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ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Bryan Lantry came painfully close to becoming just the second University at Buffalo Division I Wrestling All-American, but lost an overtime heartbreaker to ninth-ranked Scotty Parker of Lehigh at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis on Friday night. The loss ended the Bulls run at the NCAAs.
Lantry and Parker battled for a spot on the podium with the winner finishing no worse than eighth. After a scoreless first period, Parker struck first with an escape and a takedown in the second period for a 3-0 lead. An escape by Lantry cut the deficit to 3-1 after two. Lantry got an early escape in the third to cut Parker’s lead to 3-2. Then, with 1:02 left in the third, Lantry earned a takedown to take his first lead of the match, 4-3. Parker got an escape and the match was tied at four and headed to overtime.
However, in OT, Parker earned a two-point takedown to get the sudden victory and end Lantry’s dream of being an All-American.
It was Lantry’s second match of the day after going 2-0 on Thursday. In his morning match, Lantry faced third-ranked Kaid Brock of Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals. Brock earned a 7-3 decision for the win.
Elsewhere, Kyle Akins had a morning match in the consolation bracket against Northern Iowa’s Dylan Peters. Akins jumped all over his conference foe with two first-period takedowns en route to a 9-6 decision. Akins avenged his loss to Peters from this year’s MAC Championships.
With the win over Peters, Akins advanced to the Friday afternoon session to take on Brock Hudkins of Northern Illinois. Hudkins earned a third-period takedown and escape to pull away for a 6-2 decision.
“I’m proud of Bryan Lantry, Kyle Akins, Jake Gunning and all the UB wrestling members, fans, alumni and friends of the program,” head coach John Stutzman said. “We will get there!”
This brought an end to one of the most successful UB wrestling seasons in recent memory. The Bulls went 11-6 in duals this year, including a program-best four MAC dual wins. Jake Gunning was UB’s first MAC champion since 2011. Buffalo returns six starters next season, including all three that competed at the NCAAs.