Missouri
Wrestling Welcomes #2 Missouri To Alumni Arena On Friday Night
2/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
MATCH NOTES (.PDF)
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo, The State University of New York wrestling team (5-10, 0-5 MAC) welcomes the #2 Missouri Tigers (18-0, 6-0 MAC) to Alumni Arena on Friday night for a 7:00 pm dual. The dual will air live on ESPN3 and is UB's fourth of five home duals for the Bulls this season.
ABOUT BUFFALO
UB returns home for their fourth of five home dual meets on Friday night as they welcome #2 Missouri to Alumni Arena for a conference dual. The Bulls are coming off of a disappointing 0-2 weekend where they were defeated by MAC foes Old Dominion and Ohio. One of the bright spots over the weekend for UB was freshman Sean Peacock, who won by major decision and pin in his two matches. The Clifton Spring, NY native has won his last four matches, two major decision victories and two pins, and now has a 17-11 overall record and a 10-5 dual meet record. Senior captain Max Soria has had a solid senior campaign for the Bulls as he owns a 19-6 record and a 10-4 dual meet record. UB owns a 5-10 record, their most wins since 2011-12.
ABOUT #2 MISSOURI
The #2 Missouri Tigers come to UB for just the second time on Friday night with an unblemished record of 18-0 on the season and a 6-0 MAC record. The Tigers currently have seven nationally-ranked grapplers in their starting lineup including #1 J'den Cox at 197-pounds. Cox currently owns a perfect 24-0 record including a 15-0 dual meet record as he aims to defend his national title from his true freshman campaign. Four Tigers currently rank inside the top-five in the nation as Alan Waters ranks second at 125-pounds, Lavion Mayes ranks fifth at 141-pounds and Johnny Eblen ranks fifth at 174-pounds. Missouri is coming off a dominant 33-6 victory over Northern Iowa last time out and also placed second at the Southern Scuffle.
UB PLAYS HOST TO #2 MISSOURI ON ESPN3 ON FRIDAY
The Bulls return to Alumni Arena on Friday night for a dual against #2 Missouri for their fourth of five home duals on ESPN3. The ESPN3 broadcast will be available on ESPN3 as well as the Watch ESPN app and will have live commentary with Kevin Sylvester (Play-by-play) and Eric Knuutila (Color). UB will be searching for their first home win of the season as they welcome the highest-ranked opponent all season to Alumni Arena.
BULLS DROP A PAIR OF ROAD CONFERENCE DUALS
UB was on the road last weekend for a pair of MAC dual meets and the results were not what they were expecting as they went 0-2 on the trip. The match against Old Dominion on Friday night started out promising as possible for UB as Sean Peacock opened the match with a pin just 3:48 into the match. The win for Peacock gave UB the 6-0 lead but UB lost the next eight matches, as they fell 33-12. On Saturday, the Ohio Bobcats jumped out to the dominant 24-0 lead after the first seven matches before UB won the final three en route to the 24-13 defeat in Athens.
PEACOCK SHINES FOR BULLS
Freshman Sean Peacock has been a pleasant surprise for the Bulls so far this season as he took over the starting spot at 133-pounds right away. Peacock has been on top of his game as of late, winning four straight matches for UB. Over his last four duals, Peacock has won two by pin and two by major decision as he improved his overall record to 17-11 and his dual meet mark to 10-5.
COTTEN LOOKS HEALTHY IN RETURN TO STARTING LINEUP
After starting the season on the sidelines due to injury, redshirt freshman Colt Cotten returned to the lineup two weeks ago with a bang, winning his first match back against Columbia by fall. The Benton, PA native has been impressive in his return as he owns a 2-1 record with his lone loss coming against the nations ninth ranked wrestler at 141-pounds. Both of Cotten's victories this season have come by fall.
SORIA CONTINUES TO LEAD BULLS IN VICTORIES
Choosing to stay at Buffalo for his fifth season, Max Soria seems to have made the right choice as he improved to 19-6 on the season after a perfect 2-0 mark last weekend. On Friday night against Old Dominion, Soria was dominant in his match against Josh Markham as he won by pin in 2:51. On Saturday against Ohio, Soria stated hot for the Bulls as he defeated Zachary Hassan by major decision, 10-3, giving him a team-best 19 victories on the season. In his win Saturday, Soria recorded his 100th career takedown in the final period of the match. Soria leads all active Bulls in career wins (79), dual wins (34), takedowns (100) and riding time points (20). The team captain will aim to jump back into the national rankings on Friday as he will take on Johnson Mai of Columbia.
YOUTHFUL BULLS STARTING LINEUP
With a starting lineup that features only two seniors and at least five true freshman, the UB Bulls roster is loaded with young talent that is ready to step up and change the culture of the UB wrestling program. With a roster that features 27 of 30 grapplers that have two years of college experience or less under their belts, the furture is bright for the Bulls as they are gaining valuable experience week in and week out. Leading the way for UB are Sean Peacock, Colt Cotten, Jason Estevez and Brett Perry.
FIVE WINS AND COUNTING
With the youngest starting lineup in the country, the UB Bulls have notched five wins on the year, improving on their three win output during John Stutzman's first year as head coach. The five wins for the Bulls are more than the last two seasons combined and the most wins in a season since the 2011-12 campaign when Buffalo won seven duals. The Bulls have multiple winable duals down the stretch, making the seven win total from three years ago well in reach of this year's team.
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 five 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.
PROBABLE UB STARTERS
125: Max Soria
133: Sean Peacock
141: Colt Cotten
149: Jason Estevez / Rocco Russo
157: Danny Graham
165: Rrok Ndokaj / Derek Holcomb
174: Wally Maziarz
184: Austin Weigel / Joe Ariola
197: James Benjamin
285: Mike Silvis
PROBABLE MISSOURI STARTERS
125: #2 Alan Waters
133: Zach Synon
141: #5 Lavion Mayes / Cole Baumgartner
149: Le'Roy Barnes
157: #9 Joey Lavallee
165: Mikey England
174: #5 Johnny Eblen / Cody Johnston
184: #14 Willie Miklus
197: #1 J'den Cox
285: #16 Devin Mellon
