Bucknell Wrestling took on the Eagles of American University in our nation’s capital last Friday in a bout between two EIWA opponents. Both teams had struggled to this point in league play, with Bucknell at 3-4 in EIWA matches and American sitting at 1-4.
The match began with a loss from Chris Nucifora ’28 (125 lbs) via a pin that gained American an early six-point lead. Kurt Phipps ’25 (133 lbs) continued his impressive season with a victory, but his win was followed by losses from teammates Vinnie D’Alessandro ’28 and Kolby DePron ’25 in the 141-pound and 149-pound classes. After these losses, two of Bucknell’s finest were able to pick up wins and bring the score to 16-9 in favor of American. Wrestlers Cade Wirnsberger ’27 (157) and Noah Mulvaney ’27 (165), who have been reliable all season, earned three points apiece. With four matches remaining, the Bison needed to mount a comeback. Despite victories from Logan Deacetis ’25 (184 lbs) and Dillon Bechtold ’28 (197 lbs), Creed Thomas ’28 (174 lbs) and Logan Shephard ’26 (285 lbs) were unable to clinch the round.
Despite a hard fight from start to finish, the Bison ultimately lost by a final score of 23-18. Columbia will travel to Lewisburg this Friday to face off at 6 p.m., and Bucknell hopes to turn the tides on their season in these final few matches.
