BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo opened its 2002-03 dual meet season in style on Thursday night, scoring a 23-20 win over nationally-ranked Lock Haven at Alumni Arena.

The Bulls rebounded from an early 14-6 deficit by winning four of the final six matches to upset the visiting Bald Eagles, ranked #20 by Amateur Wrestling News. Buffalo got huge pins from freshman

Mike Sebaaly

Mike Sebaaly (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) and senior Gary Cooper (Adams, NY/South Jefferson) en route to the win.

"Mike Sebaaly has been on a roll and it was a matchup between two young guys, said UB head coach Jim Beichner of the night's opening match. "Mike just caught him and got a huge pin for us." Sebaaly scored the fall at 4:20 after racking up a takedown and near fall in the first period.

Lock Haven, however, responded by winning the next three matches, including a fall by Justin Owens at 133 pounds and a technical fall by returning All-American Mike Maney at 141 pounds.

Buffalo began to bounce back at 157 pounds when sophomore Labe Black (Ventnor, NJ/Absegami) scored a 5-3 decision to cut the lead to 14-9, but LHU's Jason Gilligan came right back with a hard-fought 7-4 win over Buffalo's Tom Paladino (Bethpage, NY/Bethpage) to give the Bald Eagles a 17-9 lead.

The match would change dramatically in the next bout as Cooper caught Mike Greenberg in a Peterson roll late in the first period and scored a momentum-changing pin at 2:41.

"Gary Cooper's pin was the catalyst for the rest of the team," said Beichner of his fifth-year senior.

Gary Cooper pins Mike Greenberg

"That got everybody pumped up. Gary's a thrower with a big heart and he's always capable of a five-point maneuver. I told him right before he went out, 'if you get him on his back, you better pin him,' and that's just what he did. After that the rest of the guys followed it right up."

Buffalo then got a pair of major decisions to seal the victory. Junior co-captain Garrett Bontempo (DuBois, PA/DuBois) posted a solid 10-3 win at 184 pounds before sophomore Kyle Cerminara (Lewiston, NY/Lewiston-Porter) put in a dominant performance with a 17-5 win over Tim Boetsch.

In a good matchup at heavyweight, Lock Haven's Seve Itterly scored a narrow 3-2 win over UB's highly-touted freshman Tom Curl (Gibbstown, NJ/Paulsboro). It was not enough, however, as Buffalo came out with the 23-20 win.

"This was a full team effort," said Beichner. "I thought we made a lot of mistakes in some of the matches, but other guys went out and made up for the mistakes."

The Bulls will travel to Binghamton on Sunday while Lock Haven takes part in the Millersville Duals.

Buffalo 23, Lock Haven 20

Weight Winner Loser Score/Pin Time Team Score

125 Mike Sebaaly (UB) Leslie Morrow 4:20 UB, 6-0

133 Justin Owens (LHU) Mike Trotta 1:02 Tied, 6-6

141 Mike Maney (LHU) Adam Grillo TF, 6:10 LHU, 11-6

149 James LaValley (LHU) Ryan Bentley 10-6 LHU, 14-6

157 Labe Black (UB) Charlie Brenneman 5-3 LHU, 14-9

165 Jason Gilligan (LHU) Tom Paladino 7-4 LHU, 17-9

174 Gary Cooper (UB) Mike Greenberg 2:41 LHU, 17-15

184 Garrett Bontempo (UB) Morgan Horner 10-3 UB, 19-17

197 Kyle Cerminara (UB) Tim Boetsch 17-5 UB, 23-17

Hwt Steve Itterly (LHU) Tom Curl 3-2 UB, 23-20