cons. Semi - Muhamed McBryde (Buffalo) won by injury default over Andrew Garcia (Cornell) (Inj. 0:00)

3rd Place Match - Jack Wedholm (Army) won by decision over Muhamed McBryde (Buffalo) (Dec 6-4)

A 174 - Austin Weigel

Champ. Round 1 - Austin Weigel (Buffalo) received a bye () (Bye)

Champ. Round 2 - Austin Weigel (Buffalo) won by decision over Dan Arkow (Long Island University-Post) (Dec 8-6)

Quarterfinal - Sage Heller (Hofstra) won by decision over Austin Weigel (Buffalo) (Dec 7-3)

Cons. Round 4 - Muhamed McBryde (Buffalo) won by decision over Austin Weigel (Buffalo) (Dec 6-4)

A 184 - Brett Perry - 4th Place

Champ. Round 1 - Brett Perry (Buffalo) won in sudden victory - 1 over Colin Barber (SUNY-Cortland) (SV-1 5-3)

Quarterfinal - Brett Perry (Buffalo) won by decision over Mike Oxley (Hofstra) (Dec 7-6)

Semifinal - Jake Ashcraft (Ithaca) won by fall over Brett Perry (Buffalo) (Fall 0:58)

Cons. Semi - Brett Perry (Buffalo) won by decision over Colin Barber (SUNY-Cortland) (Dec 7-4)

3rd Place Match - Chris Morgan (Army) won by decision over Brett Perry (Buffalo) (Dec 10-6)

A 197 - James Benjamin - 1st Place

Champ. Round 1 - James Benjamin (Buffalo) received a bye () (Bye)

Quarterfinal - James Benjamin (Buffalo) won by tech fall over Jack La Corte (New York University) (TF 16-0)

Semifinal - James Benjamin (Buffalo) won by decision over Jacob Anderson (Cornell) (Dec 7-1)

1st Place Match - James Benjamin (Buffalo) won by decision over Nate Rose (Buffalo) (Dec 5-2)

A 197 - Nate Rose - 2nd Place

Champ. Round 1 - Nate Rose (Buffalo) won by major decision over Matt Doggett (Columbia) (Maj 13-2)

Quarterfinal - Nate Rose (Buffalo) won by decision over Carlos Toribio (Ithaca) (Dec 8-2)

Semifinal - Nate Rose (Buffalo) won by decision over Benjamin Honis (Cornell) (Dec 9-2)

1st Place Match - James Benjamin (Buffalo) won by decision over Nate Rose (Buffalo) (Dec 5-2)

A 285 - Nolan Terrance - 3rd Place

Champ. Round 1 - David Farr (Army) won by decision over Nolan Terrance (Buffalo) (Dec 2-0)

Cons. Round 1 - Nolan Terrance (Buffalo) won by major decision over Jonathan Solorzano (Nassau Community College) (Maj 9-0)

Cons. Round 2 - Nolan Terrance (Buffalo) won by forfeit over Matt Booth (Ithaca) (FF)

Cons. Round 3 - Nolan Terrance (Buffalo) won by major decision over Kade Andrews (SUNY-Oswego) (Maj 10-0)

Cons. Semi - Nolan Terrance (Buffalo) won by decision over Jake O`Brien (Ithaca) (Dec 2-0)

3rd Place Match - Nolan Terrance (Buffalo) won by decision over David Farr (Army) (Dec 5-1)