With the win, the Eagles improve to 13-7 overall and 3-4 in Mid-American Conference competitions. Meanwhile, Buffalo falls to 3-16 overall and 0-7 in conference duals.
Before the meet, the senior class was honored for their contributions to the program. The 2014 class consists of Jared Germaine (Saginaw, Mich.-Saginaw Valley), Khodor Hoballah (Dearborn, Mich.-Dearborn), Phillip Joseph (Lapeer, Mich.-Lapeer East), Mike LeHolm (Jackson, Mich.-Jackson Northwest), Seth Schaner (Big Rapids, Mich.-Big Rapids) and Nick Whitenburg (Temperance, Mich.-Bedford).
The Green and White stayed true to form in its final regular season match when Germaine secured an 8-2 decision over Max Soria at 125 lbs. Germaine closed out his final regular season donning the Green and White with a 17-1 overall record and a 6-1 MAC record.
Redshirt-sophomore Vincent Pizzuto (North Jackson, Ohio-Jackson Milton) came up huge at 133 lbs. with his second pin of the season. With only 10 seconds remaining in the bout, Pizzuto used his strength to pin Justin Farmer and secure the extra-point victory for the Eagles.
Buffalo earned its first decision of the day at 141 lbs. when Nick Flannery was able to earn a two-point decision over Michael Shaw (Bangor, Mich.-Allegan), but Nicholas Barber (Cleveland, Ohio-St. Edward) got Eastern back on track at 149 lbs. with a 12-2 major decision.
Eastern continued to build on its lead at 157 lbs. when redshirt-senior Brandon Zeerip (Fremont, Mich.-Hesperia) clinched a first period pin over Jake Campana to put EMU up 19-3 over the Bulls. The Eagles went up 22-3 over UB when James Klosz (Parma, Ohio-Holy Name) earned the start at 165 lbs. and shut out Wally Maziarz, 4-0 for his fourth dual victory of the season.
Jacob Davis (North Ridgeville, Ohio-St. Edward) clinched the EMU victory over Buffalo at 174 lbs., pinning Rrok Ndokaj after a near fall. After the fall, Eastern went up 28-3, which was enough to secure a victory for EMU in its final regular season dual.
The final three bouts of the afternoon featured three Eagle seniors closing out their regular season MAC schedules.
Joseph completed his final regular season MAC schedule with a 3-2 victory at 184 lbs. using 1:42 of riding time to post a 6-1 record in conference duals, while Whitenburg earned an 8-1 decision at 197 lbs. and closed out his MAC schedule with a 2-3 record.
Although the dual victory had already been secured, James Benjamin fought for Buffalo in the heavyweight division earning a 7-2 decision to score an extra three points for the Bulls.
After completing its regular season slate, EMU wrestling will head to Kent, Ohio, Saturday, Mar. 8 through Sunday, Mar. 9 for the MAC Championships.
Results:
125: Jared Germaine (EMU) dec. Max Soria (UB), 8-2 (EMU, 3-0)
133: Vincent Pizzuto (EMU) pinned Justin Farmer (UB), 2:50 (EMU, 9-0)
141: Nick Flannery (UB) dec. Michael Shaw (EMU), 11-9 (EMU, 9-3)
149: Nicholas Barber (EMU) maj. dec. Ryan Todora (UB), 12-2 (EMU, 13-3)
157: Brandon Zeerip (EMU) pinned Jake Campana (UB), 2:10 (EMU, 19-3)
165: James Klosz (EMU) dec. Wally Maziarz (UB), 4-0 (EMU, 22-3)
174: Jacob Davis (EMU) pinned Rrrok Ndokaj (UB), 2:25 (EMU, 28-3)
184: Phillip Joseph (EMU) dec. Tony Lock (UB), 3-2 (EMU, 31-3)
197: Nick Whitenburg (EMU) dec. Angelo Malvestuto (UB), 8-1 (EMU, 34-3)
HWT: James Benjamin (UB) dec. Khodor Hoballah (EMU), 7-2 (EMU, 34-6)
Bout-By-Bout:
125: No. 18 Jared Germaine dec. Max Soria, 8-2
Nearly a minute and a half into the match, Germaine secured the only two points of the first period with a takedown. After choosing down to start the second period, Soria grabbed the only point of the period with an escape. Up by one to start the third, Germaine used an escape to go up 3-1 and had eclipsed 1:16 of riding time before Soria was given a warning for stalling. With only 45 seconds remaining in the match, the redshirt-senior used two final takedowns and 1:50 of riding time to earn an 8-2 decision in the final home bout of his career at EMU.
