Binghamton’s Donnie Vinson has accomplished quite a bit in the past few years.  A third place finish at the NCAA tournament. The CAA Wrestler of the Year honors. A win over Cornell’s Kyle Dake.

But there was a wrestler who got the best of Vinson in both his sophomore and junior seasons – Columbia’s Steve Santos.

This weekend, Vinson got another chance at Santos and took full advantage. In the semifinals of the prestigious Midlands tournament, Vinson topped the Lion wrestler, 6-1.

In the finals, Vinson dropped a 3-1 decision to Virginia Tech’s Nick Brascetta, who had an extraordinary tournament, defeating former All-Americans Nick Lester of Oklahoma and Montell Marion (a post grad from Iowa) prior to the title bout.

Against Vinson, Brascetta jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening period with a takedown with less than 45 seconds left. The wrestlers traded escapes in the second and third periods to result in a 3-1 decision for the Hokie wrestler.

Vinson was the only finalist from the New York State Division I squads at the 50th Annual Midlands, but not the only placer. Santos took fourth at 149 while Buffalo had a pair of medalists – Mark Lewandowski (sixth at 165) and John-Martin Cannon (fourth at 174).