College Weekend Recap: Duals, Opens and the Empire Collegiate Champs

This article is from 01/19/14

Here are some news and notes from the New York college wrestling landscape this weekend ...

Cornell Dominates Harvard, 33-6

Even with four nationally-ranked starters out of the lineup, the Big Red got off to a strong start in Ivy League action, topping Harvard 33-6 in Ithaca.

Bricker Dixon (125), Conner David (149) and Taylor Simaz (157), stepped into the starting spots for the missing stars and came out victorious to help the home team to a 16-3 advantage after the first five bouts.  Also winning in the early part of the dual was Mike Nevinger, who controlled the action in a 1-0 victory over Todd Preston at 141.

In the second half of the match, the Big Red captured four victories, including bonus point wins by Dylan Palacio (pin at 165) and Gabe Dean (technical fall at 184).

For more, see this link.

Columbia Continues Winning Ways With Three Dual Victories

Columbia cruised at home for the second straight week against a New York opponent, defeating Buffalo 24-9 after topping Binghamton earlier in January.  Winning for the Lions were Angelo Amenta (133), Ryan Ponte (149), Markus Scheidel (157), Josh Houldsworth (165), Shane Hughes (174), Zack Hernandez (184) and Wyatt Baker (285).

For more, see here.

On Sunday, the squad hit the road to take on a pair of foes in Washington D.C and the winning continued as the Lions bested Gardner-Webb (32-6) and American (20-13).

Going undefeated on the trip to the nation's capital were Shane Hughes (174, two bonus wins), Zack Hernandez (184), Angelo Amenta (133), Ryan Ponte (149) and Markus Scheidel (157).

For more, see here.

Bloomsburg Rally Leads to Win Over Hofstra

The Hofstra wrestlers found themselves in a 12-0 hole against Bloomsburg on Sunday on the road.  But, the squad fought back, capturing five of the next six matches, including a win by Joe Booth over nationally-ranked Josh Veltre at 165 to lead 21-15 with two bouts remaining.

However, the Huskies recorded a pin at 174 and then came out on top by decision at 184 to earn a 24-21 win over the Pride.  In addition to Booth, Hofstra received victories from Jamie Franco (125), Jamel Hudson (133), Luke Vaith (141) and Cody Ruggirello (149).

For more, see this link.

Army Defeats American With Seven Victories

The Black Knights collected a commanding 26-10 victory, fueled by a strong start.  Brian Harvey (174), Ryan Tompkins (184) and Bryce Barnes (197) began the meet with victories to give Army an early 9-0 lead.  Barnes topped #9 Daniel Mitchell of the Eagles.

After American responded with a pair of wins to cut the score to 9-7, the Black Knights nabbed four of the last five, including bonus points from Tyler Rauenzahn (fall at 141), Paul Hancock (major at 157) and Chandler Smith (major at 165).
For more, see this link.

Binghamton Splits Pair of Duals in Philadelphia

The Bearcats captured four victories on Friday night in a 22-13 loss against Penn, with David White (125), Dylan Caruana (149), Cody Reed (197) and Tyler Deuel (285) coming out on top.   Reed edged nationally-ranked Frank Mattiace, 4-3, while Deuel majored returning NCAA qualifier Steven Graziano, 12-2.

Binghamton ended the weekend on a high note, with a come-from-behind victory at Drexel. The squad trailed by seven entering the 197-pound bout, but senior Cody Reed responded with a technical fall to cut the Dragon advantage to 18-16.  And then heavyweight Tyler Deuel got the job done, registering a fall to give the Bearcats a 22-18 triumph.  125-pounder David White, 141-pounder Nick Tighe and 157-pounder Joe Bonaldi also earned victories for the team.

For more, see this link.

Ithaca Wins Empire Collegiate Wrestling Championships

Ithaca captured the Empire Collegiate Conference Championship in Williamsport, Pennsylvania over the weekend, with six finalists and three champions -  Alex Gomez (133), Eamonn Gaffney (149) and Kristopher Schimek (165).

Taking second, 18.5 points behind, was Cortland, which featured titlewinners Lou Puca (174), Joey Giaramita (197) and Lance Moore (285).

Brockport nabbed third, just one point behind Cortland, with Oneonta State fourth, RIT sixth, Alfred State seventh and SUNY Oswego eighth.

Additional champions from New York were Matthias Ellis of Brockport at 125 and Benjamin Mikac of Oneonta State at 141.

For full results, see www.trackwrestling.com.

New Yorkers Win Shorty Hitchcock Open

At the Shorty Hitchcock Open at Millersville, a number of wrestlers with New York ties placed in the top four.

Empire State natives Billy Watterson (Brown, 125) and Quinton Murphy (Clarion, 149) won titles.  In the silver position were Cornell's Marshall Peppelman (165) and Columbia's Troy Hembury (197).  Penn's Harrison Cook (Mount Kisco) nabbed third at 197 while Ty Walter of the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club and the Big Red's Billy George were fourth, at 174 and 184, respectively.

Empire State Wrestlers Place at the Purple Raider Open

Niagara CCC and Jamestown Community College each had a pair of placers at the Purple Raider Open in Ohio.  For the former, it was runner up Eric Velez at 125 and fifth place medalist El Shaddai Van Hoesen at 285.  Jake Nicholson and Austin Lynn were both sixth, at 133 and 184, respectively, for Jamestown.

Two former NYS champions representing Edinboro made the medal stand.  Nick Mitchell won the title at 174 and Sam Recco was sixth at 141.