UB Wrestling Heads West For A Trio Of Duals
1/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
MATCH NOTES (.PDF)
WATCH NORTHERN IOWA DUAL
WATCH SOUTH DAKOTA STATE DOUBLE DUAL
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo, The State University of New York wrestling team (4-5, 0-2 MAC) will hit the road for a trio of duals this weekend. The Bulls will head to Mid-American Conference foe Northern Iowa on Saturday at 3:00 pm before heading to South Dakota State for duals with Dakota Wesleyan and the Jackrabbits.
SETTING THE SCENE:
- The Bulls hit the road this weekend for three duals, their first dual since December 14 against Central Michigan.
- The Bulls have had two weekends this season in which they have competed in at least three duals.
- Northern Iowa enters Saturday's match with a 4-3 overall record on the season and a 1-0 MAC mark.
- Dakota Wesleyan is a division II NAIA school and they have an overall record of 0-3 on the year.
- South Dakota State enters Sunday's match with an overall record of 3-5 on the season.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS:
Northern Iowa
The Northern Iowa Panthers enter Saturday's dual with an overall record of 4-3 including a 1-0 Mid-American Conference mark. The Panthers defeated Eastern Michigan last time out by the score of 24-15 to collect their first MAC win of the season. The Panthers lineup is led by sophomore Dylan Peters who currently ranks #5 in the country at 125-pounds with a record of 13-2 on the year.
Dakota Wesleyan
The Dakota Wesleyan Tigers enter Sunday's matchup with the Bulls with an overall record of 0-5 on the year. The Tigers are coming off of a loss to Buena Vista University last time out. The Tigers are led by 10 upperclassmen and a lineup that features three freshman.
South Dakota State
The South Dakota State Jackrabbits enter Sunday's match with an overall record of 3-5 on the year and a 0-0 record in conference action. The Jackrabbits are coming off of a 31-6 loss at the hands of the Kent State Golden Flashes in their last dual. The Jackrabbits just finished up action at the Midlands where #7 Cody Pack took home second place at 157-pounds.
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 4-5 start. UB has picked up victories against Campbell, Appalachian State, Cumberland and Sacred Heart so far this season.
BULLS HEAD WEST FOR THREE WEEKEND DUALS
The Bulls return to their dual meet schedule this weekend as they have three duals out west. On Saturday afternoon the Bulls will take on MAC foe Northern Iowa at 3:00 pm. The Panthers own a 4-3 overall record and a 1-0 MAC mark. On Sunday, the Bulls will take on Dakota Wesleyan and South Dakota State, both on the campus of South Dakota State. The Dakota Wesleyan match will start at 12:00 pm while the South Dakota State dual will begin at 2:30 pm.
BULLS GAIN EXPERIENCE AT THE SOUTHERN SCUFFLE
Entering the toughest tournament in the country with an inexperienced team may not be the best choice for most coaches but UB wrestling head coach John Stutzman took the Southern Scuffle challenge as a learning experience for his young squad. Although the Bulls did not compete up to the standards Stutzman had hoped, the Bulls gained loads of experience that will only help them down the road in one of the toughest conferences in the country. Picking up victories for the Bulls were Jason Estevez at 141-pounds, Max Soria at 125-pounds, Justin Cooksey at 149-pounds and Brett Perry at 184-pounds.
SORIA RANKED 17th 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 16-3 on the season after a 1-2 mark at the Southern Scuffle this past weekend. Soria backed up his second straight MAC dual win over Central Michigan with a opening victory, 4-1 decision, at the Southern Scuffle against his opponent from Pittsburgh. He was unable to collect another victory however, losing to two tough opponents. Soria stayed in the national rankings on Tuesday as he came in at #17 in the Open Mat rankings. Soria leads all active Bulls in career wins (76), dual wins (31), takedowns (89) and riding time points (19). The team captain will aim to rise in the rankings as the Bulls are in the midst of their dual meet season, beginning this weekend with three duals out west.
ESTEVEZ MAKES SECOND DAY AT SOUTHERN SCUFFLE
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 10-7 overall record and a 5-4 dual meet record at 141 pounds. The NJ native earned a victory in his first career MAC dual against Kent State as he grinded out a 2-1 win over Kyle Bauer. This past weekend at the prestigous Southern Scuffle, Estevez collected a 1-1 record on the opening day of the tournament to advance to the championship round on Friday. In his first match Friday, Estevez had a strong showing as he earned a 10-6 decision victory over his opponent from Penn State. Unfortunetly for Estevez, in his next match he had to forfeit due to injury, ending his run at the tournament.
YOUTHFUL BULLS GAINING EXPERIENCE
With a starting lineup that features only two seniors, Max Soria and Wally Maziarz, along with four 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 (13-9), Justin Cooksey (7-10) and Brett Perry (7-11) 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.
NDOKAJ STARTS 2-0 IN CONFERENCE DUALS
Redshirt sophomore Rrok Ndokaj has had a strong start to his 2014-15 season after a up and down first year with the Bulls last year after transferring from Bloomsburg. Ndokaj currently owns a 8-7 overall record but an impressive 5-2 dual meet record including back-to-back MAC dual wins to start the conference slate. Ndokaj dominated his Kent State opponent in his first MAC dual, winning 7-4, and last time out downed his opponent from Central Michigan, 5-3, in a hard fought battle.
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 UB LINEUP
125 #17 Max Soria - 16-3 (7-1)
133 Sean Peacock - 13-9 (6-3)
141 Jason Estevez - 10-7 (5-4)
Rocco Russo - 8-6 (0-0)
149 Justin Cooksey - 7-10 (3-6)
157 Alex Smythe - 4-9 (1-3)
165 Rrok Ndokaj - 8-7 (5-2)
174 Muhamid McBryde - 4-12 (1-5)
Wally Maziarz - 6-10 (1-4)
184 Brett Perry Fr. 7-11 (1-1)
197 Joe Ariola - 10-9 (5-4)
James Benjamin - 9-6 (0-0)
285 Mike Silvis - 6-9 (2-3)
