Bulls Impress With 4th Place Finish at NYS Collegiate Championships; Soria Claims 125-pound Title
SOURCE: ubbulls.com
November 23, 2014

 

CORNELL, NY - Senior captain Max Soria continued to shine for the State University of New York, Buffalo wrestling team (3-1, 0-0 MAC) on Sunday afternoon at the New York State Collegiate Championships as he collected the title at 125-pounds to lead the Bulls to a fourth place finish out of 27 schools, their best finish at the tournament since 2012. UB had nine place winners in the "A" brackets on Sunday to improve on their seventh place finish in the tournament a season ago.

"We had a very good day today as our results showed," stated second-year head coach John Stutzman. "We are progressing and every day we are gaining valuable experience. (Max) Soria and (Wally) Maziarz are providing great leadership as we move into our dual meet season."

The Bulls had four grapplers reach the finals in the "A" brackets, Soria, Wally Maziarz, Jason Estevez and Joe Ariola. Soria claimed the title at 125-pounds while Maziarz, Estevez and Ariola each collected second place finishes for the Bulls. Overall UB had nine wrestlers earn top-8 finishes including a pair of freshman.

Entering competition on Sunday, Soria had an unblemished record of 7-0 on the season and he added to that perfect record in his first career victory at 125-pounds at the NYS Collegiate Championships. Soria closed out his afternoon with a 4-0 record and now is 11-0 overall this season. Soria won by major decision, 19-6, in his first match of the afternoon before winning by fall and technical fall in his next two to earn a trip to the finals. In the finals, Soria continued to dominate his competition as he defeated Asher Kramer of Brockport by major decision, 11-0, to claim the title.

At 141 pounds, Estevez had his best performance of the season as he went 3-1 on the afternoon with his lone loss in the championship round to Jamel Hudson of Hofstra as he lost a 7-2 decision. Estevez started off his day with a technical fall victory, 18-2, over an opponent from Oswego before collecting a 13-5 major decision win over Vinny Turano from LIU Post. In the semifinals, he earned a 7-3 decision victory over Logan Everett from Army.

Maziarz has come back strong following an offseason injury as he earned a second place finish, the best of his career at the NYS Championships. Maziarz dominated his first opponent of the afternoon as he won by fall at 4:08. His next two matches were battles, with the fifth-year senior grinding out a pair of 1-0 decision victories, earning a trip to the finals. In the final, Maziarz matched up with Russell Parsons of Army and he was unable to pick up the win, dropping a 6-2 decision.

Redshirt freshman Ariola had a strong showing for the Bulls at 197-pounds as he earned three victories and a trip to the finals. Ariola was dominant in his opening match as he won by fall over his RIT opponent in 4:31. He then won a pair of impressive matches by decision as he took down his opponents from Ithaca College and Cornell to earn his first trip to the finals since coming to Buffalo. In the final, Ariola was defeated by a 5-2 decision by #14 Jace Bennett of Cornell.

Other Bulls earning top-8 finishes in the "A" brackets for the Bulls were Sean Peacock (7th) at 133 pounds, Justin Cooksey (7th) at 149 pounds, Ryan Therrien (8th) at 165 pounds, Muhamid McBryde (6th) at 174 pounds and Tony Lock (6th) at 184 pounds.

UB also had a number of grapplers competing in the "B" bracket on Sunday afternoon with a pair of Bulls, James Benjamin and Jake Gunning, collecting victories at their weights. Benjamin won four matches, including three by fall, at 197-pounds while Gunning improved to 18-4 on the season with his four victories at 285-pounds.

Also collecting top-8 finishes for UB in the "B" brackets were Austin Weigel (2nd), Brandon Lapi (3rd), Blake Retell (5th), Rocco Russo (6th), Jake Weber (8th), Cory Hollister (8th) and Brett Perry (8th). Russo led all grapplers with four pins while Benjamin earned three pins for UB. As a team, Buffalo had 24 total pins, most by any team in the field.

Buffalo will now enter their dual meet season as they only have one more tournament on their schedule, the prestigious Southern Scuffle in Tennessee. UB returns to the mat on Saturday, November 29 as they head to Albany for the Northeast Duals.





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