Wrestlers Open Season At Bearcat Invitational
November 20, 2000 | Men's Wrestling
BINGHHAMPTON, N.Y. -- The Terrier wrestling team kicked off the 2000-01 campaign at the Bearcat Open on November 11th at Binghamton University in Binghamton, N.Y. While there was no team scoring in the event, there were several noteworthy Terrier performances in the tournament.
Sophomore Jose Leon (Santa Ana, CA), who led the Terriers with 20 victories last season, won the 125-pound weight class with a 2-1 overtime decision over Hofstra's Tom Noto. Leon had previously defeated Binghamton's Patrick Griffin, 14-5, in the semi-finals.
The Terriers appeared to have wrapped up 157-pound weight class as well, as two Terriersco-captains junior Jay Holder (Danville, NH) and senior Malik Elliott (Lake Zurich, IL) advanced to the final four. Unfortunately, both met Hofstra's Dennis Papadatos. In the semifinals, Papadatos defeated Holder, 7-3. Then, in the finals, Papadatos edged Elliott, 2-1.
Making his debut as a Terrier, sophomore Nick Loafman (Montrose, MI) got a great start to his career with a fourth-place finish at 184. A transfer from Albian College, he dropped his semi-final match to Army's Maurice Worthy 10-3, who eventually won the tournament. Loafman later lost to Hofstra's Ralph Everett in the third-place match, 3-2.
