Bulls Travel to Clarion for a Pair of Non-Conference Tilts
12/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo, The State University of New York wrestling team will travel to Clarion, PA to wrestle the host Golden Eagles and Appalachian State on Saturday. UB is coming off a loss at Kent State on Sunday. The Bulls last wrestled against Clarion in 2013, dropping a 34-7 decision to the Golden Eagles. UB last wrestled against Appalachian State last season and defeated the Mountaineers, 20-18.
SETTING THE SCENE
- UB travels to Clarion, PA to wrestle against Clarion and Appalachian State on Saturday
- The Bulls are 6-9 all-time against Clarion
- UB is a perfect 6-0 against Appalachian State
- The Bulls are coming off a 28-3 loss at Kent State on Sunday
- UB's next win will eclipse its win total from each of the last three seasons. A sweep would give the Bulls seven wins - their most since 2011-12 season when they went 7-14.
BULLS SUFFER TOUGH LOSS TO #17 KENT STATE
The Bulls dropped a 28-3 decision to Kent State last Sunday. However, the final score wasn't indicative of how well UB wrestled. While Brandon Lapi earned the Bulls lone win, eight of the Bulls nine losses were decided in the final seconds of the match.
LAPI CONTINUES TO IMPROVE
Brandon Lapi continues to improve at 141 lbs. After losing to #10 Dan Neff of Lock Haven, Lapi has won four straight to improve to 4-1 in dual meets. He has won dual matches against West Virginia, Springfield College, Gardner-Webb and Kent State.
COLT COTTEN BUILDS ON SOLID FRESHMAN CAMPAIGN
Redshirt sophomore Colt Cotten continues to improve for the Bulls and it seems like he is finally healthy. At 5-3, The Benton, PA native has had a great start to the season. Against Springfield, West Virginia and Lock Haven on Nov. 15, Cotten was the most impressive UB grappler as he collected a perfect 3-0 record with two major decision victories and a technical fall win. Cotten was awarded UB Athlete of the Week for the second time in his career for his efforts.
YOUTHFUL LINEUP GAINING EXPERIENCE AND CONFIDENCE
The way the UB wrestling team has started the season would make you think that they were a very experienced, upperclass-laden squad but that is not the case at all. The UB roster consists of 26 underclassmen including seven in their starting lineup. The seven underclassmen that have seen dual meet action have began to grow for head coach John Stutzman, leading the way is Colt Cotten and Jake Gunning. Kyle Akins and Bryan Lantry have also found their way as of late, earning tough wins over experienced grapplers. The confidence has begun to show as well for the youthful Bulls as they have not stepped back from any challenge, including against nationally-ranked opponents.
BLOOMSBURG CONNECTION
Head Coach John Stutzman came to Buffalo after spending eight seasons as the head coach at Bloomsburg. Three of his former wrestlers game with him to UB. Colt Cotten, Rrok Ndokaj and Tyler Rill all redshirted their freshman seasons at Bloomsburg.
ARIOLA EMBRACING MOVE TO 184 POUNDS
After a slow start to his redshirt freshman campaign, coach Stutzman moved Joe Ariola from 197-pounds down to 184-pounds and something seemed to click. Ariola won his final two MAC duals of the season by major decision and decision as he closed out the year with a 14-11 record. The redshirt sophomore has started off this season in impressive fashion, going 4-2 through six duals. The UB coaching staff will lean on Ariola to make strides the rest of the season.
NCAA QUALIFIERS APLENTY
The growth of the Buffalo wrestling program has been noticeable not only locally but also nationally. Over the past seven seasons, the Bulls have produced 21 NCAA qualifying wrestlers after only producing six during the previous five seasons. Buffalo set a program record during the 2011 campaign as they had six wrestlers qualify for NCAA's. As a program, the Bulls have notched 45 NCAA qualifiers since the 1996 season.
FECHKO AND GRANT ADDED TO COACHING STAFF
Looking to add some more familiarity to his program, head coach John Stutzman added a pair of new assistant coaches for the 2015-16 season. The first move Stutzman made this offseason was the hiring of Craig "Boomer" Fechko to take over as his lead assistant. Fechko comes to Buffalo from Dakota Wesleyan where he was the head coach for one season. He previously served as a volunteer assistant at Bloomsburg for John Stutzman during the 2012-13 season. Fechko will work with the Bulls lightweights. Stutzman then promoted Justin Grant from Volunteer assistant to assistant coach after one season at Buffalo. Grant wrestled for Stutzman at Bloomsburg and was a NCAA qualifier at 285-pounds for the Huskies. Grant will work with the Bulls heavyweights this season.
