UB Wrestling Hosts Central Michigan Sunday On ESPN3
12/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
MATCH NOTES (.PDF): UB vs. Central Michigan
VIDEO: ESPN3
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo, the State University of New York wrestling team will host Mid-American Conference foe Central Michigan on Sunday at 1:00 pm inside Alumni Arena in their second of back-to-back home duals, the only time this season they will host back-to-back home matches. The Bulls enter with a 4-4 overall record while the Chippewas are 1-4 on the young season.
WATCH LIVE
Sunday's dual meet can be seen live on ESPN3 at no additional cost to fans who receive ESPN as part of their TV subscription through participating TV providers. ESPN3 is also available at no cost to U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel on computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.
THE OPPONENT
The Central Michigan Chippewas enter Sunday's match with a 1-4 overall record after dropping their last match to Michigan by the score of 30-10. The Chippewas have lost three straight dual meets after earning their first win of the season against Clarion on November 15. Zach Horan is the lone nationally ranked Chippewa grappler in their starting lineup as he is the tenth ranked wrestler at 141-pounds. Sunday's match for Central Michigan will be their first MAC dual of the season.
SETTING THE SCENE
- The Bulls are set to host their second of back-to-back home duals on Sunday as they play host to MAC foe Central Michigan at Alumni Arena at 1:00 pm.
- The dual meet will be aired live on ESPN3 and on the Watch ESPN App, free of charge. The ESPN3 broadcast will feature play by play and color analysts.
- The Central Michigan Chippewas are a perennial MAC power but they enter the contest on Sunday with a 1-4 overall record.
- The Chippewas starting lineup features only one nationally ranked grapppler in Zach Horan (141) while UB also has one, #12 Max Soria (125).
- The Bulls have eight grapplers in their starting lineup with at least six wins on the season and while five are sporting a winning record.
FAST FACTS
- Max Soria currently has 74 career victories in the blue and white, ranking him first on the squad.
- Eight of the 10 UB starters are from the state of New York with the only two outside NY being Jason Estevez (NJ) and Joe Ariola (Ill.).
- The Bulls have four transfer wrestlers on their team including three from Bloomsburg, head coach John Stutzman's former team.
- The 14-1 start for Max Soria's senior campaign is the best start of any season in his career.
- UB alum John Stutzman was hired last season as the 15th coach in program history. He currently has 104 career coaching victories including four this year for the Bulls.
BULLstrong
The University at Buffalo, the State University of New York wrestling team has already surpassed their win total from a season ago just one month into the season. The Bulls picked up three wins in the opening weekend of the season after compiling a 3-17 overall record last season in a rebuilding year under first-year head coach John Stutzman. This season the Bulls started out strong as Stutzman has instilled his way of wrestling into the youthful squad. Entering this year, the Bulls had 17 freshman on the squad with many of them contributing towards the Bulls 4-4 start. UB has picked up victories against Campbell, Appalachian State, Cumberland and Sacred Heart so far this season.
BULLS HOST CENTRAL MICHIGAN ON ESPN3 ON SUNDAY
The Bulls are set to host the second dual of their only back-to-back home duals of the season on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm inside Alumni Arena. The dual will be aired live on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN app with live play-by-play and color commentary. The Bulls enter with a 4-4 overall dual meet mark while Central Michigan is struggling early on with a 1-4 dual meet record after dropping their last dual at Michigan 30-3.
UB STARTS MAC SLATE WITH LOSS AGAINST #25 KENT STATE
Opening up their conference slate against a nationally ranked Kent State team, the University at Buffalo wrestling team could not preserve their early 7-3 lead as they fell by the score of 30-10. With the loss, UB falls to 4-4 in dual meets for the season, one more win than all of last season. Max Soria was once again dominant for the Bulls as he earned a 12-2 major decision victory over his opponent before Jason Estevez battled out a 2-1 win to give UB the 7-3 lead after three matches. The Bulls however, were only able to earn one more victory as Rrok Ndokaj won 7-4 at 165 pounds to earn UB three points. UB dropped the final four matches and lost their home opener to #25 Kent State.
SORIA MOVES TO 12th IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
Choosing to stay at Buffalo for his fifth season, Max Soria seems to have made the right choice as he improved to 14-1 on the season after a decisive major decision victory over the weekend against Del Vinas of Kent State. Soria completely dominated his opponent as he eanred three takedowns and a three-point near fall en route to the 12-2 victory, his second straight win following his lone loss of the season to the 12th ranked grappler in the country. Soria stayed in the national rankings on Tuesday as he came in at #12 in the Open Mat rankings. Soria leads all active Bulls in career wins (74), dual wins (30), takedowns (86) and riding time points (18). The team captain will aim to rise in the rankings as the Bulls are in the midst of their dual meet season, beginning on Sunday with MAC foe Central Michigan.
