Bucknell Wrestling had an eventful week, beginning this past Thursday, Jan. 31, with a match against the Bald Eagles of Lock Haven University in the Susquehanna Showdown.
The match was headlined by Kurt Phipps’s ’25 quest for his 100th career win, something only ten other Bucknell wrestlers had ever managed to accomplish. His foe, two-time All-American Lock Haven wrestler would not make it easy for Phipps to achieve his historic goal. The match was extremely tense and came down to the wire, but Phipps’s greatness was put on full display, as the Bucknellian grinded his way to career victory #100. Unfortunately, his efforts in the 133-pound weight class would not be enough to bring his team to victory.
Phipps was the only Bison wrestler to win during the first five matches, as losses from Chris Nucifora ’28 (125 lbs), Dylan Chappell ’25 (141 lbs), Braden Bower ’26 (149 lbs) and Cade Wirnsberger ’27 (157 lbs) dug the Bison into a 14-3 hole early on. However, Bucknell would not quit, stringing together four consecutive wins to take a 15-14 lead going into the final match. Victorious wrestlers included Noah Mulvaney ’27 (165 lbs), Myles Takats ’27 (174 lbs), Logan Deacetis ’25 (184 lbs) and Dillon Bechtold ’28 (197 lbs). The match would come down to a duel between Nolan Springer ’25 and Lock Haven. Springer, the underdog, would fall victim to his competitor with superior experience on the mat, and Bucknell suffered a defeat by a score of 17-15.
Following the loss, an EIWA match against the Navy Midshipmen was the next task for the Bison. Navy came into Davis Gym unbeaten in EIWA competition, and the ambitious Bison were hoping to avenge the loss from the previous day with a statement win. Unfortunately, the Bison were met with a dominant performance from one the league’s best. Navy jumped to a 5-0 lead after Nucifora was defeated, and although Phipps was able to win his match and gain three points for his team, the rest of the match was fairly one-sided. Five consecutive Bucknell losses brought the score to 21-6 with three matches remaining. The five defeated wrestlers for Bucknell were Chappell, Aiden Davis ’27, Wirnsberger, Mulvaney and Takats. Successive victories from Deacetis and Bechtold put a stop to the bleeding, but the damage had already been done. A loss from Springer in the final match sealed the fate of the Bison with a final score of 27-9.
Bucknell welcomes Patriot League rival Lehigh this Friday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m., and hopes to make use of their week off.
