Bulls Help Lead Western Region At Empire State Games

Current and former UB student-athletes compete at 30th annual games

Rachelle Matthys

BUFFALO, NY – University at Buffalo student-athletes made their presence known at this year's Empire State Games, helping the Western Region to 215 total medals, including 77 golds. The Western Region had the most medals, as the Long Island Region finished second with 192 total medals.

The Western women's basketball team took home the silver medal with the help of three players. Former standout Stephanie Bennett led the team with 13 points in the gold medal game, while Rachelle Matthys (St. Clair, MI/St. Clair) had 10 points in the contest. Also on the team was Jamie Schiebner (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) who was making her Empire State Games debut. On the men's side, Greg Gamble (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) had another solid performance for the Western Region.

Melissa Klein

UB had a strong showing on the Western men's soccer team as Lee Catchpole (Norwich, England/Bungay) and Domonic Oppong (Scarborough, Ontario/Cardinal Newman/Cincinnati) were on the team as well as recent graduates David Chojnowski, Mbwana Johnson and Dan Stevens. Assistant coach Matt Stuczynki also played for the Western Region and associate head coach Dave Hesch coached the squad.  Alex Mihal (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Ludden) played for the Central region that won the gold medal. On the women's side, Melissa Klein (North Bellmore, NY/Mepham) helped lead the Long Island region to a silver medal. Jennifer Mihok (Schnectady, NY/ Guilderland) also played for her home region as she won a bronze medal with the Adirondack region. Mihok contributed with a goal in a 5-1 win over Long Island.

Dana Carter

The Western Region also picked up a silver medal in the open softball competition where Dana Carter (Williamsville, NY/Williamsville South) joined former UB players Lauren Picciano and Mary Russell on the team. For the tournament, the Western Region went 4-2.

Lindsey Schlegel

The Western Region volleyball team picked up a bronze medal as current sophomore Lindsey Schlegel (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) was on the team along with former Bull Lindsay Matikosh and former assistant coach Ladi Iya. Rocco Lucci, a former UB assistant coach, was the coach of the Western squad. The team went 6-2 on their way to the bronze.

Desmond Green

Individually, Desmond Green (Henrietta, NY/Rush-Henrietta) of the UB wrestling team won the gold medal in the 167lbs. weight class as he defeated the Adirondack Region's Matthew Kaylor. Reece Mariacher (Elma, NY/Iroquois/Brockport) took home a silver medal in the 152lbs. weight class as he fell to David Foxen of Long Island in the finals.

Tina Villa

The Bulls continued to be well represented on the track at this year's Empire State Games, claiming numerous gold medals. Caitlin Godin (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) took home the gold medal in the heptathalon for the Western Region, while Tina Villa (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs) won two gold medals and a silver medal for her home Adirondack Region. Villa won the gold in the discus with a throw of 44.77 meters and her second straight gold in the shot put with a throw of 14.12 meters. She also picked up a silver in the hammer throw as her throw was less than a meter short of the winning total.

Matt Gac

On the men's side, Matt Gac (Newark Valley, NY/Newark Valley) won a pair of silver medals and a gold in the discus. Gac picked up the two silvers in the shot put and hammer throw. Gac was competing for the Central Region. The gold in the shot put went to former Bull Michael Giordano. Current UB assistant coach Steve Esler picked up a gold in the decathlon as he scored 7,113 total points. P.J. Godios (Hamburg, NY/St. Francis) won the bronze medal in the javelin and Ezekiel Porter (Rochester, NY/East) won the bronze medal in the 200-meter dash. Former UB track runner Paul Riley won the gold medal in the 800-meter run and Reggie Rucker took home a gold in the 110-meter high hurdles.

The 2008 Empire State Games were held in Binghamton, NY. Next year's games will be in the Mid-Hudson Valley before the games return to Buffalo, NY in 2010.

08/06/2008