RROK NDOKAJ IMPRESSES AGAINST KSU
After transferring to Buffalo last year following a season at Bloomsburg with head coach John Stutzman, Rrok Ndokaj has settled into a role with the Bulls that he looks comfortable with. Ndokaj has taken over the starting spot at 165 pounds and he has had a solid start to his redshirt sophomore campaign. He currently owns a 7-5 overall record to go along with a 4-2 dual meet record following his best win of the season last time out. Ndokaj was impressive on Saturday as he earned a 7-4 victory over Tyler Buckwalter of kent State. He started out the match with a quick takedown and never looked back as he finished the match earning the riding time point and three points for his squad.
ESTEVEZ EARNS HARD FOUGHT VICTORY
Seeing action for the first time since transferring to UB last spring, redshirt Freshman Jason Estevez has been a pleasant surprise for the Bulls as he has earned a 8-4 overall record and a 5-3 dual meet record at 141 pounds. The NJ native had his toughest match of the season last time out against nationally ranked Kent State but he was able to gut out a 2-1 win over Kyle Bauer. Estevez earned a late escape in the third period to earn the Bulls three points and the early 7-3 lead in the match. Estevez currently ranks second on the squad with 15 takedowns and has earned one victory by technical fall on the year.
YOUTHFUL BULLS GAINING EXPERIENCE
With a starting lineup that features only two seniors, Max Soria and Wally Maziarz, along with three true freshman, the UB Bulls roster is loaded with young talent. The Bulls have 27 grapplers on their current 30-man roster that have two or less years of wrestling experience at UB under their belts. Sean Peacock (12-7), Justin Cooksey (6-7) and Brett Perry (6-8) have earned solid experience already as they are in UB's starting lineup. Jake Gunning has been a pleasant surprise so far as he has compiled 22 wins while Rocco Russo led all grapplers at the NYS Championships with four pins while earning eight wins so far on the year.
STUTZMAN'S SECOND YEAR SUCCESS
After a standout career on the mats in Alumni Arena, John Stutzman will begin a new era of Buffalo wrestling as its head coach. After eight seasons developing Bloomsburg into a national power, Stutzman begins season two at Buffalo. Stutzman has a great reputition for being a winner, earning double digit victories in six of eight seasons at Bloomsburg. In his second season at his previous school, Stutzman led the Huskies to a record of 12-9 while having multiple grapplers qualify for the NCAA tournament. UB has already surpassed their win total from season one under Stutzman as they now have four wins on the season.
ROOSA AND GRANT ADDED TO THE COACHING STAFF
Looking to add some more familiarity to his program, head coach John Stutzman added a pair of coaches for the 2014-15 season. Stutzman added Josh Roosa as an assistant coach and Justin Grant as a volunteer assistant. Roosa graduated in 2012 from Bloomsburg where he was a national qualifier while wrestling for Stutzman. Roosa will work with the Bulls lighter weight wrestlers. Grant joins after graduating last season from Bloomsburg where he also wrestled for Stutzman for three season. The two-time national championships qualifier will work with the heavyweights.
NEW YORK BULLS INITIATIVE (NYBI)
Entering its second year, the New York Bulls Initiative (#NYBI) continues to broaden the awareness of The State Univeristy of New York, Buffalo athletics in an effort to build America's next big time college athletics brand. Danny White, University at Buffalo Director of Athletics, joined by Pete Augustine, President of New Era, announced the launch of NYBI in 2013 and the formation of a volunteer Board of Advisors to provide strategic guidance to the Bulls Athletics leadership team. As a member of the elite Association of American Universities (AAU) and the largest public university in SUNY system, this initiative will position The State University of New York, Buffalo as the premier athletic department in the state. Bulls Athletics has seen immediate returns as they have announced several new exciting strategic media partnerships, including deals with ESPN3 to broadcast all basketball and football games and ESPN Radio 1520, 50,000 watt powerhouse. In addition, the athletics department continues to enhance the tailgate experience with a free concert series from major recording stars.
PROJECTED BUFFALO LINEUP
125 #12 Max Soria 14-1 (6-1)
133 Sean Peacock 12-7 (5-3)
141 Jason Estevez 8-4 (5-3)
149 Justin Cooksey 6-7 (3-5)
157 Wally Maziarz 6-7 (1-3)
165 Rrok Ndokaj 7-5 (4-2)
174 Muhamid McBryde 4-9 (1-4)
184 Brett Perry 6-8 (1-0)
197 Joe Ariola 10-6 (5-3)
285 Ian James / James Benjamin 1-5 (0-3) / 9-4 (0-0)
PROJECTED CENTRAL MICHIGAN LINEUP
125 Brent Fleetwood 5-4 (1-4)
133 Tyler Keselring 5-4 (2-3)
141 #10 Zach Horan 3-2 (3-2)
149 Cody LeCount 6-1 (0-0)
157 Malcomb Martin 1-3 (1-3)
165 Jordan Atienza 4-2 (0-0)
174 Jordan Ellingwood 1-3 (2-3)
184 CJ Brucki 2-2 (0-0)
197 Jackson Lewis 2-3 (2-3)
285 Adam Robinson 2-2 (0-0)
