The Bison wrestlers took on Columbia on Jan. 24 in a highly contested match that resulted in a 41-39 loss for the Bison.

The Orange and Blue came out with strong performances from Grim Gonzalez ’17 (133), Victor Lopez ’17 (149), and Paul Petrov ’16 (125), who accomplished his 21st win of the season and his seventh consecutive victory. With the combined efforts of Gonzalez, Lopez, and Petrov, the Bison pulled through to a 9-3 lead early in the bout. As the match progressed, Columbia countered with four consecutive wins (including one pin) to bring the score to 18-9. Tyler Lyster ’15 responded with a 6-2 win at 197, padding the Bison’s score to 18-12. The victory gave Lyster a victory in four of his last five bouts and brought his career total to 44.

​The Bison continued to rally back against Columbia. Joe Stolfi ’15 defeated and pinned heavyweight Conor Sweeney (285) in an impressive fashion after just 2:58, tying the contest at 18 all. The victory marked Stolfi’s 16th pin of the year. Despite the valiant effort by the Bison against a formidable Lions squad with two ranked wrestlers, the Orange and Blue fell short, losing the decisive point due to their loss of matches. 

“As a whole, I felt that our teamed performed well. It was one of our team’s better performances this year even though we lost. Everyone came to wrestle and gave maximum effort in each bout,” Petrov said.

​The Orange and Blue will prepare for their next bout against American tonight at 7 p.m. in the Davis Gym. 

“The preparation was good all week and it showed in the match with our hustle and endurance,” head coach Dan Wirnsberger said. “We will need the same effort this week as we prepare for a big matchup [against American].”

The bout against American is an EIWA matchup and will be airing live and free of charge through Bison Vision as part of the Patriot League Network.