Buffalo takes third at New York State Championships

Some of the best wrestlers in the Empire State made their way to Alumni Arena this past weekend to participate in the New York State Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships. A total of 16 schools came to the 38th annual tournament, ranging from nationally-ranked Division I programs to community colleges.

The Bulls were able to finish in third place and win one individual title. The No. 24 nationally-ranked Columbia Lions won the overall team championship and secured six individual titles. Army came in second place.

Four Buffalo wrestlers advanced to the finals, but only one was able to secure an individual title. Senior 133-pounder Mark Budd was thwarted in his attempt to secure his third New York State Championship, losing to Army's William Simpson, 4-3.

"One of our hardest workers, our hardest guys, took a loss that he probably shouldn't have," said head coach Jim Beichner. "I really don't have a problem with how he wrestled this weekend, he just couldn't get it done. We all feel for the kid because he's such a hard worker. The good news is that this wasn't the MACs or Nationals. Hopefully he'll use this to drive himself into an All-American spot and maybe a national title."

Into the last minute of the match, Budd led Simpson 2-1 when Simpson voluntarily gave up an escape to the 12th-ranked wrestler in Division 1. The decision was initially very questionable, because Simpson had earned an additional point for riding time, which would have sent the match into overtime. The risk paid off for Simpson in the end as he managed to record a takedown on Budd for two points and win the 133-pound individual title, 4-3.

"It was a risky move that we thought would fail," Beichner said. "When you have a guy as experienced as Budd, we thought that was going to give us that win. Simpson though is no slouch. He is a very tough competitor and is very confident."

The nationally-unranked Simpson was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler for his efforts in the upset over Budd.

Buffalo's lone individual championship came on the back of freshman 149-pounder Jason Hilliard. Entering the tournament as the fourth seed, Hilliard beat New York University's Eugene Kobilansky in the semifinals 12-2. Kobilansky is the seventh nationally-ranked 149-pound wrestler in Division III. Hilliard then claimed his first New York State Championship by winning over Matt Dunn of Columbia, 6-4, in the finals.

"It was pretty exciting," Hilliard said. "It feels good to get that first college tournament win. It was a hard fought match. (Dunn) was a good opponent and a good match for me."

125-pound freshman Dan Bishop and 174-pound junior Nate Rock were the two other Bulls to reach the finals, and both were seeded third in their weight classes. Bishop was able to pin Mike McInally of the Rochester Institute of Technology, ranked fifth in Division III. However, Bishop fell short of his championship bid in a 10-5 loss to Army's Fernando Martinez.

Rock fell in the finals to Columbia's Matt Palmer, who is ranked 17th in the nation, in a tough 3-0 decision. Preceding that bout, Rock pinned Division III's No. 6 ranked Trevor LeBlanc from Cortland.

Freshman 197-pounder Ricky Scott was the only other Buffalo wrestler to make it to the semifinals. Scott fell to Columbia's Nick Sommerfield, 3-2 and than lost to Alfred State's Jamie Luckett, earning him the fourth place bout.

Budd and senior 165-pound senior Mike Ragusa entered the tournament as Buffalo's only top seeded wrestlers. Ragusa dropped two early matches to Mike Mackie of Cornell and Brockport's No. 7 ranked Division III wrestler 165 pounder Shanheim Bradshaw. After the early setbacks, Ragusa was able to take fifth-place in the tournament, which included a win over Nassau Community College's Chris Wade, 9-5, who was seeded second.

Two freshmen also took fifth-place finishes. 141-pounder Andrew Stella and 157-pounder Justin Hunt each wound up in the five spot in their first New York State Championships.

Buffalo will next square off against Mid-American Conference foes, the Ohio Bobcats, on Saturday, Jan. 27 in Athens. Ohio. The teams will hit the mats at 7 p.m.