New York State Collegiate Championships
Pair of Titles Lead Bulls at New York State Collegiate Tournament
1/22/2012 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
ITHACA, NY - Individual titles from senior Kevin Smith and true freshman Jake Waste helped drive the Buffalo wrestling team to a fourth-place finish at the New York State Collegiate Tournament on Saturday, hosted by Cornell University. The victory was Smith's third in his time at UB, and he was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. Other Bulls finishing in the top six included Blake Roulo (2nd), Sean Walton (3rd), Justin Heiserman (5th), Justin Farmer (5th) and Wally Maziarz (6th).
Wrestling as the top seed in the 141-pound bracket, Smith got a pin in his opening round and then followed with a 7-4 win over eighth seed Ryan Guynup of Jamestown CC to end the first day of wrestling. On Sunday morning, he edged out Army's Casey Smith 1-0 before earning the title in an emphatic way with a pin 5:45 into the bout with second-seeded Brian Bistis of SUNY Cortland. With the trio of titles, Smith becomes just the second Buffalo wrestler to ever pull off the feat, joining Ray Pfeiffer's three titles in 1975-1977. Only 19 other wrestlers in the tournament's history have won three.
Waste made an early bid to become a four-time state champion, winning the 174-pound crown in his first season with the team despite being only the three seed. He won a 10-1 major decision in the opening round against RIT's Nick Fuschino, then beat second-seeded Jules Doliscar of Ithaca 12-5 to earn a shot at the championship. Taking on Marshal Peppleman of Cornell, Waste was tied at 2-2 through the first three periods, but eventually took his first individual tournament win of his career in a dramatic way with a 4-2 win. Fellow freshman Blake Roulo was not as lucky in his overtime championship match, losing 2-1 to Mac Malderelli of Nassau CC in the extra period of the 149-pound title bout. Roulo had earned his place in the finals thanks to wins over Hunter College, Cornell and Columbia.
Also placing high for the weekend were Sean Walton (at 125 pounds) and Justin Heiserman (197 pounds). Walton scored a pin just 22 seconds into his opening round match against Hunter's Ollie Lopez, but he then lost to eventual champion Bricker Dixon of Cornell. In the consolation bracket, Walton cruised to a 5-0 win over Dan Pineda of SUNY Oswego and a pin of Nassau's Joe DeAngelo to get a chance at taking third. He would do just that, getting yet another pin in the consolation championship, putting Travis Coffey of Army on his back midway through the second period. Heiserman also fell victim to the eventual champion, losing by fall to Cornell's Jace Bennett. The freshman responded with two straight wins to clinch at least a top-six finish, and he pinned SUNY Brockport's Paul Glover late in the first period to take fifth.
In the 'B' bracket for redshirts, true freshman Arik Robinson swept through his 125-pound bracket for an individual title, and fellow freshman Justin Lozano placed second at 174 pounds.
Despite not sending a number of starters and backups, the Bulls improved greatly from last season's eighth-place finish. This now concludes the regular-season tournament schedule for the team and it will be a rigorous slate of dual meets on the horizon. The team will return to Alumni Arena Jan. 29 for the third annual Takedown Cancer Fundraiser, which will culminate in the team's dual against Mid-American Conference rival Ohio. The event will begin at 11 am Sunday and will run until the beginning of the dual, which is scheduled for 1 pm. Fans interested in finding out more about the event can browse the Takedown Cancer page on BuffaloBulls.com.
Team Results
1: 162.5 Army
2: 144.5 Cornell
3: 135 Columbia
4: 117 Buffalo
5: 102 Nassau
6: 84.5 Cortland
7: 63 Hunter
8: 62.5 Ithaca
9: 56.5 Brockport
10: 48.5 Niagara
11: 34 RIT
12: 28.5 Oneonta
13: 16 NYU
14: 6 Jamestown
15: 3.5 Oswego
Most Outstanding Wrestler: Kevin Smith (Buffalo) 141 lbs.
B-Bracket Results
125: Arik Robinson (Buffalo) dec. Paul Fields (Cortland), 5-4
174: Tanner Eitel (TC3) dec. Justin Lozano (Buffalo), 6-1
Semi-Final Round:
141: Kevin Smith (Buffalo) dec. Casey Smith (Army), 1-0
149: Blake Roulo (Buffalo) dec. Chad Ryan (Columbia), 11-6
174: Jake Waste (Buffalo) dec. Jules Doliscar (Ithaca), 12-5
Wrestleback Round:
125: Sean Walton (Buffalo) win by fall Joe DeAngelo (Nassau), 6:53
133: Justin Farmer (Buffalo) dec. Marvin Amazan (Ithaca), 5-2
157: Wally Maziarz (Buffalo) maj. dec. Matt Cartusciello (Hunter), 10-2
197: Justin Heiserman (Buffalo) dec. Kyle Folk Fruend (Nassau), 1-0
Consi Semis:
125: Sean Walton (Buffalo) Medical Forfeit Ricardo Gomez (Ithaca)
133: Anthony Abidin (Nassau) maj. dec. Justin Farmer (Buffalo), 12-1
157: Troy Sterling (Cortland) maj. dec. Wall Maziarz (Buffalo), 16-4
197: Lukasz Stalla (Cornell) dec. Justin Heiserman (Buffalo), 3-1
5th/6th:
197: Justin Heiserman (Buffalo) win by fall Paul Glover (Brockport), 2:59
3rd/4th:
125: Sean Walton (Buffalo) win by fall Travis Coffey (Army), 4:30
Final:
141: Kevin Smith (Buffalo) win by fall Brian Bistis (Cortland), 5:45
149: Mac Malderelli (Nassau) dec. Blake Roulo (Buffalo), 2-1
174: Jake Waste (Buffalo) dec. Marshall Peppleman (Cornell), 4-2
