Second to One

In last year's New York State Collegiate Championships, the Buffalo Bulls were second to none as they edged out Army for the win.

This time they were second to one.

Buffalo, with 135.5 points, finished second to Army, who took the title with a commanding 178.5 points.

Nineteen teams took part in the tournament, including Nassau Community College, Erie Community College, Columbia University, New York University and Cornell.

Though the Bulls didn't take home the title, the team landed four individual weight class winners - a tournament high. Mike Trotta (141 pounds), Ed Pawlak (174 pounds), Kyle Cerminara (197 pounds) and Greg Thomas (heavyweight) took home top honors.

For Cerminara, his 3-2 decision over SUNY Brockport's Mike Cuffie puts him at 26-3 overall for the season. For his career, Cerminara is now at 83 wins with 27 losses.

In the 141-pound championship match, Trotta edged out Cornell's Justin Lijo with a 3-1 decision. Trotta, a former Nassau Community College wrestler, improved his record to 22-13 on the season.

Pawlak took top honors in the 174-pound class, beating NCC's Hanif Abdush-Shahid 12-2. Pawlak is now 28-5 on the season and is 62-31 in his college career.

The heavyweight class brought another transfer from NCC, as Greg Thomas took down Army's James Hollis, 2-1. Thomas is now 13-16 (overall) on the season.

While UB dominated the upper weight classes, the lower weight class cost UB the title, although freshman Patrick Lloyd finished third in the 149-pound weight class.

With the non-conference schedule almost out of the way for the Bulls, UB is gearing up for the tail end of its schedule. Buffalo hosts Ohio University at 1 p.m. on Feb. 1 and hosts Central Michigan at 7 p.m. on Feb. 7.