Two out of three ain’t bad

 The Bloomsburg University wrestling team continued their grueling schedule this past weekend when they competed at the Northeast Duals in Albany, New York.  The team faced off against sixth-ranked Central Michigan, Columbia, and Michigan, earning victories in two of the meets.  While the Huskies fell to Central Michigan by a 23-15 margin, they were able to best Columbia by a 20-13 margin, and sneak by the Wolverines, scoring an 18-17 win.  Head Coach John Stutzman felt the team “did a good job” and “fought hard.”  He continued, “We put ourselves in position to win all three matches, and that’s a good feeling.”

            In the match versus Columbia, the Lions got off to a quick 7-0 lead after two matches, before BU 141-pound wrestler Frank Hickman and 149-pounder Josh Roosa righted the ship with consecutive 6-5 decisions.  Bloom‘s All-American and fifth-ranked Matt Moley then put the Huskies ahead by a 10-7 score with a 11-1 major decision of Columbia’s Matt Dunn. 

            The Lions tied the score at 10 after the following match as Eren Civan defeated BU’s Mike Dessino 6-3.  At 174 pounds, Nate Graham pushed the Huskies ahead once again with a 3-2 decision before Derrick Coffey earned a 9-0 major decision over CU’s Cary Aldrich. 

            At 197 pounds, Bloomsburg’s Brian Shaw won by a 2-0 decision before heavyweight Zac Walsh dropped a match by a 5-2 decision to Columbia’s Kevin Lester.

            The match against Michigan was kicked off by BU’s Jason Guffey picking up a 6-2 win over Sean Boyle, followed by Michigan’s 133-pounder Zac Stevens picking up a 10-1 major over Bloom’s Danny Gaylord.  Hickman and Roosa each followed with decisions of their own before Moley picked up a second period pin to extend the Husky lead to 15-4.  BU’s 18th ranked Rick Schmelyun followed with a 7-2 decision before the Wolverines would launch a strong comeback attempt.  Decisions for Michigan at 174 and 184 pounds brought them within eight points at 18-10. 

            Michigan’s 14th ranked Anthony Biondo then beat Jacob Dabashinsky by an 11-1 score, putting the Wolverines within striking distance of the win.  Walsh was able to keep the match close, only losing by a 1-0 decision, doing what was necessary to preserve the Huskies’ second victory of the day.

            Bloomsburg’s final match of the day pitted them against national powerhouse Central Michigan.  The Huskies wrestled the Chippewas very tough when they hosted them last year, and this year was no different.  CMU shot out of the blocks as Connor Beebe defeated James Bak with a 17-0 technical fall for five team points.  Sixth ranked Scotti Sentes then pinned BU’s Jeremiah Biddle, but Hickman’s third win of the day, a 13-2 major decision gave the Huskies their first points of the match.  Central Michigan’s 14th ranked Tony D’Alie scored a 5-3 victory over Roosa, but Moley collected his third win on a tech fall of his own, cutting CMU’s lead to 14-9. 

            Schmelyun then picked up a decision before the Chippewa’s fifth ranked Ben Bennett earned a 2-0 decision over Graham, and eighth ranked Mike Miller squeaked out a 4-3 win over Coffey.  At 197, Dabashinsky pulled the Huskies to within five points with a 12-9 decision before 14th ranked Jarod Trice defeated Walsh by a score of 11-5.

            Stutzman felt the team “really finished out periods and matches well,” but can improve on their conditioning and technique, although they are where he expects them to be in those aspects at this time in the year.  He also acknowledged that the team is strong in the middle of their lineup, stating “The middleweights, from 141 to 174, are really stepping up and that’s where we are winning our matches right now.”

            The team will head to Edinboro this weekend to take part in the PSAC Championships.  Stutzman said he is “looking for guys to go out and wrestle hard” and feels that if the team does that “the wins and losses will take care of themselves.”  One of his goals for this weekend is to place each wrestler in the top three in his weight class and believes that if they are able to do this they will be in a position to win as a team, after taking second place in the tournament in the past few years.