Lantry’s upset not enough in Wrestling’s 22-16 loss at #19 UNI

Coming off of a disappointing loss to Central Michigan in their final home dual of the season, it appeared as if UB would pull off an upset of a ranked opponent for the second straight season against the #19 Northern Iowa Panthers. Unfortunately, the Bulls were unable to capitalize on a 10-8 halftime lead and fell to the Panthers 22-16.

After giving up a technical fall victory at 125 pounds to 2-time All-American Dylan Peters, UB responded with back-to-back victories coming from Bryan Lantry and Jason Estevez.

Lantry avenged a pinfall loss from last season to #9 Josh Alber, upsetting his fourth nationally ranked wrestler this season. Lantry earned an escape and did enough on his feet to stave off Alber in the 3rd period earn a 4-3 decision. Lantry improved to 16-4 on the season and 4-2 in MAC duals. Estevez came into the dual an even 7-7 and in the midst of a slump, losing 4 of his last 5 bouts. After a scoreless 1st period, Estevez and UNI’s Jake Hodges went into the 3rd tied at 2. Estevez chose neutral and after a few close calls Estevez shot on a blast double and switched off to a single leg takedown to seal the victory 4-2.

UB’s final win would come at 157 pounds where Alex Smythe scored a big 12-4 major decision victory over Paden Moore. Smythe earned two takedowns and a four-point nearfall in the first period to jump out to a commanding 8-1 lead. Smythe earned an additional takedown, an escape and the riding time point en route to his win.

Despite carrying a 10-8 lead into the half, UB couldn’t pull an upset from 165-184 as the buzzsaw of UNI’s upperweights got the best of the Bulls. With UNI forfeiting 285 pounds, the match came down to James Benjamin at 197. Benjamin needed a decision victory to force a tie or a bonus point victory to win UB the dual meet. Unfortunately, Benjamin was upset by redshirt freshman Jacob Holschlag 4-2, sealing the 22-16 win for the Panthers.

It’s a disappointing loss, to be certain, as the Bulls fall to 9-6 and 3-3 in the MAC with two duals left in the regular season. The Bulls will finish off this weekend’s roadtrip with a stop in DeKalb to take on Northern Illinois at 7 PM on Sunday.

Buffalo 16, #20 Northern Iowa 22

125: #12 Dylan Peters (UNI) tech. fall Derek Spann (UB), 19-3

133: #15 Bryan Lantry (UB) dec. #9 Josh Alber (UNI)

141: Jason Estevez (UB) dec. Jake Hodges (UNI), 4-2

149: #9 Max Thomsen (UNI) dec. #29 Colt Cotten (UB), 6-0

157: Alex Smythe (UB) maj. dec. Paden Moore (UNI), 12-4

165: #11 Bryce Steiert (UNI) dec. Tyler Rill (UB), 7-3

174: #14 Taylor Lujan (UNI) tech. fall Muhamed McBryde (UB)

184: #14 Drew Foster (UNI) dec. #27 Brett Perry (UB), 6-2

197: Jacob Holschlag (UNI) dec. #18 James Benjamin (UB), 4-2

285: Jake Gunning (UB) wins by forfeit