Lewandowski and Soria Lead Bulls at UB Invite
11/4/2012 12:00:00β―AM | Wrestling
BUFFALO, NY - Mark Lewandowski and Max Soria won individual titles at the season-opening UB Invite on Sunday, as the Bulls as a team finished third in the new team competition that was introduced this season. The Ohio State Buckeyes won the overall title. Overall, eleven Buffalo wrestlers finished in the top five in the tournament.
Soria went 3-0 in the tournament and was able to exorcise some demons in his title match, beating Edinboro's Kory Mines 8-3. To get to the final, he beat Ohio State's Kyle Visconti 10-4 in the first round before besting Hunter Wood of Army 6-1 in the semifinal round. After Soria lost to Mines multiple times in 2011-12, he came out strong and led almost from start to finish to win his first career tournament. He was not the only Soria to perform well though. His twin brother Mike Soria placed fourth after winning three matches and only losing to Kent State's Steve Mitcheff, who beat him in the quarterfinals and in the consolation championship match.
Lewandowski picked up right where he left off last season, when he won 33 matches and earned his second straight trip to the NCAA tournament. The senior won his four matches by a combined score of 34-11, culminating in a win over rival John Greisheimer of Edinboro in the final. The tournament title was Mark's first ever at the UB Invite.
Other top-five placewinners for Buffalo were Erik Galloway, John Northrup, Blake Roulo, Justin Lozano, Jake Waste, Jeff Palmeri, Angelo Malvestuto, and Justin Heiserman.
Galloway was an explosive scorer for the Bulls on the day, starting with an early second period tech fall over American International's Cody Cardinale, 15-0, in the first round. He then lost to returning national champion Logan Stiebler of Ohio State, but rebounded to beat teammates Justin Farmer and Sean Walton and then down Kent State's Mackenzie McGuire 8-7 to earn a shot at the consolation championship. In the final, he routed Army's Jordan Thome, a consensus top 20 wrestler in the nation at 133.
The team had a handful of outstanding performances from young wrestlers, starting with Northrup at 149. After losing in the first round to eventual champion Mike Depalma of Edinboro, the true freshman won three straight consolation matches before finishing fourth. Palmeri won his opening round match before losing to eventual champion Nick Heflin of Ohio State. He then won again to put him in the consolation final, where he would finish fourth.
Though they are likely redshirts this season, Lozano and Waste were able to start the season on strong notes as well for UB. Lozano finished third at 165 after winning five matches (four in the consolation bracket). Waste came up shy of winning the 174 pound title, losing in the final to Heflin of Ohio State, a top 10 nationally ranked wrestler. Before the loss, though, he won three straight matches.
The team will be back in action next Saturday, traveling to SUNY Brockport for the Oklahoma Gold Classic. It will be another all-day tournament for UB.