133: Vincent Pizzuto pinned Justin Farmer, 2:50
Neither Pizzuto nor Farmer could seem to get any offense going against the other with three stalemates called before Farmer was warned for stalling with just over a minute remaining in the first period. Farmer fought off all of the Pizzuto attacks in the first, heading into the second period after a scoreless first three minutes. Pizzuto gave up an escape in the second period, allowing Farmer to take the 1-0 lead, but not before the redshirt-sophomore had amassed 1:20 of riding time. A last-second takedown in the second period gave Pizzuto his first points of the bout, taking a 2-1 lead into the final two minutes. The North Jackson, Ohio native continued his offensive strike in the third, clinching a quick takedown to start the final period. Pizzuto earned a fifth point for stalling and had clinched the riding time point with 2:05 and a second stalling call. Although he had already grabbed a win, Pizzuto went hard, pinning Farmer with only 10 seconds remaining in the bout.
141: Nick Flannery dec. Michael Shaw, 11-9
Flannery grabbed the first two points of the bout, pulling down Shaw, but he quickly responded with a reversal and a near fall to take the 4-3 lead over Flannery. Buffalo took back the lead with a takedown, but Shaw once against responded with a reversal to take a 6-5 lead with less than 30 seconds in the first period. An escape from Flannery knotted the score at 6-6 heading into the second two minutes. Flannery grabbed his third lead of the bout with an escape in the second. The Bull extended his lead to 9-6 with a takedown, but Shaw answered back with an escape, trailing by two heading into the final period. After starting down in the third, Shaw used an escape to come within one but Flannery grabbed one final escape giving Buffalo its first decision of the day.
149: Nicholas Barber maj. dec. Ryan Todora, 12-2
After moving up a weight class, Barber grabbed the first points of the bout with a takedown. Todora came within one of Barber with an escape before the two forced each other out of bounds, sending them to the middle of the mat. Barber used one final takedown at the end of the first period to take a 4-1 lead. Barber extended his lead to 6-1 with a takedown in the second period and grabbed before Todora grabbed an escape just seconds later when Barber let him go in order to restart his offense. The move seemed to work when Barber used a takedown just seconds later to take the 8-2 lead heading into the final two minutes of action. Barber used an escape, a last second takedown, and 1:20 of riding time to secure his third major decision of the season.
157: Brandon Zeerip pinned Jake Campana, 2:10
Zeerip took the first two points of the bout with an early takedown over Campana and used a stalling call against Buffalo to his advantage. Campana took his point of the match with an escape, but just seconds later Zeerip pinned Campana with 50 seconds left in the first.
165: James Klosz dec. Wally Maziarz, 4-0
The Green and White got the first points of the match for the third-straight match when Klosz used a takedown on the side of the mat over Maziarz for the only points of the first period. For the fourth time in the dual, Buffalo was called for stalling and Klosz took the 2-0 lead into the third as no points were scored in the second. In the low scoring affair, Klosz used his second takedown and shutout Maziarz for the 4-0 decision.
174: Jacob Davis pinned Rrrok Ndokaj, 2:25
Eastern continued to be aggressive offensively at 174 lbs. with a Davis takedown before he grabbed three points with a near fall right next to the Eagle bench. Davis once against had Ndokaj in good position and this time was able to hold the pin, securing the Eagle victory over Buffalo.
184: Phillip Joseph dec. Tony Lock, 3-2
After lots of scrambling in the first period, Joseph and Lock headed into the second with no score. Joseph used an escape to start the second for the first point of the bout. After a restart call, Lock grabbed a takedown to earn a one-point lead but Joseph tied the match with his second escape of the period. With the match knotted at 2-2 in the third, Joseph was able to ride Lock out for a 3-2 victory over his opponent.
197: Nick Whitenburg dec. Angelo Malvestuto, 8-1
Whitenburg grabbed an early takedown, but Malvestuto used one escape to come within one to close out the first period. Whitenburg went up 3-1 with an escape in the second before using a takedown to take the four-point lead. A near fall at the end of the second allowed Whitenburg to extend his lead to 8-1 heading into the third period. A scoreless third allowed Whitenburg to grab an 8-1 decision at 197 lbs.
HWT: Benjamin dec. Hoballah, 7-2
A takedown and a near fall point gave Benjamin the early lead with Hoballah barely able to escape a pin on the edge of the circle. Hoballah grabbed his first points of the day with an escape to end the first period. The crowd didn't see much action in the third with neither Hoballah nor Benjamin being able to find a point. A stall call brought Hoballah within three put Benjamin secured a quick takedown to take the 7-2 decision.
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