Correction appended
The AU men’s wrestling team pulled off a huge win at home Feb. 3, beating No. 19 Binghamton University. The Eagles defeated the Bearcats, 26-14, in Bender Arena.
Binghamton came to D.C. boasting two wrestlers ranked in the top five in the country. In front of a large home crowd, the Eagles took the lead from the get-go and never looked back.
“I’m really happy for our guys that we were able to put this match together, especially with Binghamton being ranked nationally,” AU Head Coach Teague Moore told aueagles.com. “The details are really where we won out. We talked a lot about how to finish periods out and finishing scoring holds, and we executed and did that today.”
Coming into this match, AU was coming off tough back-to-back dual meet losses to Hofstra and Columbia. The Eagles picked up the pieces and demonstrated a newfound resolve.
In the first match at 133 pounds, AU’s Esteban Gomez-Rivera beat Binghamton’s Dylan Cohen by an 18-10 major decision to put American up 4-0. Following that, at 141 pounds AU’s John Boyle beat Binghamton’s Dan Riggi in an intense 2-0 match to give AU a 7-0 overall lead.
But Binghampton struck back at 149 pounds, when the Bearcats’ Donnie Vinson, ranked fourth nationally, pinned AU’s Kevin Tao. The Eagles clung to a narrow 7-6 lead.
At 157 pounds, AU’s Mark Cirello beat Binghamton’s Jack McKeever in a 6-2 decision to push the overall lead to 10-6. At 156 pounds, AU’s Phillip Barreiro made a statement with a major decision victory over Binghamton’s Vincent Grella, 10-2. With AU leading 14-6, Keithen Cast pinned BU’s John Paris at the 5:12 in the third to put AU up 20-6.
Moving on to 184 pounds, Binghamton’s Cody Reed edged AU’s Thomas Barreiro 5-3 to bring the score up to 20-9. Following at 197 pounds, Binghamton’s No. 5 Nate Schiedel beat AU’s Devon Bradley by technical fall 18-2 to bring Binghamton within reach.
With the score at 20-14, AU’s last two wrestlers locked it up for the Eagles. Heavyweight Blake Herrin won for the Eagles in a 9-5 decision over Tyler Deuel to make it 23-14, and AU 125-pounder David Terao beat Mike Sardo 10-4 to make it 26-14. The Eagles finished winning all but three matches, led by a pin and two major decisions.
The Eagles will take on Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association rival Navy in Annapolis on Saturday, Feb. 9. Following that, the team has a doubleheader the next day against Army and Boston University, in West Point, N.Y.
Correction: This story has been updated to include the correct photo to match the caption.
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