WRESTLING

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KANSAS CITY, MO - Buffalo senior Gary Cooper (Adams, NY/South Jefferson) stayed alive in the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Thursday at Kemper Arena.

Cooper won his opening match at 174 pounds with an exciting 10-9 win over Harvard's Pat O'Donnell. In his first-ever appearance at the NCAA Championships, Cooper led by as many as five points (7-2) and was in control throughout. Cooper alllowed an escape and a takedown by O'Donnell late that made the score closer than most of the match.

Gary Cooper

"Gary got a little tired at the end, but he wrestled well to get a solid lead," said UB head coach Jim Beichner.

In the second round, Cooper was pinned by second-seeded Chris Pendleton of Oklahoma State at the 5:55 mark. Cooper got the first takedown of the match in the first :15, but Pendleton took over after that, eventually scoring a fall late in the match. Tomorrow Cooper will face Cornell's Tyler Baier, who pulled out a 2-1 win late Thursday night over North Carolina's Mark Canty.

"In the second match, Gary started real strong," said Beichner, "but from that point on, Pendleton was dominant. He was real strong and real aggressive."

Meanwhile, another first-time participant for Buffalo, sophomore Labe Black (Ventnor, NJ/Absegami) was eliminated after a pair of close losses. Black lost to West Virginia freshman Matt Lebe by a 4-1 score that dropped him into the consolation bracket at 157 pounds.

Lebe got a takedown in the second period to break a 1-1 tie and also earned a riding time point to make the final, 4-1.

"It was a hard-fought match," said Beichner. "Labe had plenty of time to get the takedown back. He got one good shot off on the edge, but never really got another one off."

Black was eliminated with a 4-2 loss to Hofstra's Mike Patrovich. He finished his sophomore season with a 28-16 record.