Bulls Set For Home Opening Dual Against MAC Foe #25 Kent State On Saturday
12/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Match Notes (.PDF)
WATCH HERE: ESPN3 Link
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo, the State University of New York wrestling team (4-3, 0-0 MAC) opens up their home slate of duals on Saturday against MAC foe #25 Kent State at 7:00 pm inside Alumni Arena. The Bulls started their season on the road for a month and compiled four wins in seven matches, surpassing last season's win total of three wins.
Fans can watch the action at www.ESPN3.com or on the Watch ESPN App on a smartphone. Updates will also be posted on the official UB Wrestling twitter account (@UB_Wrestling).
SETTING THE SCENE....
The Bulls are set to host their first home dual of the 2014 season as they play host to MAC foe #25 Kent State at Alumni Arena at 7:00 pm on Saturday.
The dual 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.
Kent State will be the second nationally ranked opponent the Bulls have faced this year as they matched up against #18 Rutgers last weekend.
The Kent State starting lineup features three nationally ranked grapplers while #13 Max Soria is the lone nationally ranked UB grappler in the starting lineup.
The Bulls have eight grapplers in their starting lineup with at least six wins and a winning record on the season.
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 4-3 start. UB has picked up victories against Campbell, Appalachian State, Cumberland and Sacred Heart so far this season.
BULLS HOST FIRST HOME DUAL OF 2014
After posting a 4-3 dual meet record and being on the road for a month to open their season, the Buffalo wrestling team returns home for their first home dual on Saturday night. The Bulls will play host to MAC foe Kent State at Alumni Arena in front of the Buffalo faithful at 7:00 pm. The Bulls have had a surprising start to the season under second year head coach John Stutzman as they have a 4-3 dual meet record, surpassing last year's win total of three in just the first month of action.
NORTHEAST DUALS PREPARE BULLS FOR DUAL SEASON
Coming off a strong performance at the NYS Collegiate Championships, the Bulls traveled to Albany for the Northeast Duals. UB finished the event with a 1-2 overall record. The Bulls opened up with a strong performance against Sacred Heart as they downed the Pioneers by the score of 32-12. Senior Max Soria opened up the dual with a pin while freshman Sean Peacock back that up with a pin of his own to give UB the early 12-0 lead. Also picking up victories against Sacred Heart were Jason Estevez, Justin Cooksey, Wally Maziarz, Tony Lock and Joe Ariola. The Bulls ended up on the losing side in the next two duals as they lost a hard fought battle to nationally ranked Wyoming and lost 27-9 against Rutgers.
SORIA MAINTAINS NATIONAL RANKING
Choosing to stay at Buffalo for his fifth season, Max Soria seems to have made the right choice as he improved to 13-1 on the season after a 2-1 weekend . His lone loss on the season came in overtime against #12 Tyler Cox of Wyoming, 19-17. Soria stayed in the national rankings on Tuesday as he came in at #13. The Kings Park, NY native defeated his opponent from Sacred Heart by fall and then defeated his opponent from Rutgers by decision, 3-1. Soria leads all active Bulls in career wins (73), dual wins (29), takedowns (83) and riding time points (17). The team captain will aim to rise in the rankings as the Bulls enter the meat of their dual meet season this weekend against Kent State.
MAZIARZ BACK TO 100 PERCENT
Fifth-year senior captain Wally Maziarz, the unquestioned leader of a young squad, seems to be back to 100 percent following an offseason injury saw him miss time early on this season. The North Tonawanda native went 1-2 in his first dual meets of the season last weekend at the Northeast Duals. Maziarz won his first dual of the afternoon as he downed his opponent from Sacred Heart by decision, 4-1. He had a hard fought battle against his opponent from Wyoming next but he was denied the victory, losing by a 3-2 decision. For the season he has compiled a 6-6 overall record while ranking second on the team, behind fellow captain Max Soria, with 54 wins, 13 dual meet wins, 24 takedowns and seven riding time points for his successful career.
JOE ARIOLA IMPRESSIVE IN FIRST SEASON
Coming to Buffalo as one of the prized recruits for first-year head coach John Stutzman a season ago, Joe Ariola has lived up to those expectations this season in his redshirt freshman campaign. The Oak Park, Illinois native has had a strong start to the season as he has compiled a 10-5 overall record to go along with a 5-2 dual meet record. The redshirt freshman has earned the starting spot at 197-pounds and has not disappointed. Ariola was one of only two Bulls, Max Soria the other, to earn two wins last weekend at the Northeast Duals. Ariola picked up a 10-2 major decision victory over Sacred Heart and then a 7-4 decision victory against #18 Rutgers.
YOUTHFUL BULLS GAINING EXPERIENCE
With a starting lineup that features only one senior, Max Soria, 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 (12-6), Justin Cooksey (6-6) and Ian James (1-5) 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 matched their win total from season one under Stutzman as they have four wins so far.
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.
