CLARION, PA – The University at Buffalo wrestling team opened the season at the Clarion Open on Sunday. Three Bulls earned spots on the podium as Rafael Knapp finished second, Marcus Petite finished fourth and Kaleb Burgess took fifth.
Knapp was the three seed at 174. He opened with an 11-8 decision over John Altieri of Clarion and followed with an 11-2 major decision over Bellarmine’s Tyler Martinez. He topped Bode Marlow of Pittsburgh, 8-5, to advance to the final. In the finals, Knapp met top-seed Grant ODell of Bellarmine and dropped a tough 4-2 decision to settle for second.
Petite was the three seed at 184. He easily won his first match, 16-2, over Bellarmine’s Jack Ring and then held off Clarion’s Adrian Gacek, 2-1, to advance to the semifinals. Petite dropped a close 4-2 decision to two-seed Brian Burburija of Air Force in the semifinals and then dropped a 7-3 decision to Cornell’s Christian Hansen in the third-place match.
Burgess stumbled in his first match and then rolled through his next five opponents to earn fifth place. He first beat Clarion’s Talen Hubbard 3-0 and then earned a 10-3 decision over Ethan Beloncik of Air Force. Burgess got a 7-0 decision over Holden Huhn in his next match and then defeated Clarion’s Cody Hamilton, 5-2, to advance to the fifth-place match. He cruised past Cornell’s Ryder Yoshitake 12-1 to take home fifth place.
Max Elton (125) and Sam Ewing (149) each had three wins on the day. Caden Barrientos (125), Kelin Laffey (165), Brady Unger (165) and Connor Scuilla (197) all posted two wins.
Click here for the full results.
The Bulls will next host Pittsburgh in their home opener on Saturday at Alumni Arena.
Courtesy of University at Buffalo.