Boston University
Bearcat Open
Taffur Claims Title at Bearcat Open; Wightman Places Fourth
November 10, 2013 | Men's Wrestling
Nov. 10, 2013
VESTAL, N.Y. - Senior Nestor Taffur claimed the 157-pound title at the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open, hosted by Binghamton on Sunday. Junior Mitchell Wightman placed fourth at 165 as 23 members of the Boston University wrestling team competed at the season-opening tournament.
After opening the tournament with three straight pins, No. 11/13 Taffur needed three more wins to claim the title, and two of them were by a single point, including a 9-8 decision against Penn State's James Vollrath in the championship.
Wightman went 5-2 on the day, including a 3-2 win over Rutgers' Nick Visicaro in the consolation semifinals. In the third-place match, Wightman was edged, 5-3, by Penn State's Garett Hammond.
Sophomore Dane Harlowe earned four wins in the 133-pound bracket and reached the consolation semifinals while senior Bubba McGinley (125) and junior Tyler Scotton (141) recorded three wins apiece in their respective brackets. In all, 10 Terriers earned at least one win in Sunday's tournament.
Taffur, who placed second at last year's Bearcat Open, began the day with first-period pins against Vic DelMonico (Stevens), Matt Hicks (Bloomsburg) and Shohei Takagi (George Mason) before edging out Harvard's Tyler Grimaldi, 11-10, in the quarterfinals. An 8-1 triumph against Cornell's Taylor Simaz earned him a place in the finals.
Following decisions against Rustin Barrick (Bucknell) and Anthony Pafumi (Rutgers), Wightman came up just short against Cornell's Craig Eifert in the quarterfinals by a score of 3-2. He rebounded with a 7-3 win against Binghamton's Vincent Grella before marching on to the third-place bout. This was the second consecutive top-four finish for Wightman at the Bearcat Open, as he finished third last season.
At 133, Harlowe got off to a quick start, recording a fall against Army's Austin Marsico followed by a 6-0 blanking of Binghamton's Mike Sardo. After being pinned by Cornell's Mark Grey, the sophomore picked up back-to-back consolation victories before coming up one win short of placing in the top four.
McGinley reached the 125-pound quarterfinals thanks to a 6-1 decision against Lehigh's Cody Kievman and a 17-1 technical fall versus Army's Nate Santhanam. A quarterfinal loss to Sean McCabe of Rutgers sent him to the wrestlebacks, where he earned one more victory before bowing out.
Scotton won his first two matches before a 3-1 loss to Bucknell's Connor Lapresi. His first consolation match resulted in a pin against another Bison, Mark Edmond, before a 4-2 loss to Maryland's Daniel Sanchez ended his day.
Freshman Aaron Conrad earned two wins in his collegiate debut at 184 and senior Nick Tourville also picked up two victories, including a pin, at 149.
Sophomore Colin Saunders and senior Eric Des Lauriers each picked up one victory at 174 and sophomore Matt Belikov earned his first collegiate win in the 165-pound bracket.
The Terriers will return to action next Sunday (Nov. 17) when they visit Rutgers for their dual opener. The match is set to start at 1 p.m.
