Midlands Championship
Three Bulls Place at Brute Invitational
12/29/2012 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
LOCK HAVEN, PA - Led by Wally Maziarz's second-place finish at 157 pounds, a trio of UB wrestlers placed in the top four at the Brute Invitational Saturday, hosted by Lock Haven University. Max Soria finished fourth at 125 and Blake Roulo placed third for the team, which sent a total of 12 wrestlers to the event. The team placed seventh out of 13 teams.
Maziarz was in control for much of the day, starting with a 5-2 win over Old Dominion's Pete Baldwin in the opening round before pinning Eric Norgard of Franklin and Marshall late in the first period. In the semifinal round, he shut out Jacob Kemerer of host Lock Haven 4-0 to earn a spot in the title round, where he eventually lost to two-time national qualifier Frank Hickman of Bloomsburg.
Roulo was equally as impressive in his run to third place, winning four matches while losing only to eventual champion Alex Richardson of Old Dominon in the semifinals. To get there, he upset third seed Shane Fenningham of Drexel 5-3 in the first round and then downed Greg Flournoy of George Mason in round two. After his loss to Richardson, he beat teammate Clay Reeb 3-1 in sudden victory before earning a major decision over Nicholas Carr of rival Kent State in the consolation final, 13-3.
Soria opened his tournament with two major decisions, over Aaron Moldoff (Franklin and Marshall) in the first round 17-7, and Mike Sardo (Binghamton) 10-2. In the semifinals, he lost to Lock Haven's Robert Rehm, and after beating George Mason's Rich Lavorato 6-0 to make the consolation round final, he lost to Sean Boylan of Bloomsburg 3-1 to place fourth.
The team's weekend as a whole is not over just yet, as John-Martin Cannon, Mark Lewandowski, and Jake Waste all remain alive at the 50th Midlands Tournament. The prestigious event will wrap up tomorrow.
