March 8, 2013
CAA Wrestling Championship Information Central
2013 BU Wrestling CAA Championship Preview Videos
BOSTON - The Colonial Athletic Association has released the brackets for the 2013 CAA Wrestling Championships, which will be held Saturday (March 9) at Boston University's Case Gymnasium. The opening round kicks off at 10 a.m.
Fans can access a pdf version of the bracket by clicking here. On Saturday, those unable to attend are encouraged to watch a free broadcast of the event at http://www.caa.tv and follow live results at http://www.trackwrestling.com. The twitter handle @CAAWrestling13 will also provide regular updates.
There will be seven schools (Boston University, Binghamton, Drexel, George Mason, Hofstra, Old Dominion, and Rider) participating with each program having one representative in each of the 10 weight divisions. Though ineligible for the team title, Old Dominion's wrestlers are eligible for the 19 automatic NCAA bids at stake.
Hofstra won the title last season with 80.5 points, edging out Binghamton (78.5) and Old Dominion (68.5). BU finished fourth (34), ahead of Drexel (33.5), George Mason (30.5) and Rider (28).
2013 CAA Championship Wrestling Bracket Breakdown
125 (1 NCAA bid): Hofstra's Steve Bonanno enters as the top seed and defending conference champion with a 14-10 overall record and 6-0 CAA mark. He also ranks 20th nationally in the weight class. Boston University's Bubba McGinley (8-7, 2-3 CAA) is unseeded and will open against Old Dominion's No. 2 Rob Deutsch.
133 (3 NCAA bids): Old Dominion's Scott Festejo enters as the top seed and defending conference champion with a 22-13 record. He earned the opening round bye and will face off against either BU's Dane Harlowe (7-3, 3-0 CAA) or Hofstra's Jamie Franco (14-13, 3-1 CAA), who finished runner-up last season.
141 (3 NCAA bids): Arguably the toughest division in the CAA with three nationally-ranked wrestlers competing. Old Dominion's Chris Mecate is the top seed at 33-7 (4-0 CAA) and will open against BU's Tyler Scotton (15-13, 2-2 CAA). Ranked 16th nationally, Hofstra's defending champion Luke Vaith (13-8, 4-2 CAA) is the No. 3 seed and has the bye. Drexel's Frank Cimato (28-7, 6-0 CAA) ranks 19th and will open against George Mason's Sahid Kargbo.
149 (2 NCAA bids): Binghamton's Donald Vinson ranks fourth nationally and is the defending conference champion with a 27-1 record and 6-0 CAA mark. He owns the bye and will face either BU's No. 4 seed Nick Tourville (7-8, 3-2 CAA) or Drexel's Josh Yurasitis.
157 (2 NCAA bids): BU's Nestor Taffur (31-7, 6-0 CAA) has only suffered one dual loss all season and will compete in his first CAA Championship since 2011 after missing last year due to injury. He opens against Drexel;s Austin Sommer. No. 2 seed Zac Cibula enters with a 21-9 record and 4-2 CAA mark.
165 (1 NCAA bid): Rider's Ramon Santiago is the top seed at 27-7 (6-0 CAA) with a No. 16 national ranking. Getting an opening-round bye, he will face either BU's Mitchell Wightman (17-10, 3-3 CAA) or George Mason's Tyler Knepp (8-15, 2-4 CAA). Drexel's Conor Moran is the two seed at 15-14 (3-2 CAA).
174 (1 NCAA bid): Hofstra's Jermaine John went 6-0 in the CAA to earn the top seed. With a 17-12 overall record, he will open against Drexel's Kevin Matyas. Finishing runner-up last season, BU's Kyle Czarnecki (12-12, 2-1 CAA) received the bye as the No. 3 seed and will face either Old Dominion's No. 2 Bill Curling (18-10, 1-0 CAA) or Binghamton's John Paris in the semifinals.
184 (1 NCAA bid): Both Rider's top-seeded Ryan Wolfe and Binghamton's No. 2 Cody Reed went 5-1 in the CAA, but Wolfe owns a 22-10 overall record along with the opening-round bye. Reed will face off against BU's Alex Najjar (10-7, 3-2 CAA) after earning an earlier 9-7 victory.
197 (3 NCAA bid): Binghamton's Nate Schiedel ranks fifth in the nation and is the top seed at 24-2 (6-0 CAA). He will face off against BU's Hunter Meys (8-6, 1-3 CAA), who has earned two past NCAA berths for the Terriers. Drexel's Brandon Palik finished runner-up last season and currently ranks 19th nationally at 23-3 (4-0 CAA) as the No. 2 seed with the bye.
285 (2 NCAA bids): Hofstra's Paul Snyder was 18-8 this season with a 5-0 CAA mark but is unable to compete on Saturday due to injury. BU's Kevin Innis defeated him last season for the third-place result and NCAA bid. Innis (18-6, 4-2 CAA) is now the top seed and will open against Hofstra's Zeal McGrew. Binghamton's Tyler Deuel is the No. 2 seed at 17-14 (5-1 CAA) with the opening-round bye.
