Wrestling | 1/7/2016 3:39:00 PM
BLOOMSBURG (1-8, 0-3 EWL) at PITT DUALS, Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016BLOOMSBURG--Fresh off a split of the Hofstra Duals on Sunday, the Bloomsburg University wrestling team will head west to Pittsburgh for the Pitt Duals. The Huskies will face Harvard at 9 am; American University at 1 pm and Columbia University at 3 pm.
SETTING THE SCENE...
Bloomsburg will participate in the Pitt Duals on Saturday, Jan. 9. The matches were originally scheduled for Jan. 10, but were moved up by one day a few weeks ago.
The Huskies will face Harvard; American and Columbia during the day.
Bloomsburg is coming off a split of its two matches at the Hofstra Duals on Sunday, Jan. 3. The Huskies beat VMI, 20-18, then fell to Hofstra, 27-16. The win over VMI was the first for the Huskies since the 2013-14 season when it beat Binghamton to end the year. The victory snapped a 20-match losing streak for the Huskies.
The Huskies picked up the win over VMI when freshman heavyweight
Saul Wilkins (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./GAR) rallied for a 5-3 win in the final match to give Bloomsburg the win.
At the 83rd annual Wilkes Open the Huskies had three placewinners with
Ryan Snow (Dexter, NY/General Brown) (149) and
Mathew Carr (Dalton, Pa./Abington Heights) (165) finishing second with
Jon Haas (Penfield, NY/Penfield) (125) taking fourth.
The Huskies also sent two wrestlers to the Midlands on Dec. 29-30 with
Andy Schutz (Exeter, Pa./Wyoming Area) (133) going 2-2 and
Brendon Colbert (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) (157) going 0-2. Schutz picked up a win by fall over No. 21 ranked Joey Palmer of Oregon State.
Bloomsburg had three placewinners at the PSAC Championships on Dec. 5 with Schutz taking second and Colbert and
Dominic Carfagno (West Paterson, NJ/St. Joseph Regional) (197) each taking home fourth place.
At the Keystone Classic on Nov. 22 Schutz and
Kyle Wojtaszek (Brick, NJ/Brick Township) (174) both finished in sixth place. Schutz had a win by fall and major decision, while Wojtaszek had a win by fall and technical fall.
Carfagno leads the team in wins this season with 17 (17-11) and is second in bonus points wins with nine (four falls; two technical falls; three major decisions).
Schutz is second on the team in wins with 14 (14-9) and leads the team in bonus point wins with 10 (seven falls and three major decisions). His seven falls are a team-high. Among his seven falls are four that have come in the first period.
The Huskies are on an extended leave from the confines of the Nelson Field House. Bloomsburg will go over two months between home events not hitting the mats at Nelson again until Sunday, Jan. 24 against Brown University.
Alumni day has been announced for Sat. Feb. 13, 2016 vs. Sacred Heart.
TEAM NOTES
CAPTAINS NAMED
The captains of the 2015-16 Bloomsburg University wrestling team will be
Kevin Laubach (Berwick, Pa./Berwick Area) (Berwick, Pa./Berwick Area) and
Andy Schutz (Exeter, Pa./Wyoming Area) (Exeter, Pa./Wyoming Area).
Laubach, a junior, wrestled at 149 pounds a year ago for the Huskies winning 13 matches. He was a PSAC and EWL placewinner taking sixth at both events. Schutz, a junior and wrestling at 133 pounds, was second on the team with 15 wins last season. He was a PSAC placewinner taking third as well as an EWL placewinner finishing sixth.
CLARION OPEN
The Bloomsburg University wrestling team sent several members of its team to Clarion Open to start the 2015-16 season. Competing as attached members were
Sam Holandez (Carson, Ca./Carson) at 125 pounds;
Brendon Colbert (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) and
Alex Wolfe (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) at 157 pounds. In addition 10 other wrestlers competed unattached. Holandez finished the day going 3-2 losing in the quarterfinals in the championship round, then falling in the consolation round of four to end his day. Colbert went 2-2 on the day winning two bouts in the consolation bracket, while Wolfe was 0-2.
THE MIDLANDS
The Huskies had two wrestlers compete at the Midlands with
Andy Schutz (Exeter, Pa./Wyoming Area) going 2-2 and
Brendon Colbert (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown), going 0-2. One of Schutz's losses came to Columbia's Angelo Amenta. A rematch between the two can occur as both wrestlers are listed as starters for the dual meet.
REMATCH AWAITS
Schutz will have a chance at another rematch against Harvard where he will face off with either Ryan Freidman or Jeffrey Ott. Schutz beat Freidman (3-1, SV) at the Keystone Classic, but fell to Ott by decision (12-11).
WILKES OPEN
The Huskies had four placewinners with
Ryan Snow (Dexter, NY/General Brown) and
Mathew Carr (Dalton, Pa./Abington Heights) finishing second with
Jon Haas (Penfield, NY/Penfield) taking fourth. Red-shirt
Trevor Allard (Mexico, NY/Mexico) also placed taking fourth.
AT THE PSAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Andy Schutz (Exeter, Pa./Wyoming Area) finished second at 133 pounds to lead the Bloomsburg University wrestling team at the 2015 PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) Championships at Mercyhurst University in Erie. As a team the Huskies had three placewinners and finished ninth with 40 points. Taking fourth at 157 pounds was
Brendon Colbert (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) who finished the day 2-2. Also finishing fourth was
Dominic Carfagno (West Paterson, NJ/St. Joseph Regional) at 197 pounds who went 3-3 on the day.
CHALLENGING SCHEDULE
The Huskies are facing a challenging schedule in 2015-16. Bloomsburg has already faced nationally-ranked Kent State and still has nationally-ranked Lehigh on its schedule.
QUICK PIN
The Huskies'
Andy Schutz (Exeter, Pa./Wyoming Area) has four first period falls this season, but the quickest fall of the year so far goes to
Dominic Carfagno (West Paterson, NJ/St. Joseph Regional) who owns a 32-second pin against Purdue.
SWITCH IN WEIGHTS
The Huskies had a lineup switch at 174 and 184 for the Hofstra Duals. Normal 174 pounder
Kyle Wojtaszek (Brick, NJ/Brick Township) moved up to 184 pounds and
Casey Glunt (Mercersburg, Pa./James Buchanan), normally at 184, moved to down to 174 pounds. The moved worked out as both wrestlers won their matches against VMI helping the Huskies to the team win.
BIG SCORE
Dominic Carfagno (West Paterson, NJ/St. Joseph Regional) has four matches this season where he has scored 12 or more points in the bout. His most recent match with double digit scoring came against Hofstra when he posted a 12-4 major decision.
YOUNG LINEUP
The Huskies feature a very young lineup with five true freshmen and one red-shirt freshman among its 10 starters. Heavyweight
Saul Wilkins (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./GAR) is the youngest of the group as far as experience goes having just started wrestling in his junior year of high school.
