Bulls Place 8 on the Podium; Finish 4th at the MAC Championships
SOURCE: ubbulls.com
March 05, 2022

 


ATHENS, OH - The University at Buffalo wrestling team placed eight wrestlers on the podium on Saturday at the 2022 Mid-American Conference Championships hosted by Ohio University. As a team, Buffalo finished fourth overall - its best showing since placing second in 2019.

Derek Spann came up short in his bid to win the 133-lb. title. The graduate student dropped a 4-1 decision to top-seed Richie Koehler of Rider. With only one allotted bid to the NCAAs at 133, Spann will now hope to receive an at-large invitation.

Two Bulls did punch their tickets to Detroit by advancing in the consolation bracket. John Arceri (149) and Jay Nivison (174) are both headed to the NCAA Championships for the first time in their careers.

Arceri won his first match of the day, a 3-2 decision over SIUE's Caleb Tyus, and that was enough to advance. Arceri was able to move on to the third-place match following a medical forfeit. He nearly finished third but lost a 1-0 decision to Central Michigan's Corbyn Munson. However, with five spots allocated at 149 lbs., Arceri's fourth place finish was good enough to secure a trip to the NCAAs.

Nivison had the wildest ride of the day. The redshirt-freshman advanced to the third-place match and was able to takedown George Mason's Logan Messer with just one second left to eek out a 4-3 victory. That earned him a matchup with two-seed Sal Perrine of Ohio for true second place and a trip to the NCAAs. Trailing for most of the match, Nivison took down Perrine with only three seconds left to win, 3-2, and punch his ticket to Detroit.

Elsewhere, Michael Petite placed third at 157, his best finish at the MAC Championships. His two takedowns were enough to hold off two-seed Jordan Slivka of Ohio, 4-3.

Tristan Daugherty finished off his impressive run with a fifth-place finish. Entering the MACs unseeded, Daugherty defeated three seeded wrestlers, including seventh-seed Oscar Sanchez of Ohio 4-3 in overtime to secure fifth place.

Noah Grover was cruising along in the 165 consolation bracket and in the semifinals was able to pin Kolby Ho of Clarion for his second straight pin of the tournament. Unfortunately, he injured himself during the pin and was forced to miss the rest of the day. He had to settle for sixth place.

Pete Acciardi took seventh place at 184 with an overtime win over SIUE's Sergio Villalobos. In overtime, Acciardi not only got the takedown, but was able to pin Villalobos for the win.

Toby Cahill advanced to the third-place match with a first-period pin of Rider's David Szuba. However, Clarion's Tyler Bagoly got the better of Cahill, earning a 7-3 decision, making Cahill settle for fourth.

All told, Buffalo wrestled at or above its seeds in eight of nine weight classes.


"What a team performance," head coach John Stutzman said. "This team overachieved throughout the year because of their work ethic and leadership in Derek Spann and Johnny Arceri. With Johnny and Jay qualifying, we're hoping to get a few at-large berths in Michael Petite and Derek Spann - who I believe have the resumes to get in."

The NCAA Championships begin March 17 at Detroit's Little Caesars Arena.





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