The moment that the Binghamton University wrestling team has been working for all year is just two days away.
Six Bearcats are set to wrestle at the NCAA Wrestling Championship this weekend. Five of them are wrestling in the tournament for the second consecutive year, and the other is a senior who’s finally gotten a chance to wrestle at the sport’s biggest tournament.
Last season, Binghamton had six qualifiers and finished tied for 21st in the team standings, while crowning an All-American for the second straight year. The team finish was a D-I program best.
Head coach Pat Popolizio has had his wrestlers training hard since the offseason, with the toughest training coming in midseason. At this juncture, the wrestlers are training a bit less intensely so they can be fresher for the most pivotal time of the season, where he hopes the wrestlers can use their experience to go deep into the tournament.
“Peaking at the right time,” Popolizio said. “It’s something we’ve been focusing on over the last couple of years. I feel like our best wrestling has come in late February, early March and it’s showing … A lot of our guys competed well at the NCAA tournament, but they’ve been young and inexperienced. Now, we’ve got some experience; these guys [are going] back there, and we’ve just got to let them go out and wrestle and feel good.”
JUSTIN LISTER
Junior Justin Lister was a big talking point at last year’s tournament after he finished in fourth place at 157 pounds as an unseeded wrestler. It was the highest D-I finish in program history. Lister is unseeded again this season, this time at 165 pounds. He’s a fan of Popolizio’s aforementioned training style and feels he and his teammates are ready both mentally and physically for the grind of the three-day tournament.
“Ninety percent of it is mental toughness,” Lister said. “[Popolizio] trains us year-round and he cycles us to a point where midseason, our bodies are so broken and you feel like you can’t even move. Some coaches even think that’s not the right thing to do. But in a sense, it calluses up our body and he lays off toward the end of the year. Right now, we wrestle not even 30 to 40 minutes a day, compared to the two, two-and-a-half-hour grinds we had midseason. Our bodies are built for destruction, and we hope it helps us through the tournament.”
DONNIE VINSON
The Bearcats’ only seeded wrestler is sophomore Donnie Vinson, who’s the No. 9 seed at 149 pounds. Vinson has beaten guys seeded ahead of him, such as No. 4 seed Kyle Dake of Cornell University, and lost to guys behind him, such as unseeded Zac Cibula of Rider University, whom Vinson lost to in triple-overtime in the Colonial Athletic Association finals. When asked if not becoming an All-American would be a disappointment, Vinson emphatically said, “Yes.”
“I’m hoping to get top-four and win. I’m hoping to win but I won’t be happy unless I’m top-four,” he added.
Vinson could potentially see No. 8 seed Ganbayar Sanjaa of American University in the second round. Sanjaa defeated Vinson 8-3 in a dual meet last month. Vinson admitted he’d have a little extra motivation should he see Sanjaa in the second round.
“I was having a lot of emotions going into that week after the Dake match,” he said. “It definitely wasn’t my best match. I got taken down twice in the last 30 seconds in two different periods. If I wrestle any better I’m pretty sure I can beat that kid. That was the down point of my season, so I’m ready.”
ANWAR GOERES
The NCAA tournament will be the final collegiate competition for senior 141-pounder Anwar Goeres. He currently has a career record of 96-50, and with four wins he’d become just the third wrestler in program history to reach the 100-win plateau. Josh Patterson (123), class of 2010, and Mark Gumble (112), class of 1988, are the other two to reach the milestone.
“It would be a big accomplishment,” Goeres said. “It’d be awesome to say I [reached 100 wins]. But it’s going to be even better if I turn around and be like … I came out there, I wrestled every match I could, and if I can get All-American, which I think I can and I know I can deep down, I feel like I’d be all set. And on that way to getting a national title or All-American honors, I’d be picking up those four wins, so I think I can do it.”
NATE SCHIEDEL
The start to this year’s tournament for sophomore 184-pounder Nate Schiedel won’t be much different from last year’s. Schiedel drew University of Wisconsin’s Travis Rutt, the No. 4 seed, in the first round. Rutt beat Schiedel 7-3 in last year’s first round. With another year of experience under his belt, Schiedel is excited for a rematch with Rutt.
“I remember the match very well,” he said. “I took a couple of sloppy shots that I’m not going to do this time. I’ve been practicing my setups all year, my motion and my feet. I think I’m going to take smart shots and be able to take him down and win.”
MATT KAYLOR
Junior Matt Kaylor received an at-large bid into last year’s national tournament at 165 pounds after placing fourth at the conference tournament. This season, at 157 pounds, Kaylor won his first-ever CAA title and automatically qualified for the tournament. Ensuring his spot at nationals this season has made preparing for the tournament a bit easier than last year, according to Kaylor.
“It’s taken a lot of stress out, waiting to see whether I’m going to get a bid and get into the tournament,” he said. “Since the conference tournament I’ve known that I’m going to nationals, so it definitely helps with that. Also, it definitely helps my confidence ending the conference tournament with a win.”
RYAN MCGARITY
The only Bearcat wrestling in this year’s tournament that didn’t qualify last year is senior 174-pounder Ryan McGarity. McGarity, who had a breakout senior year with a 30-17 record, didn’t appear to be in a position to earn an at-large bid after the CAA tournament, but with his 29th ranked RPI at 174 pounds, McGarity managed to earn one of the final spots.
“When I was initially checking the at-large bids they weren’t streaming on time and I was having trouble connecting,” McGarity said. “That part was extremely infuriating but I also knew that a few people like my girlfriend and my roommates had a connection. So as I was halfway through the bracket my phone started ringing off the hook. At that point I figured I got the bid but wanted to hear it for myself. I was extremely excited but it actually took a bit for it to all set in. Accomplishing such a huge goal and getting a second chance was really one of the best things that I’ve ever experienced.”
The NCAA Wrestling Championship is set to begin at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. The finals are scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start on Saturday.