

Ashland
Bulls Soar Past Eagles in Home Opener 31-9
11/7/2009 12:00:00β―AM | Wrestling
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo wrestling team
captured a 31-9 home-opening dual meet victory over Ashland
University on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena. Sophomores Kevin Smith and John-Martin Cannon and junior Jimmy Hamel each collected
falls in the Bulls' dominating performance over the Eagles.
Ashland opened the dual meet with an overtime decision, 3-2. Facing
a 2-1 deficit heading into the third period, sophomore Dylan Dabolt
rode his way to a 2-2 tie through the end of the third. In
overtime, the Eagles' Brandon Davis stole the win at 125 on a
penalized move by Dabolt.
The Bulls quickly erased Ashland's 3-0 lead as Smith pinned AU's
Jacob Creed at 5:50. Smith dominated the four-time North Carolina
State champion throughout the first two periods, not allowing Creed
to score a single point in the 133-pound bout. "Kevin dominated his
guy. He was able to break him down and turn him for the pin," said
head coach Jim Beichner.
With the score tied up at 6-6, Desi Green picked up a close 10-9
decision over Ashland's T.J. Rigel. Picking up four takedowns in
his victory, the 16th nationally-ranked wrestler has moved into
20th place in the all-time UB list for most takedowns in a career
(75).
At 157, the Bulls widened their margin to 13-6 as senior Andrew Stella collected a 12-0 major decision. Following a scoreless first
period, Stella turned it on in the remaining periods as nine of his
12 total points came off three-point nearfalls. "After a scoreless
first period, Andrew came back with four solid minutes of
wrestling. He dominated his opponent on top, which says something,"
stated Beichner.
Moving up a weight class from last year, Cannon came out to rebound
from his performance at last week's UB Open. In the first ten
seconds of the match, he took Ashland's Peter Lewis to the mat. In
the first period alone, Cannon recorded five takedowns. On his
final takedown of the second period, Cannon was able to work Lewis
to his back, recording a fall at 4:25. "Following his disappointing
performance at the UB Open, John-Martin bounced back today. He was
himself, coming out to wrestle from the start," said Beichner.
Redshirt-freshmen Matt Bogardus at 174 and Josh Peters at 184,
scored their first career dual meet victories. Both wrestlers won
in 6-3 decisions.
In his bout at 174, Bogardus wrestled the final period with a knee
injury. "Matt's relentless attitude showed the mental toughness
needed to compete in this sport," explained Beichner.
In the 197-pound bout, Hamel attacked the Eagles' Josh Grider from
the start. In the first period, the 20th nationally-ranked wrestler
built an 8-2 lead including a two-point nearfall. In the second
period, Hamel buried Grider's shoulders to the mat for his first
career fall at 4:28.
"We did what we expected of ourselves. Overall, it was a dominating
performance. Ashland fought hard throughout the entire match and
was able to close the door on bouts where we were unable to. Smith,
Cannon and Hamel gave our team insurance points by recording pins
in their bouts," said Beichner.
The Bulls will return to dual meet action on Sunday, November 15 as
they travel to Hempstead, NY to face Hofstra University at 1:00
pm.