Bucknell Wrestling kicked off their 2024-25 season with a dual meet in which they squared off against the Kent State Golden Flashes and the host Maryland Terrapins. The Bison were eager to get the season started and performed impressively. 

A hot start out of the gate earned the Bison a blowout 35-9 victory against Kent State. Five consecutive victories were achieved by Bison wrestlers to begin the meet, with Kade Davidheiser ’27 (125), Kurt Phipps ’25 (133), Dylan Chappell ’26 (141), Braden Bower ’26 (141/149) and Cade Wirnsberger ’27 (157) all putting up points early for the Bison.

Losses from Noah Mulvaney ’27 (165) and Logan Shephard ’26 (285) slowed the Bison’s efforts, but strong finishes from Myles Takats ’27 (174), Logan Deacetis ’25 (184) and Dillon Bechtold ’28 (197) rounded out a dominant victory for the Bison.

Players and coaches alike were enthusiastic that the team was able to show as much promise as they did so early in the season.

Later in the afternoon, focus shifted to the Terrapins, a true power conference test for the Patriot League hopefuls.

Maryland was as tough as advertised, but that didn’t stop a few Bison from posting undefeated records on the day. Bechtold continued his dominance with a decision victory, Takats won via a technical fall and Chappell also won a decision.

These three single-handedly contributed to the scoring effort for Bucknell. Regardless of the struggles in the second match, the Bison walk away from the weekend with a big win against Kent State and experience against a Big Ten opponent under their belt. 

The Bison will travel to Morgan State on Nov. 10, an opponent they dismantled last year by a score of 41-9. They will look to continue their encouraging start to the season and rack up some non-conference wins before the challenges of the Patriot League regular season.