Wrestling Set For Battle On Sunday At The Northeast Duals
11/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo, The State University of New York wrestling team (2-0, 0-0 MAC) returns to the mat on Sunday, November 15 as they will travel to Albany, NY for the Northeast Duals. The Bulls will have duals against Springfield College, #21 West Virginia and Lock Haven on Sunday.
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The University at Buffalo, the State University of New York wrestling team is coming off of a great start to their 2015-16 campaign in the opening weekend as UB finished off the Terrapin Duals with a 2-0 record. The Bulls defeated Davidson, 47-0 and then picked up a very impressive 19-13 victory over the Maryland Terrapins from the Big Ten. The win over Maryland proves that the Bulls are headed in the right direction of former UB wrestler and current head coach John Stutzman. The massive improvement in talent and effort since Stutzman has taken over the reigns of the program has been very noticable and lends good for future success for the Bulls.
BULLS HEAD TO THE NORTHEAST DUALS ON SUNDAY
The Bulls will hit the road for their second consecutive road weekend of the season on Sunday as they head to Albany to take part in the Northeast Duals. The Bulls are scheduled to grapple against Springfield College, #21 West Virginia and Lock Haven. All three will be difficult tests for the Bulls who had a great start to their 2015-16 campaign at the Terrapin Duals, going 2-0. The Bulls hardest test will come against nationally-ranked West Virginia in the second dual of the afternoon. UB will then wrap up the afternoon with another tough match against Lock Haven.
SIX BULLS WRAP UP OPENING WEEKEND UNBEATEN
The Bulls opened up their season with two dual meet victories at the Terrapin Duals which meant most of the UB lineup tasted success early on. The Bulls had six grapplers finish the weekend with 2-0 records and four guys went 1-1. The six guys that went 2-0 were Joe Ariola, James Benjamin, Colt Cotten, Kyle Akins, Muhamed McBryde and Tyler Rill. James Benjamin was the most impressive of all UB grapplers, winning both of his matches by large margins.
BENJAMIN NAMED UB ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Junior James Benjamin put in one of his best performances of his UB career at the Terrapin Duals on opening weekend as he finished 2-0 with a pair of decisive wins. Benjamin was named UB Athlete of the Week after pinning his opponent from Davidson and then collecting a major decision, 11-2, victory over his opponent from the Big Ten school, Maryland. Benjamin now has 21 career victories for the Bulls.
ARIOLA EMBRACING MOVE TO 184 POUNDS
After a slow start to his redshirt freshman campaign, coach Stutzman moved Joe Ariola from 197-pounds down to 184-pounds and something seemed to click. Ariola won his final two MAC duals of the season by major decision and decision as he closed out the year with a 14-11 record. The redshirt sophomore started off his 2015-16 campaign on the right foot, winning both of his duals in decisive fashion over Davidson and Maryland.
BULLS TO LEAN ON YOUTHFUL LINEUP
After a season full of ups and downs, the Bulls will be leaning on a youthful lineup in 2015-16 as they will be starting three freshman and four sophomores to start the season. Although the Bulls youthful lineup looks inexperienced on paper, these Bulls have been competing at high levels for years. The three freshman all competed last year in tournaments for the Bulls as they used their redshirts while the sophomores have been in the program under an energized Stutzman for three years now. The UB coaching staff is relying on their talented young players to create a winning culture at Buffalo and lead UB back to the top of one of the best conferences in the NCAA, the MAC.
NCAA QUALIFIERS APLENTY
The growth of the Buffalo wrestling program has been noticable not only locally but also nationally. Over the past seven seasons, the Bulls have produced 21 NCAA qualifying wrestlers after only producing six during the previous five seasons. Buffalo set a program record during the 2011 campaign as they had six wrestlers qualify for NCAA's. As a program, the Bulls have notched 45 NCAA qualifiers since the 1996 season.
FECHKO AND GRANT ADDED TO COACHING STAFF
Looking to add some more familiarity to his program, head coach John Stutzman added a pair of new assistant coaches for the 2015-16 season. The first move Stutzman made this offseason was the hiring of Craig "Boomer" Fechko to take over as his lead assistant. Fechko comes to Buffalo from Dakota Wesleyan where he was the head coach for one season. He previously served as a volunteer assistant at Bloomsburg for John Stutzman during the 2012-13 season. Fechko will work with the Bulls lightweights. Stutzman then promoted Justin Grant from Volunteer assistant to assistant coach after one season at Buffalo. Grant wrestled for Stutzman at Bloomsburg and was a NCAA qualifier at 285-pounds for the Huskies. Grant will work with the Bulls heavyweights this season.
Projected UB lineup:
125: Kyle Akins
133: Bryan Lantry
141: Jason Estevez
149: Colt Cotten
157: Tim Schaefer
165: Tyler Rill
174: Muhamed McBryde
184: Joe Ariola
197: James Benjamin
285: Jake Gunning
