It was déjà vu at Alumni Arena this past weekend as the wrestling team began its 2009-10 campaign.
The Bulls unlocked the equipment cages and took the mats out of storage on Sunday as they began individual competitions. It was no easy task for Buffalo's wrestlers as they welcomed some of the top competition in the East to the seventh annual UB Open.
After finishing nine wrestlers inside the top six at last year's tournament, Buffalo found identical success at this season's non-scoring event. Wrestling unattached, the Bulls once again finished with nine wrestlers in the top six.
'It was a really good quality tournament and a really good way to start the season,' said head coach Jim Beichner. 'It was a lot of good experience and a lot of good matches for the guys. We had 60 wins and that's with a pretty young team, a lot of freshmen and sophomores, a couple juniors and a few seniors. So I think we were pretty happy.'
The story of the day revolved around sophomore sensation Desi Green.
After finishing last season with a 40-9 overall record, Green entered the season as the No. 16 ranked wrestler in the nation. Looking to redeem himself after a disappointing sixth-place finish in the 157-pound division at last year's open, Green had high expectations entering Sunday.
After dropping to a lower weight class in the offseason, Green swept through five-straight matches in the 149-pound division to capture his first career UB Open championship.
'Desi [Green] dominated every opponent in the tournament,' Beichner said. 'He had a ridiculous amount of takedowns. He wrestled extremely well [and was] very focused. He's in very good shape and went out there with really good confidence.'
Green took the competition by storm and proved that his national ranking was no fluke.
In his first match of the season, Green defeated Pittsburgh's Ian Heist with a 26-10 technical fall victory. He followed up his first round performance by pinning Jordan Powell of No. 12 Edinboro in just 2:36. In the quarterfinals, Green earned his second technical fall of the afternoon against the two-time Division II national qualifier, Kayne Melko from West Liberty State.
After whipping through the semifinals in a 10-3 decision against unattached wrestler, Craig Efert, Green met Jon Kohler of No. 10 Maryland. Green took quick advantage of the reigning Edinboro Open champion and never looked back. Despite a late mistake that allowed Kohler to regain his composure, the Terrapin proved to be no match for Green, who took a 10-7 decision.
'He's a leader by example,' Beichner said. 'We ask our guys to go out there with the attitude that you want to dominate, beat and break somebody. Desi [Green] went out there and probably broke every guy he wrestled. He went out there and showed a real good nature of competition- not only to win, but to dominate, and that's what he did.'
Green wasn't the only nationally ranked Bull that improved on his performance from last year's tournament.
After finishing third in the Open in 2008, junior Jimmy Hamel took second place in the 197-pound field.
Ranked No. 20 in the country, Hamel earned three decisive victories to garner a spot in the championship match. With no decision at the end of three periods, Hamel and Matt Wilps of Pittsburgh continued to battle in overtime. With neither wrestler scoring in the extra period, the two faced off in the 30-second overtime session.
Unfortunately for Hamel, Wilps earned an extra escape to win the 197-pound title, 2-1.
'Throughout the day, Hamel was pretty conservative,' Beichner said. 'He has a goal to be an All-American this year and in order for him to achieve that goal, he can't be as conservative as he was this weekend. He did wrestle well, but we feel he's better than he wrestled. We know there's better things ahead.'
In one of the most impressive performances of the day, sophomore Kevin Smith defeated No. 14 Jimmy Conroy of Pittsburgh, 5-3, en route to finishing second in the 133-pound bracket. Despite falling in the championship match to Maryland's Division I All-American, No. 8 Steve Bell, Beichner knows Smith's potential this season is sky-high.
'That was a great first win for him in the opening of the season,' Beichner said. 'We felt he wrestled extremely well. He lost in the finals to a returning All-American, but we know he learned a lot from that match because we think Kevin is going to be a contender for an All-American spot. We really believe in his talents and ability.'
Sophomore Dylan Dabolt and freshmen Justin Farmer and Sean Walton each finished inside the top six of the 125-pound weight class. Freshman Andrew Schutt placed fourth at 141 pounds, while redshirt-freshman Josh Peters finished third at 184.
Green, Hamel and Smith will lead Buffalo into action this Saturday for the team's first dual meet against Ashland. Matches are set to begin at noon at Alumni Arena.
'We're looking to dominate [Ashland],' Beichner said. 'We have a very young team and a very good attitude. Our guys will keep one thing in mind. When we go out to wrestle, we're not going out to win by point. We're going out to whoop somebody's butt, and that's the goal of our program.'
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