Wrestling crushes VMI 36-9           

The wrestling team had a pair of matches last weekend, coming out with a win and a loss. On Feb. 14, the Bison lost a nail-biter at Franklin & Marshall 23-21, but they bounced back with an impressive 36-9 win over Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Davis Gym on Feb. 15.

“I think the team as a whole could have performed better this weekend,” Rory Bonner ’17 said. “A few of our starters were unable to compete due to injury and that was a bit of a setback. I feel we definitely should have beaten Franklin & Marshall. We crushed VMI, which we were supposed to do. Personally, I think I can compete better than I did. I beat kids I was supposed to beat. Although I won both matches, I have a lot I plan on improving.”

During the match against Franklin & Marshall, Paul Petrov ’16, Rustin Barrick ’16, Bonner, and Joe Stolfi ’15 won their matches, including a pair of pins by Barrick and Stolfi. This match could have gone either way, as the Bison lost a few individual matches by close margins.

The Bison’s dominant performance against VMI was thanks to wins by Petrov, Bob Hauser ’14, Victor Lopez ’17, Ray Schlitt ’15, Robert Schlitt ’16, Bonner, Tyler Lyster ’15, and Stolfi. Lyster and Stolfi closed out the match with back-to-back pins, giving Stolfi his 20th pin of the year. Stolfi’s win was his 13th straight victory, and Petrov extended his win streak to six.

“It was great to say to goodbye to our seniors and honor our veterans in the team’s final home meet against VMI.” Petrov said, “Bucknell wrestling has one more competition vs Binghamton before our post season begins.”

The Bison improved to 9-11 (4-4 EIWA) on the season after the win. They close out the regular season tonight at 7 p.m. against Binghamton in Vestal, N.Y.