Akins, Benjamin win titles at “Shorty” Hitchcock Memorial Classic

Despite being nearly a week away from their next dual meet, UB Wrestling was in action this weekend at the “Shorty” Hitchcock Memorial Classic at Millersville University in Pennsylvania. Buffalo had five grapplers in action: James Benjamin, Kyle Akins, Matt Seitz, Ryan Kromer and Jimmy Devine. Akins and Benjamin took home championships in their respective brackets while Kromer finished 3rd.

Akins, who was out of the lineup against #7 Missouri, tore through the competition en route to the 125 pound championship. Akins collected two technical falls and two pinfalls, earning his second pin over Jon Tropea of Rider in the finals.

Benjamin, who has been nursing a sore knee, hasn’t seen any action since before Christmas when he beat Jake Hinz of Indiana. Benjamin started off strong in his first bout, earning a technical fall over Griffin Mills of Rider before posting two straight decisions over opponents from Army and Franklin and Marshall to reach the finals. Benjamin earned a 3-1 sudden victory overtime decision over Anthony Messner of Rutgers to claim the 197 pound crown.

Kromer had the longest day of any Bull, wrestling in a total of 7 bouts to go 6-1 and claim 3rd place at 174 pounds. Kromer won his first two bouts by decision and major decision before falling to Jordan Pagano of Rutgers. Then, Kromer went 4-0 in the consolation bracket beating two opponents from Army, one from Navy and one from Binghamton to claim 3rd.

Matt Seitz and Jimmy Devine also competed for UB at 133 and 149 pounds, respectively. Both grapplers went 2-2 on the day and did not make the podium in their respective weight classes.

UB will be back in action this Friday at Old Dominion.

125: Kyle Akins (4-0) - 1st Place

Kyle Akins (UB) tech. fall Austin Camacci (MVU), 16-0

Kyle Akins (UB) pinned Aslan Kilic (Navy), 2:47

Kyle Akins (UB) tech. fall Brandon Cray (Maryland), 16-1

Kyle Akins (UB) pinned Jon Tropea (Rider), 3:13

133: Matt Seitz (2-2) - DNP

Matt Seitz (UB) dec. Casey Cobb (Navy), 8-5

Matt Seitz (UB) pinned Nick Lattanze (Brown), 7:43

Nick Farro (Lehigh) dec. Matt Seitz (UB), 9-4

Casey Cobb (Navy) TB-2 Matt Seitz (UB), 3-2

149: Jimmy Devine (2-2) - DNP

Jimmy Devine (UB) dec. Mitch Camp (Unattached), 10-5

Jimmy Devine (UB) dec. Tanner Stephens (Old Dominion), 6-5

David Pipa (Lehigh) dec. Jimmy Devine (UB), 13-8

Jon Errico (Penn) dec. Jimmy Devine (UB), 9-7

174: Ryan Kromer (6-1) - 3rd Place

Ryan Kromer (UB) dec. Anthony Vetrano (Bloomsburg), 11-4

Ryan Kromer (UB) maj. dec. Spencer Woods (Maryland), 15-4

Jordan Pagano (Rutgers) dec. Ryan Kromer (UB), 9-4

Ryan Kromer (UB) dec. Luke Hodsden (Army), 6-4

Ryan Kromer (UB) pinned Jake Kocsis (Binghamton), 2:18

Ryan Kromer (UB) dec. Graham Ratermann (Army), 6-2

Ryan Kromer (UB) dec. Spencer Carey (Navy), 7-4

197: James Benjamin (4-0) - 1st Place

James Benjamin (UB) tech. fall Griffin Mills (Rider), 16-0

James Benjamin (UB) dec. Bennett Paulson (Army), 5-3

James Benjamin (UB) dec. Phil Robilotto (F&M), 9-3

James Benjamin (UB) SV-1 Anthony Messner (Rutgers), 3-1