Weekly Wrestling Release
11/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Buffalo Hangs Tough, Falls to Oklahoma
BUFFALO, NY - In one of the team's most anticipated home dual meets in program history, the Buffalo Bulls welcomed in Big 12 power Oklahoma to Alumni Arena Friday afternoon. The Buffalo loss by a score of 28-7 belied the numerous terrific matches held, five of which were decided by four points or less.
Redshirt sophomore Taylor Golba led off the meet at 125 pounds, facing Jarrod Patterson, who came in ranked ninth in the country in the weight class. The Buffalo, NY native held tough in a low-scoring match, losing 4-1.
His teammates picked him up right away, however, as junior Kevin Smith dominated his match at 133 pounds and took a major decision with a 14-5 win, putting the Bulls ahead early in the match 4-3. The team recorded its other win of the day at 157 pounds, as redshirt sophomore Mark Lewandowskiscored an early takedown and controlled pace throughout in a 4-2 win.
Oklahoma earned close wins in the 149, 165 and 184 matches to swing the meet in its favor. Junior Desi Greenwas slow-played early in his match, and he ended up going to two overtimes before being taken down, 6-2. At 165, junior John-Martin Cannon had a dogfight and was unable to get a late takedown to win the match, falling 5-3 in overtime as well. In the match of the night, Jimmy Hamel took on Erich Schmidtke in a match of top 20 grapplers. It was a defensive match throughout, and Hamel had a late takedown disallowed before his opponent scored again to put it out of reach, 4-0.
Bulls Earn Two Titles at Oklahoma Gold Classic
BROCKPORT, NY - Fresh off an exciting dual meet against nationally ranked Oklahoma University, members of the Buffalo Bulls wrestling team headed to Brockport, NY for the Oklahoma Gold Classic, hosted by the Sooners. Two Bulls earned individual titles and the team as a whole finished fifth in a loaded tournament that ran all day Saturday.
Junior Kevin Smith finished off a solid two-day stretch by making it through the 133-pound bracket unscathed and winning an individual title. The Mexico, NY native won four straight matches, including a tight rematch against Dustin Reed of Oklahoma and a win over Reed's OU teammate Jordan Keller, 9-3, to win the championship.
The team's second title came at 149 pounds, with junior Desi Green looking to rebound after falling at the Oklahoma dual. After beating Dexter Lederer of nationally ranked Maryland in the first round, Green soon found himself matched up against Mario Mason of Rutgers, ranked fourteenth in the nation. Green, who hails from just down the road from Brockport, beat Mason 4-1 to make the finals. He then edged out Clarion's Anthony White 4-3 to win his second tournament in as many weeks.
The Bulls placed several other wrestlers in the top six in multiple divisions. Sophomore Andrew Schutt placed fifth at 141, junior John-Martin Cannon placed fifth at 165, sophomore Mark Lewandowski placed sixth at 157 and senior Jimmy Hamel put up a fourth place showing. In the heavyweight division, sophomore Brett Correll also placed fourth.
Up Next
The team as a whole will have a much needed rest before hitting the road again next Saturday. Next up will be the Body Bar Invitational, hosted by Cornell, currently the top-ranked team in the nation. The team will look to boost it's national profile against more of the top wrestlers and teams in the country. For fans of the Bulls, the tournament will run all day and will start at 9:00 am.
Inside the Numbers
A number of Bulls have hit important milestones early on this season. This weekend, John-Martin Cannon earned career win number 50. He also recorded his 79th career takedown, putting him in a tie for 17th with Gary Cooper. Fellow junior Desi Green won his 75th career win following the UB Open, and he now sits at 79 wins with hopes of reaching 100 career wins by season's end.
One wrestler may not have to wait until the end of the month to see 100 career wins. Senior Jimmy Hamel now has 94 wins after racking up three victories at the Oklahoma Gold Classic. With the next home meet not until January 16, Hamel will most likely celebrate his 100th career win as a visiting wrestler. He will become just the fifth wrestler in Buffalo history to capture that historic mark.
