Kyle Akins, Justin Patrick Claim NYS Wrestling Championships; Bulls finish 4th

Looking to build on last year's performance at the New York Collegiate Wrestling Championhips, John Stutzman's squad set out to Cornell to take on the best of the best in the Empire State, with one exception. UB would be down nearly 5 wrestlers from their main lineup due to injury: Colt Cotten, Jason Estevez, Tim Schafer, Muhmed McBryde, Tyler Rill and Joe Ariola all did not compete. Despite the large chunk of men missing in the middle of the lineup, UB still finished in a solid 4th place in the A bracket behind a championship performance from Kyle Akins, matching their place from last season.

Bryan Lantry and Brandon Lapi also had solid days at 133 and 141 pounds finishing 4th and 5th respectively, both made it to the semifinals in their respective brackets before suffering their first losses of the day. In addition, Derek Holcomb and Austin Weigel filling in for Rill and McBryde both finished on the podium in their respective weight classes. Weigel went on a tear after losing his first bout to nationally ranked Brian Harvey of Army, winning 5 straight bouts en route to a 4th place finish. Holcomb lost to nationally ranked Tyrel White from Columbia before securing a top 6 finish.

Akins won the championship at 125 pounds over #16 Dalton Macri of Cornell because Macri was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury. At 285 pounds Gunning fell short to #24 Mike Hughes of Hofstra by a major decision of 8-0.

In the open tournament Justin Patrick claimed a championship at 125 pounds while Nate Rose fell short in his quest for a title in the championship bout to Jake Anderson of Cornell.

One name who stood out as well in the open competition was Ian James at 285 pounds. James went 6-1 on the day to finish 5th in his bracket. Blake Retell and Rocco Russo also had successful days at 133 pounds placing 5th and 3rd respectively.

In all, UB placed 8 grapplers on the podium in the "A" bracket and 7 in the "B" bracket including 3 champions. It was quite impressive that the team was able to repeat their performance from last season's tournament only finishing 7.5 team points behind SUNY rival Binghamton considering a good chunk of the lineup was held out. Host Cornell won the team title followed by Army in 2nd place.

UB will have a week off before beginning their MAC dual meet schedule when they head to Ypsilanti to take on Eastern Michigan on December, 6th.

Results

Kyle Akins - 125 pounds, "A" Bracket - (4-0), 1st Place

Akins (UB) pinned Bryan Damon (HOF), 4:20

Akins (UB) tech. fall Wayne Yuan (NYU) 19-0

Akins (UB) dec. Steve Bulzomi (BING), 4-3

1st Place Match: Kyle Akins (UB) MFF Dalton Macri (COR)

Justin Patrick - 125 Pounds, Open Bracket - (4-0), 1st Place

Patrick (UB) maj. dec. Vince Pallone (COL) 15-5

Patrick (UB) dec. Ferdinand Mase (IC), 8-4

Patrick (UB) maj. dec. Kyle Kelly (BING), 19-7

1st Place Match: Justin Patrick (UB) pinned Conner Ziegler (Army), 0:34

Bryan Lantry - 133 Pounds, "A" Bracket - (3-2), 4th place

Lantry (UB) dec. Bryan Israel (IC), 3-1

Lantry (UB) maj. dec. Kyle McGregor (NCCC), 18-5

Jake Nicholson (BING) maj. dec. Lantry (UB), 14-1

Lantry (UB) tech. fall Jaydon Rice (HUNT), 17-2

3rd Place Match: Angelo Amenta (COL) dec. Bryan Lantry (UB), 3-2

Blake Retell - 133 Pounds, Open Bracket  - (5-1), 5th Place

Retell (UB) pinned Alex Petersen (RPI), 2:02

Retell (UB) tech. fall Isaiah Ocasio (RIT), 17-1

Jimmy Overhiser (FLWC) maj. dec. Retell (UB), 10-2

Retell (UB) dec. Christian Briody (COL), 3-2

Retell (UB) dec. Raeco Jackson (CORT), 8-3

5th Place Match: Blake Retell (UB) pinned Austin Day (NYU), 1:53

Rocco Russo - 133 Pounds, Open Bracket - (3-1), 3rd Place

Russo (UB) pinned Joe Rorick (FLWC), 1:58

Russo (UB) tech. fall Donald McCoy (BPORT), 15-0

Mike Russo (FLWC) pinned Russo (UB), 2:16

3rd Place Match: Rocco Russo (UB) dec. Austin Harry (Army), 12-11

Brandon Lapi - 141 Pounds, "A" Bracket - (3-2), 5th Place

Lapi (UB) tech. fall. Dan Maye (USMMA), 17-0

Lapi (UB) SV-1 Dylan Caruana (BING), 5-3

William Koll (COR) dec. Lapi (UB), 7-5

Jesse Dellavecchia (BING) dec. Lapi (UB). 6-1

5th Place Match: Brandon Lapi (UB) dec. TJ Fabian (LIU), 10-4

Sean Peacock - 141 Pounds, Open Bracket - (4-1), 3rd Place

Peacock (UB) dec. Christian Doyle (Army), 7-1

Peacock (UB) maj. dec.  Noah Hanau (USMAP) 13-3

Peacock (UB) tech. fall Chris Araoz (COL), 16-0

Jacob Macololooy (COL) dec. Peacock (UB), 4-1

3rd Place Match: Sean Peacock (UB) maj. dec. Eli Bienstock (COR), 17-7

Tommy Forte - 149 Pounds, Open Bracket - (3-2)

