Billy Tyler

Assistant Sports Editor

The men’s wrestling team had a busy weekend, with a home meet against Lock Haven followed by a match-up at No. 10 Cornell on Feb. 10. Unfortunately for the Bison, neither match resulted in a victory for the team, and the Orange and the Blue saw their record fall to 6-11 on the year.

The match against Lock Haven was a closely fought contest that was not decided until the final bout. Entering the deciding round, the Bison trailed by just one point, 17-16, meaning that the winner of the final bout would take the match for their team. In this bout, Joe Stolfi ’15 saw his eight-match win streak end as he was pinned by his opponent in 5:57, resulting in the 23-16 loss.

The match was far closer than the final score indicated. The Bison won five of the nine contested bouts in the match. Lock Haven stayed in the match due to wins in three bouts (125, 184 and 285) which garnered them 17 points. Lock Haven benefited greatly from the forfeit in the 125 bout, as the Bison’s usual wrestler in this class, Austin Miller ’15, is out for the rest of the season with an arm injury. 

Several members of the Bison, meanwhile, put on solid performances in their matches to counterbalance Lock Haven’s weighted lead. These winners for the Orange and the Blue include Paul Petrov ’16 with a 13-3 major decision, Adam Healey ’13 with a 3-1 decision, No. 17 Corey Lear ’13 with a 2-0 decision, Robert Schlitt ’16 with a 6-5 decision and Tyler Lyster ’15 with a 7-2 decision.

The wrestling team attempted to bounce back from their loss with a win at Cornell. Things did not go according to plan for the Bison, as they fell 37-3 to the Big Red.

Stolfi redeemed his earlier loss by getting the only win for the Bison in a 9-2 decision. This win was Stolfi’s ninth win in his last 10 matches. Another match of note was the 165-pound match, which featured two ranked opponents. Lear for the Bison was pinned by No. 1 Kyle Dake in 53 seconds. Dake, a three-time NCAA champion, has won 65 consecutive bouts. His last loss was in the 2011 EIWA title bout to former Bison wrestler Kevin LeValley ’11.

The men’s wrestling team returns to action Friday at Clarion and Saturday at American.