After carrying two wins into winter break, the Binghamton University wrestling team has won three of its seven January dual meets, including a 14th-place finish at Northwestern University’s 50th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championship.
The 48-team tournament at Northwestern took place on Dec. 29-30 and included 14 Top 25 teams from last year’s NCAA championships.
Donnie Vinson, a 149-pound redshirt senior who is ranked No. 5 in his class, won five of six matches, placing second after a loss in the championship to No. 4 sophomore Nick Brascetta of Virginia Tech. It was his first loss of the season.
Nate Schiedel, a 197-pound senior who is also ranked No. 5 in his class, finished just outside of the top eight with a 3-2 record. After an upset in his second match by a fellow CAA wrestler, Schiedel fought back with two strong wins before getting pinned by redshirt senior Hudson Taylor, University of Maryland’s greatest wrestler of all time and top-5 ranked pinner in NCAA wrestling history.
Patrick Hunter, a 125-pound redshirt senior, finished with two wins on the day, including an upset over the No. 7 seed in the tournament.
On Jan. 11, the Bearcats (5-10) headed to Hampton, Va. to compete in the 33rd Annual Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum.
In day one of the dual meet tournament, the Bearcats matched up against No. 10 Virginia Tech. Winning only two of 10 matches, the Bearcats fell, 32-9. Vinson redeemed himself after the loss at the Midlands Championship, defeating Brascetta, 6-3. The other victory came from Schiedel by way of a pin in the second period.
Later in the day, Binghamton captured a convincing victory, defeating Virginia Military Institute, 31-13. Falling behind early on, the Bearcats rallied to win their final five matches, finishing the match with a 52-second pin from redshirt freshman heavyweight Tyler Deuel. Senior 133-pound Derek Steeley, 174-pound redshirt sophomore Caleb Wallace, 184-pound redshirt junior Cody Reed and Vinson also had wins in the match.
The following day, Binghamton fell to North Dakota State University, 30-12. The Vinson-Schiedel duo had the only victories for the Bearcats.
Traveling to George Mason University the following week, the Bearcats competed in the CAA Duals.
The Bearcats opened the day with a 29-14 victory against Drexel University, winning seven of 10 matches. With an almost identical scorecard, Binghamton subsequently defeated George Mason 29-13, with losses in the exact same weight classes as the previous match.
Binghamton then lost its final dual against Rider, 19-15, in a match that could have gone either way. After winning three of their first four matches, the Bearcats lost four straight, including one by pin that changed the momentum of the match.
The most impressive performances on the day came from Vinson, Schiedel, Steeley, Deuel and 125-pound redshirt freshman Mike Sardo, all of whom went undefeated.
Friday at the Ted Constant Center in Norfolk, Va., Binghamton faced off against Old Dominion University in a conference match. Splitting the 10 matches, the Bearcats came up short, losing 21-18.
After dropping their first three matches, Binghamton came back and won their final four.
Vinson highlighted the outing for the Bearcats, pinning redshirt senior Brennan Brumley in 2:27 for his 124th win, making him Binghamton’s all-time wins leader.
The Bearcats are scheduled to travel to the nation’s capital on Sunday to take on conference rival American University. The match is set for noon at the Bender Arena.