SOURCE: web.archive.org

January 20, 2007

Bulls Place Third At New York State Wrestling Championships
Jason Hilliard captures individual title at 149 lbs.

BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo wrestling squad battled its way to a third-place finish at the 38th Annual New York State Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships on Friday and Saturday, which was hosted at UB's Alumni Arena. The Bulls were one of three teams to score 100 team points, as redshirt freshman Jason Hilliard (Genoa, NY/Southern Cayuga) was the lone UB grappler to claim an individual title at 149 pounds. Redshirt freshman Dan Bishop (Whitehall, NY/Whitehall), senior Mark Budd (Orrville, OH/Orrville), and junior Nate Rock (Ephrata, PA/Ephrata) each settled for second in their respective weight classes.

Following a semifinal 12-2 upset over Division III's nationally seventh-ranked Eugene Kobilansky of NYU, Hilliard was matched up with Matt Dunn of Columbia, seeded second in the tournament. Hilliard scored a takedown in the third period to break the 4-4 tie, and ultimately claim his first-ever collegiate tournament title. With the win, Hilliard continues a streak in which at least one Bull has won a New York State individual title in the last five years.

Possibly one of the largest upsets of the day occured at the 133-pound finals, in which Mark Budd was prevented of his third-straight New York State title by Army's William Simpson, who scored a 4-3 decision to take the title. Simpson scored a two-point takedown in the final frame to seal the win for the Black Knights, sending Budd to only his fourth defeat of the season. William became the third Simpson brother to win a New York State title.

At 125 pounds, Dan Bishop had to settle for second place, as he dropped his championship decision to Army's Fernando Martinez, 10-5. Prior to his first-ever collegiate tournament appearence, Bishop landed a pinfall over Division III's nationally fifth-ranked Mike McInally of R.I.T. at the 2:00 mark. Nate Rock proceeded to upset Division III's nationally sixth-ranked Treavor LeBlanc of Cortland in the 174 pound semifinals, 3-0, to match up with yet another ranked opponent, Columbia's Matt Palmer. The nationally 17th-ranked Palmer ran into a tough battle in the championship match, but prevailed with a 3-0 decision. Rock became the third Bull to place second at the championships.

Redshirt freshman Ricky Scott (Walden, NY/Valley Central) drew a semifinal match with Columbia's top-seeded Nick Sommerfield, and narrowly landed another UB upset at 197 lbs. However, Sommerfield held on to the slim 3-2 lead to escape with the win and an appearence in the championship bout. In the third-place match, Scott ran into another tough battle with Alfred State's Jamie Luckett. The third-seed, Luckett managed three takedowns to score the win, sending Scott into a fourth-place finish.

Top-seeded Mike Ragusa (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) had redemption on his mind after dropping two consecutive matches to Cornell's Mike Mackie and Brockport's Shaheim Bradshaw, currently Division III's nationally seventh-ranked wrestler at 165 pounds. Ragusa upended Nassau's second-seeded Chris Wade, 9-5, to take fifth place. Other fifth-place finishers for Buffalo were redshirt freshmen Andrew Stella (Tonawanda, NY/Sweet Home) and Justin Hunt (Salem, NY/Salem).

The meet's overall champions were nationally 24th-ranked Columbia University, taking six individual titles for its first NYS Wrestling Championship team title in school history. Along with the six top finishers, the Lions also secured two runner-ups. Army's William Simpson took the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler trophy, becoming the third Simpson brother to win a state title.

The Bulls return to conference dual-meet action, when they take on Ohio on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m.