College Weekend Roundup: From Boston to Pittsburgh to Des Moines

This article is from 01/13/14

Here's a look at some of the college wrestling action for Empire State teams over the weekend, from Boston to Pittsburgh to the National Duals in Des Moines.

Cornell Dominates Rival Lehigh, 33-7

Cornell-Lehigh duals have often been close in recent years.  That wasn't the case on Sunday, however, as the Big Red won eight of 10 matches to nab a dominant 33-7 victory.

Cornell led 7-4 after the first three bouts, with wins by Nahshon Garrett at 125 and a major by Mike Nevinger at 141.  Then came two "swing" matches featuring ranked wrestlers on both sides.  The Ivy league squad took them both, with Chris Villalonga using strong mat wrestling to win 3-0 at 149 over Midlands champ Mitch Minotti and Brian Realbuto decisively beating returning EIWA titlewinner Joey Napoli by an 8-0 score at 157.  

That gave the Big Red a commanding 14-4 advantage going into the break.  The second half of the dual was similar, however, with Cornell winning four of five contests, all by bonus points.  Dylan Palacio (165) and Jace Bennett (197) both earned majors, while Gabe Dean (184) collected a technical fall and Jacob Aiken-Phillips took a forfeit at heavyweight.

For more, see here.

Columbia Tops Binghamton in New York City

Two New York teams met in the Big Apple on Friday night with host Columbia defeating Binghamton 24-9.

The Lions captured seven of the 10 bouts, including bonus point wins by Matt Bystol (141), Markus Scheidel (157) and Shane Hughes (174).  Also coming out on top for the victorious team were Angelo Amenta (133), Ryan Ponte (149), Josh Houldsworth (165) and Zack Hernandez (184).

For more, see this link from the Columbia Athletics site.

But on Sunday, the Bearcats Earn a Win

But Binghamton wasn't finished for the weekend.  The Bearcats went from NYC to Beantown for the Boston University Duals.  The squad went 1-1, topping Brown (23-17) and falling against Harvard (22-15).

In the victory over Brown, the teams split the 10 matches, however bonus points were the difference.  David White picked up a technical fall at 125, Tyler Deuel registered a pin at heavyweight and the Bearcats received a forfeit at 141.

Harvard jumped out to a 22-6 lead after seven matches and while the Bearcats rebounded with wins by Caleb Wallace, Cody Reed and Tyler Deuel, it wasn't quite enough.

For more, see this link.

Army Collects a Pair of Wins at the Boston Duals

The Black Knights won two of three duals in Boston on Sunday, defeating Harvard (25-13) and Brown (28-12) while dropping a two-point dual against the host Terriers.

Army won seven bouts against Brown and six versus the Crimson.  Hunter Wood (125), Paul Hancock (157), Chandler Smith (165) and Brian Harvey (174) all had wins in both of those meets.

Against Boston, the Black Knights fell behind 15-3, but worked their way back with three consecutive victories, including a major by Ryan Tompkins at 184 and a pin at 197 by Bryce Barnes to take the lead 16-15.  However, Kevin Innis notched a decision at heavyweight to make the final score 18-16 in favor of Boston.

For more, see here.

Princeton Defeats Hofstra

Princeton and Hofstra both won five matches in Friday's dual meet between EIWA squads, however, the Tigers had more bonus point victories in a 22-19 result.

Winning for the Pride were Jamie Franco (major at 125), Jamel Hudson (technical fall at 133), Cody Ruggirello (149), Joe Booth (major at 165) and Michael Hughes (285).

For more, see this link.

Buffalo Picks Up a Win at the Pittsburgh Duals

The Bulls defeated Seton Hill on Sunday in the Keystone State by a 38-0 score, while dropping duals to North Carolina, Duke and Pittsburgh.

Leading the way for Buffalo were wrestlers who went 3-1 during the day - Wally Maziarz (157) and Angelo Malvestuto (197).   In addition, Mike Soria upended nationally-ranked Nathan Kraisser of the Tar Heels, a 2013 NCAA qualifier, 9-5, at 125.

For more, see this link.

National Duals!

At the NJCAA National Duals, a pair of New York teams went 1-2.  Nassau began with a 28-9 victory over Iowa Western before falling to Ellsworth and Rochester.  Winning three times for the squad were Alexis Blanco (149) and Kyle Wade (157).

Meanwhile, Niagara ended with a victory, topping Labette 31-18.  According to Track Wrestling, the team was unbeaten at 149 (Kevin Strong and Jude Gardner), 157 (Tyler Bruce) and 285 (Jim Donner and El Shaddai Van Hoesen).

For more, see www.trackwrestling.com and search for "NWCA NJCAA National Duals".

New York University competed at the Division III National Duals, going 0-3.  141-pounder Brandon Jones won all three of his bouts, while John Messinger picked up two victories at 165.

For more, see www.trackwrestling.com and search for "NWCA Division III National Duals."