Courtesy of buffalobulls.com
BUFFALO, NY – A crowd of over 1,700 fans came out to Alumni Arena for the fourth annual Takedown Cancer fundraiser and dual on Monday evening to open the home schedule, as the Bulls (0-2) hosted the fifth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes. The event, which raised over $14,000 for cancer research for the day, was marked with explosive offense between the two teams, with the Hawkeyes (10-0) prevailing 39-3. Mark Lewandowski earned a win at 165 pounds for the team’s lone win.
“What people don’t see is the controlled steady pace that Iowa wrestles,” head coach Jim Beichner said. “They’re consistent and put the pressure on you. We need to do the same in return, but today we faded. We scored a lot of takedowns, but ultimately you need to win those battles and win those matches. You have nothing to lose against a team like Iowa, but when you’re aggressive you need to have a big gas tank to go with it.”
Lewandowski, who came into the night ranked in the low 20s at his class by most media outlets, was a slight underdog in his match against Iowa’s Nick Moore. The senior started with a takedown in the final minute of the first period and rode Moore out. He scored another takedown in the second period and led 4-2 going into the final two minutes of the match. He made a quick escape, then took Moore down and earned a riding time point for the 8-3 win.
“Mark was in control tonight, and that comes with experience,” Beichner said. “He dominated from start to finish and was able to get an important win. We want him to be on the All-American podium at the end of this season, and if he keeps wrestling like this he’ll get there.”
After only one wrestler scored more than five points in the season-opening dual against Central Michigan, the Bulls were able to be more liberal on offense for the night, case in point with the 149 pound bout between Blake Roulo and Mike Kelly. In the first 20 seconds of the match, Roulo scored a big takedown and turned Kelly for two near-fall points. Kelly would squeeze away and it would spark off a first period that saw an 8-8 tie after just the first three minutes. Kelly would ultimately take advantage of Roulo’s aggression, turning a handful of errant scoring attempts by Roulo into takedowns and earned a 21-13 win.
RESULTS: Iowa 39, Buffalo 3
141 – #11 Mark Ballweg (IA) major dec. Andrew Schutt (UB), 12-3; 4-0
149 – Michael Kelly (IA) major dec. Blake Roulo (UB), 21-13; 8-0
157 – #1 Derek St. John (IA) major dec. Wally Maziarz (UB), 21-7; 12-0
165 – Mark Lewandowski (UB) dec. Nick Moore (IA), 8-3; 12-3
174- #7 Mike Evans (IA) major dec. John-Martin Cannon (UB), 14-1; 16-3
184 – #7 Ethen Lofthouse (IA) major dec. Tony Lock (UB), 12-4; 20-3
197 – Nathan Burak (IA) major dec. Angelo Malvestuto (UB), 12-4; 24-3
285 – #5 Bobby Telford (IA) pinned Justin Heiserman (UB), 1:36; 30-3
125 – Matt Gurule (IA) dec. Max Soria (UB), 15-10; 33-3
133 – #3 Tony Ramos (IA) pinned Erik Galloway (UB), 4:27; 39-3
BLOOMSBURG, PA – The Buffalo wrestling team rallied strong from its Monday night loss to Iowa, but could not close the deal for its first win of the season on Tuesday and lost 18-15 to Bloomsburg. The Bulls (0-3) and Huskies (7-2) won five matches apiece, but Bloomsburg scored a technical fall and major decision to boost it to the win.
The Bulls took three of the first four matches of the night, starting with Mike Soria‘s 6-4 win over Sean Boylan. Filling in for his brother Max, who was hurt early in his match against Iowa last night, Mike was able to get the win in his first-ever start in a dual meet and start the team off on the right foot. After a loss at 133, Andrew Schutt scored a 7-2 win over Matt Rappo after cruising to a 6-1 lead after just the first period.
His win was followed by Blake Roulo, who won 2-1 at 149 after neither wrestler could manage to take the other down. He was able to get a third period escape and used riding time to get the win and pad the UB lead. It would come in handy, as the Huskies earned a tech fall at 157 and Mark Lewandowski lost 3-2 to Josh Veltre in a battle of two top-20 ranked wrestlers at 165 pounds.
Bloomsburg’s lead would be short-lived, as John-Martin Cannon rebounded strong from a frustrating loss to Iowa and won 9-4 thanks to a quartet of takedowns against Chris Smith. He was followed by a tremendous effort from true freshman Tony Lock, who earned his first career dual meet win in a big spot. He beat Andre Petroski 4-2 thanks to a pair of points in the third period to break a 2-2 tie that had held since the first period. The win would give the Bulls a 15-11 lead in the dual, but a major decision loss at 197 pounds and a win for the Huskies in the final match of the night would provide the 18-15 final.
Now after two matches in just over 24 hours, the team will have an extended break for the Holidays before returning to action. Next up will be The Midlands Championship Tournament and the Brute Invitational on Dec. 29, when the team will send selected wrestlers to each event to compete against some of the very best in the country. Full results from each tournament will be available through BuffaloBulls.com.
RESULTS: Bloomsburg 18, Buffalo 15
125: Mike Soria (UB) dec. Sean Boylan (BU), 6-4; 3-0
133: Nick Wilcox (BU) dec. Erik Galloway (UB), 9-4; 3-3
141: Andrew Schutt (UB) dec. Matt Rappo (BU), 7-2; 6-3
149: Blake Roulo (UB) dec. Simon Kitzis (BU), 2-1; 9-3
157: Frank Hickman (BU) tech. fall Wally Maziarz (UB), 22-6, 5:48; 9-8
165: Josh Veltre (BU) dec. Mark Lewandowski (UB), 3-2; 9-11
174: John-Martin Cannon (UB) dec. Chris Smith (BU), 9-4; 12-11
184: Tony Lock (UB) dec. Andre Petroski (BU), 4-2; 15-11
197: Richard Perry (BU) maj. dec. Angelo Malvestuto (UB), 13-5; 15-15
285: Justin Grant (BU) dec. Justin Heiserman (UB), 5-1; 15-18
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