Matt Leshinger (COL) dec. Forte (UB) 4-3

Forte (UB) pinned Troy Edwards (NYU), 1:12

Forte (UB) tech. fall Codie Gillette (BPORT), 16-0

Forte (UB) pinned Ian Burke (NYU), 5:25

Connor Sutton (COL) maj. dec. Forte (UB), 8-0

James Devine - 157 Pounds, "A" Bracket - (0-2)

Russell Parsons (Army) maj. dec. Devine (UB) 16-2

Zach Colgan (NCCC) dec. Devine (UB) 4-2

Rrok Ndokaj - 165 Pounds, "A" Bracket - (2-2)

Colin Barber (CORT) SV-2 Ndokaj (UB), 2-1

Ndokaj (UB) dec. Brian Vutianitis (CORT), 7-5

Ndokaj (UB) maj. dec. Mark Milisci (OSW), 8-0

Nick Velez (IC) dec. Ndokaj (UB), 14-10

Derek Holcomb - 165 Pounds, "A" Bracket - (4-3), 6th Place

Holcomb (UB) pinned Brian Vutianitis (CORT), 1:00

Holcomb (UB) maj. dec. Kaydon Newton (NCCC), 11-0

#26 Tyrel White (COL) dec. Kromer (UB) 8-4

Holcomb (UB) dec. Dylan Lojac (NYU), 9-4

Holcomb (UB) tech. fall Eduardo Ramirez (LIU), 17-2

Andrew Mendel (Army) maj. dec. Holcomb (UB), 15-7

5th Place Match: Colin Barber (CORT) pinned Derek Holcomb (UB), 3:24

Ryan Therrien - 174 Pounds, "A" Bracket - (3-2), 7th Place

Jermaine John (HOF) pinned Therrien (UB) 5:45

Therrien (UB) pinned Nicholas Brutus (HUN), 3:13

Therrien (UB) tech. fall Alex Kelly (NCCC), 23-8

Austin Weigel (UB) maj. dec. Therrien (UB), 14-2

7th Place Match: Ryan Therrien (UB) MFF Erik Adon (NCC)

Austin Weigel - 174 Pounds, "A" Bracket - (5-2), 4th place

#24 Brian Harvey (Army) dec. Weigel (UB), 11-6

Weigel (UB) tech. fall Lantze Lange (ONE), 17-2

Weigel (UB) maj. dec. Garret Marinelli (NYU), 11-2

Weigel (UB) dec. Jermaine John (HOF), 3-1

Weigel (UB) maj. dec. Ryan Therrien (UB), 14-2

Weigel (UB) dec. Troy Seymour (OSW), 8-4

3rd Place Match: Zack Hernandez (COL) tech. fall Austin Weigel (UB), 18-0

Ryan Kromer - 174 Pounds, Open Bracket - (4-1), 3rd Place

Kromer (UB) maj. dec. Jordan Venderley (COR), 14-5

Kromer (UB) maj. dec. McKenzie Callahan (RIT), 8-0

Kromer (UB) dec. Donald Donnelly (COL), 6-2

Andrew Garcis (COR) maj. dec. Kromer (UB), 14-2

3rd Place Match: Ryan Kromer (UB) maj. dec. Graham Ratermann (Army), 12-2

James Benjamin - 197 Pounds, "A" Bracket - (3-3), 5th Place

Benjamin (UB) maj. dec. Rick Frasier (USMMA). 11-3

Benjamin (UB) dec. Omar Haddad (HOF) 5-3

#22 Jake Taylor (COR) dec. Benjamin (UB), 12-6

Benjamin (UB) pinned Paul Steinmetz (NYU), 1:59

Dan Smith (OSW) dec. Benjamin (UB), 3-2

5th Place Match: Triston Engle (BPORT) pinned James Benjamin (UB), :53

Nate Rose - 197 Pounds, Open Bracket - (4-1), 2nd Place

Rose (UB) SV-1 over Nate Dow (Army), 9-7

Rose (UB) SV-1 Zach Conner (IC), 11-9

Rose (UB) inj. def. Isaac Serrano (CORT), 4:07

Rose (UB) dec. Ben Honis (FLWC), 5-4

1st Place Match: Jake Anderson (COR) pinned Nate Rose (UB),

Jake Gunning - 285 Pounds, "A" Bracket - (3-1), 2nd Place

Gunning (UB) pinned Robert Cuomo (SCCC), 2:42

Gunning (UB) pinned Branden Joest (USMMA), 3:41

Gunning (UB) MFF over #32 Jeramy Sweany (COR)

1st Place Match: #24 Mike Hughes (HOF) maj. dec. #26 Jake Gunning (UB) 8-0

Ian James - 285 Pounds, Open Bracket - (6-1), 5th Place

James (UB) dec. Jacob Morris (BPORT), 7-3

Austin Buttry (Army) dec. James (UB) 7-3

James (UB) tech. fall Jacob Parker (BPORT), 16-1

James (UB) pinned Kevin Dinh (USMMA), 2:03

James (UB) dec. Dennis Atiyeh (COR), 2-0

James (UB) dec. Joseph Sprung (IC), 8-3

5th Place Match: Ian James (UB) dec. Brock Cvijanovich (BING), 6-3