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Player of the Week

Senior heavyweight Charlie Pessa (Yucca Valley, CA/Yucca Valley) advanced to the finals of the Bloomsburg Invitational before losing to Bloomsburg's Pat Spirelli, 2-1, in overtime. Pessa won a pair of matches before losing to Spirelli on a bottom escape in overtime.

Last year, Pessa was just 2-4 in limited action for the Bulls.

Bulls Finish Second At Bloomsburg

The Bulls opened the season with an impressive performance at the Bloomsburg Invitational, placing second of eight teams behind the hosts who won with 175.5 points.

Buffalo finished second with 129.5 points while Millersville University was third (104.5) and Virginia Military Institute (VMI) was fourth with 83.5 points.

Bulls Sent Five To Finals at Bloomsburg

The Bulls finished second in the Bloomsburg Invitational, but may have won the event with a better showing in the finals.

All told, the Bulls had five wrestlers lose in the finals and, thus, did not have an overall champion.

The Bulls five finalists were: Jacob Partlow (Kennonsburg, OH/Shenandoah) who lost to Bloomsburg's Ed Hockenberry, later named the tournament's Most Valuable Wrestler, by pin in 1:31 at 157 pounds; Gary Cooper (Adams, NY/South Jefferson) at 165 pounds, who lost to Millersville's Andy Cope, 7-3; Josh States (Lockport, NY/Lockport) who lost to Bloomsburg's Kris Smith, 4-2, at 184 pounds; freshman Joe Downey (Norwich, NY/Norwich) who lost on a fall to Bloomsburg's Todd Hockenbroch and Charlie Pessa (Yucca Valley, CA/Yucca Valley), who dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime decision to Pat Spirelli of Bloomsburg.

Bulls In Third Place

The Bulls also had three wrestlers place third at the Bloomsburg event.

Charlie Voorhees (Warsaw, NY/Warsaw) defeated VMI's Levi Spellman, 1-0, to take third place at 125 pounds. Junior Shawn Kegel (Wantagh, NY/MacArthur) was third at 133 pounds after a technical fall over Bloomsburg's Adam Castner and, at 174 pounds, Ben Cooper (Copenhagen, NY/Copenhagen Central) defeated VMI's Austin Palmer, 8-7.

No Gamble Here: Bulls Headed To Vegas Next

The Bulls will compete in the highly-competitive Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 3-4 in their next action.

The Las Vegas event traditionally features some of the nation's best teams and is one of the nation's best early season tournaments.

This will be the third straight season that the Bulls have participated in the tournament. Buffalo finished 17th in the event, which typically features nearly 40 teams, last year.

Bulls Have Major Recruiting Coup

The Bulls signed two of the nation's top prep wrestlers, including the nation's No. 1-ranked 152-pounder during the early signing period.

The Bulls received early commitments from Labe Black (Absegami, NJ/Absegami) and Bill Prince (Frewsburg, NY/Frewsburg) -ranked No. 1 and No. 6 by the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) this fall.

Black, ranked No. 1 at 152 pounds, is 108-1 during his career at Absegami and twice has been named New Jersey Wrestler of the Year.

Prince, meanwhile, was the New York State champion at 171 pounds, and was ranked sixth by the NHSCA.

·What's Ahead·
Dec. 3-4 - Las Vegas Invitational
Dec. 18 -vs. Drexel, Appalachian State, Binghamton (home)
Dec. 29-30 -at Sunshine Open