Boston University
CAA Championships
Innis, Taffur Lead BU with Individual Titles at CAA Championships
March 9, 2013 | Men's Wrestling
March 9, 2013
Final CAA Championship Brackets | Coach Adams' Interview
BOSTON - Highlighted by juniors Kevin Innis (285) and Nestor Taffur (157) claiming their first-ever individual titles, the Boston University wrestling team placed fourth at the 2013 CAA Championships on Saturday night at Case Gymnasium. By finishing third at 133, freshman Dane Harlowe will join the two men at the NCAAs.
The Terriers entered the competition having won a combined three weight classes since joining the CAA in 2001-02 with John Hall ('12) last winning at 197 in 2011. Innis and Taffur were both No. 1 seeds and did not disappoint to help make program history with two titles in the same year for the first time.
Harlowe, junior Bubba McGinley (125) and sophomore Mitchell Wightman (165) all rebounded from difficult losses to place third overall in their respective bracket, while junior Nick Tourville (149) and senior Kyle Czarnecki (184) came up just short in fourth place.
Hofstra won the team title with 67.5 points with Binghamton (54.0) and Rider (54.0) tying for second. The Terriers took fourth at 51.5, improving upon last year's performance by 17.5 points. Drexel (24.5) and George Mason (22.0) rounded out the list.
Missing last year's tournament due to injury, Taffur opened with a 14-11 extra-session thrilling victory against Drexel's Austin Sommer and followed with a 6-3 decision over George Mason's Jaaziah Bethea. He then went face-to-face with Rider's two-sseded Zachary Cibula for the fourth time this season after winning the previous three matches by a combined six points. Taffur rallied from behind with a takedown to grab a one-point lead late in the third period and prevented any chance of an escape to earn his first career NCAA bid.
A third-place finisher last season, Innis earned a 7-2 decision against Hofstra's Zeal McGrew and then pulled out a 3-1 victory over Old Dominion's No. 4 Matt Tourdot. He claimed his second consecutive NCAA bid by knocking off George Mason's No. 3 Jacob Kettler, 7-3, to avenge an earlier loss in the season.
Harlowe added BU's third individual NCAA berth by stunning his bracket's top two seeds. He first fell to eventual champion Jamie Franco of Hofstra by a 6-0 margin but rebounded with two critical victories. He edged Rider's No. 2 Jimmy Morris, 7-6, and then pinned Old Dominion's No. 1 Scott Festejo with 21 seconds remaining in the third period.
Despite not having an opportunity to earn a bid after falling into their respective consolation bracket, McGinley and Wightman continued to battle. McGinley topped Binghamton's No. 4 Mike Sardo, 3-0, and then handled George Mason's Rich Carroll-Lavorat, 9-2.
Wightman pinned his first opponent 4:58 into the match but dropped a hard-fought 7-5 decision to eventual champion Ramon Santiago of Rider. He responded with a 2-1 win against Binghamton's Vincent Grella and thrilling 3-1 overtime victory over Hofstra's Nick Terdick.
Competing in the 141 division with three nationally-ranked wrestlers also included in the bracket, sophomore Tyler Scotton lost, 2-1 (tb1), to Old Dominion's top-seeded Chris Mecate. The eventual champion would win the next two matches by a combined score of 13-1 after escaping the clutches of Scotton. Binghamton's No. 4 Joe Bonaldi pulled out a 6-4 overtime decision to prevent Scotton from reaching the third-place match.
Sophomore Alex Najjar (174) and senior Hunter Meys (197) also suffered losses in their first two matches, as BU finished the night with a 17-13 record.
The NCAA Championships will take place at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa on March 21-23.
125
Bubba McGinley (3-1)
Lost to #2 Rob Deutsch (ODU), 10-0
Defeated #3 Jake Goodwin (Drexel), 4-3
Defeated #4 Mike Sardo (Binghamton), 3-0
3rd Place: Defeated Rich Carroll-Lavorat (GMU), 9-2
133
Dane Harlowe (2-1)
Lost to #4 Jamie Franco (Hofstra), 6-0
Bye
Defeated #2 Jimmy Morris (Rider), 7-6
3rd Place: Pinned #1 Scott Festejo (ODU), 6:39
141
Tyler Scotton (0-2)
Lost to #1 Chris Mecate (ODU), 2-1 (tb1)
Lost to #4 Joe Bonaldi (Binghamton), 6-4 (ot)
149
#4 Nick Tourville (2-2)
Pinned Josh Yurasitis (Drexel), 0:57
Semifinal: Pinned by #1 Donald Vinson (Binghamton), 1:15
Defeated Gregory Flournoy (GMU), 3-2 (tb1)
3rd Place: Pinned by Cody Ruggirello (Hofstra), 4:28
157
#1 Nestor Taffur (3-0)
Defeated Austin Sommer (Drexel), 14-11 (tb1)
Semifinal: Defeated Jaaziah Bethea (GMU), 6-3
1st Place: Defeated #2 Zachary Cibula (Rider), 5-4
165
#4 Mitchell Wightman (3-1)
Pinned Ty Knepp (George Mason), 4:58
Semifinal: Lost to #1 Ramon Santiago (Rider), 7-5
Defeated Vincent Grella (Binghamton), 2-1
3rd Place: Defeated Nick Terdick (Hofstra), 3-1 (ot)
174
#3 Kyle Czarnecki (1-2)
Bye
Semifinal: lost to #2 Billy Curling (ODU), 5-2
Defeated Kevin Matyas (Drexel), 3-2
3rd Place: Lost to #4 James Brundage (Rider), 12-5
184
Alex Najjar (0-2)
Lost to #2 Cody Reed (Binghamton), 3-2
Pinned by Taras Luzhnyy (Hofstra), 1:07
197
Hunter Meys (0-2)
Pinned by #1 Nathan Schiedel (Binghamton), 2:24
Lost to Matthew Meadows (George Mason), 7-2
285
#1 Kevin Innis (3-0)
Defeated Zeal McGrew (Hofstra), 7-2
Semifinal: Defeated #4 Matt Tourdot (ODU), 3-1
1st Place: Defeated #3 Jacob Kettler (GMU), 7-3
TEAM STANDINGS
1) Hofstra - 67.5 points
2) Binghamton - 54.0 points
2) Rider - 54.0 points
4) Boston U. - 51.5 points
5) Drexel - 24.5 points
6) George Mason - 22.0 points
