Grapplers Finish Seventh At Brockport

The UB wrestling team opened its season Saturday with a seventh-place finish in a competitive 11-team field at SUNY Brockport.

Four Bulls placed sixth or higher at the competition.

"It's a heck of an opening because you're wrestling Ohio State, you're wrestling Oklahoma, and some of these other teams that aren't necessarily Big 10 or Big 12 teams are very good. Kent State has an excellent team this year. Cleveland State had a very good team," said UB head coach Jim Beichner. "It's a tough tournament and that's why we're here. We wanted to come in here and get experience."

Although the end result was not exactly what the Bulls were shooting for going into Saturday's competition, the Bulls wrestled well in close matches and in turn, the team is hoping to learn from the mistakes they made.

"It's about the little things. We made a lot of dumb mistakes," said sophomore Mark Budd, who lost in an overtime match in the 133-pound consolation semifinals.

The Bulls said they hope that these "dumb mistakes" can be avoided in the future with a little hard work and a more mature attitude.

"I would say certainly we're not pleased because you want to do better. We have five or six freshmen in the line-up," Beichner said. "It's a very young team, maybe the youngest team I've ever had, but as long as they stick together and don't let it get them down as long as they keep working hard this team will get better."

One aspect of the tournament that the Bulls can be pleased about is the fact that four of their wrestlers placed sixth or higher.

Redshirt freshman Mike Ragusa finished sixth at 165 pounds, another redshirt freshman, Dana Gingerich (141 pounds) and sophomore Pat Lloyd (149 pounds) both took home fourth place finishes and sophomore Mark McKnight finished second at 125 pounds.

After losing in the semifinals to nationally ranked Matt Storniolo of Oklahoma University, UB's Pat Lloyd beat Ohio State's Stephen Wolery 4-3. He then lost in a close match to Ohio State's Ryan Needle to take fourth.

"Pat Lloyd had one of his best tournaments. This was a very tough tournament and that was a very good weight class. I thought he did an extremely good job," said Beichner.

The highlight of the day for the Bulls came when Buffalo's Mark McKnight, ranked seventh in the country, and Oklahoma's Sam Hazewinkle, ranked first the country, faced off in the finals of the 125-pound weight class.

Hazewinkle defeated McKnight, 6-1. Both McKnight and coach Beichner felt that Hazewinkle controlled the style of the match.

"We wanted that match-up with Hazewinkle because he's ranked number one in the country. We got that match-up. I don't think Mark wrestled his style. I think Hazewinkle was able to dictate the style of the match and I think that's why he (McKnight) ultimately lost. But that's why we're here. We want to wrestle those people," said Beichner.

McKnight knew going into the finals that he was going to have a tough match against a wrestler that he has a lot of respect for.

"My plan was to wrestle seven minutes and I probably only wrestled half that, hence the reason why he had three and half minutes riding time and I spent the majority of the match with my face in the mat," said McKnight. "I have to wrestle my style. I wrestled more his style, more passive. I'm go, go, attack. I need to be more aggressive on my feet and get out on bottom."

The Bulls hope to build on Saturday's experience as they prepare to face Bloomsburg in Thursday's home opener. The Bulls said they are eager to even their season record in front of the UB home crowd.

"We're prepared for a good team. Bloomsburg is a very good young team; they're all big and strong. I think our guys will be ready though, they always have been and I expect them to do well," said coach Beichner.

Thursday's match against Bloomsburg will be held in Alumni Arena. The meet is set to begin at 7 p.m.