Bulls Finish in Third Place at the New York State Championships

OSWEGO, NY – The University at Buffalo wrestling team recorded a third place-finish at the 41st annual New York State Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships held Sunday at Newman Arena on the campus of Cornell University. The reigning champion Bulls scored 149.5 points behind Army (158) and sixth nationally-ranked host Cornell (194). Sophomore John-Martin Cannon captured the 165-pound crown by upsetting 16th nationally-ranked Justin Kerber of Cornell, 3-1, in overtime.

Cannon captured the Bulls' lone individual crown of the championships at 165. On Saturday, Cannon scored a fall followed by a major decision to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, the sophomore posted a 6-4 decision over Matt Kaylor of Binghamton in the second overtime period to reach the championships. After finishing in third place last year, Cannon earned his first trip to the finals where he would record the biggest victory of his career, defeating 16th nationally-ranked Kerber of Cornell in the first overtime period, 3-1.

Reigning 133-pound champion, sophomore Kevin Smith finished in second place. The 19th nationally-ranked wrestler earned a 4-2 decision over fourth nationally-ranked Chad Winowich of Ithaca to record his 50th overall career victory. In the championship bout, Smtih faced seventh nationally-ranked Mike Grey of Cornell. Earlier in the season at the Body Bar Invitational, Smith defeated then sixth nationally-ranked Grey, 8-5. This time around, Grey would defeat Smith, 5-2, to earn the individual title.

Sophomore Desi Green captured his third consecutive major decision at this year's championships by defeating Ithaca's Blaine Woszczak, 12-4, to open the day. In a rematch of last year's 149-pound championship, 16th nationally-ranked Green fell to seventh nationally-ranked and the championships' Most Outstanding Wrestler Matt Kyler of Army in the second overtime period, 2-1.
In order to reach the 197-pound championship, junior Jimmy Hamel faced 14th nationally-ranked Richard Starks of Army, who defeated him last year for the title. Hamel came out on top, defeating Starks, 4-2 in the second overtime period by sudden victory. In the championship bout, Hamel squared off against fifth nationally-ranked Cam Simaz of Cornell. Simaz posted a 14-2 major decision over Hamel to capture the 197-pound title.

In the 125-pound weight class, senior Dan Bishop opened the day with a 1-0 loss to Lance Penhale of Army in the semifinals. In wrestleback action, Bishop posted a pair of victories to finish in third place.

At 184, redshirt-freshman Josh Peters finished in third place by picking up a pair of decisions in the consolations after falling to Nate Holley of Cornell in the semifinals.

In his first ever appearance, freshman Andrew Schutt finished in fourth place at 141. The freshman collected three straight victories in the consolation rounds including a 16-1 technical fall before falling to Jeremy Stierly of Ithaca, 8-1, for his fourth place-finish.

Also making his first ever appearance in the "A" brackets, redshirt-freshman Matt Bogardus finished in sixth place. Bogardus entered this year's tournament as the reigning "B" bracket champion at 174. The redshirt-freshman earned a fall followed by a technical fall before bowing out of the competition due to injury while still finishing in sixth place. Also, placing in the 174-pound bracket was junior transfer Brian Sheehan. In his first appearance, Sheehan finished in eighth place as he would have to default in the seventh-place bout due to an injury.

After spending over a month on the road, the Bulls (7-4-1) will return home on Saturday, January 30 as they host MAC opponent Ohio in their conference home opener at 1:00 pm. On that day, the Bulls and the Division of Athletics will host "Takedown Cancer" to benefit former UB wrestling captain and 2008 graduate Jeff Parker as well as Carly's Club in Buffalo, part of the Roswell Park Cancer Center, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA, Jeff's hometown.