Binghamton University’s men’s wrestling team traveled to Penn State on Sunday and in the face of stiff competition did fairly well.
Teressa Pace/Staff Photographer
The all-day wrestling tournament featured 10 different weight classes, four of which Binghamton placed in the top six; junior Josh Patterson placed first.
“It was a great tournament, we competed very well,” said Binghamton University head coach Pat Popolizio.
Junior Corey Waite placed sixth in the 197-pound division after being knocked out of the first round of the tournament. Waite made it all the way to the finals of the loser’s bracket before losing to senior Josh Ohl of Ashland.
Freshman Justin Lister took fourth place in the 149-pound weight class. Lister began the tournament winning his first two matches by 8-2 and 8-5 decisions respectively, followed by a dominating 8-0 decision in the third round. After squeaking by Kellen Bradley of UNA-Rutgers with a 5-4 decision, Lister was unsuccessful against Penn State’s Bubba Jenkins in the semifinals. Lister then came up short against Mike Roberts of Boston University, settling for fourth place.
“Waite has continued to improve for us, he’s definitely stepped it up,” Popolizio said. “It was his first big tournament, and he’s coming off his second-year start; he’s having a breakthrough this year.”
“[Lister] is a freshman who is also showing signs of being very competitive. He needs to learn from his mistakes and keep getting better. He went up against nationally ranked wrestlers; it was a good showing for him.”
The Patterson brothers did fairly well, with older brother Nate Patterson finishing third in the 157-pound class and junior standout Josh Patterson finishing first in his 184-pound weight class.
“Nate had a great win,” Popolizio. “He put together some good wins [in the beginning of the year], then he went through a few injuries, but he’s getting better week by week. He did well, beating somebody who was ranked even though he’s still banged up.”
Nate Patterson began the day dominating his opponents, with his combined decisions of 16-1 through the first four matches. His dominating performance came to an abrupt end when he fell to Penn State’s Dan Vallimont in just 1:55. His third place bout with Navy’s Joel Ahern was deemed a no contest.
Nationally ranked No. 9 Josh Patterson continued his supremacy, going undefeated in the tournament and breezing through the competition, with three pins (including a 1:12 defeat in the semifinals) and two decisions, the first of which he went 17-0 against Greg Prioleau of Navy in the third round, and then 7-0 against Keith Dobish of Rutgers in the finals.
“The Pattersons have done a lot for the program and know how to win. They are constantly trying to get better; they are a big part of building this program,” Popolizio said.