Wrestling Duo Reaches Semifinals of NYS Championships
01/18/08
Senior Stephen Hult and sophomore Greg Accetta have advanced to the semifinals of their respective championship brackets at the 39th Annual New York State Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships in Buffalo, NY.
On Friday's first day of competition, Hult defeated Corey Hamabate of Cornell University 10-6 and Andre Harrison of Nassau Community College 15-4 to advance to Saturday's semifinal.
NYU's senior 141-pounder, the #3 seed in the bracket, now faces Ithaca College's Willie Horwath, the #2 seed.
Accetta, who received a bye in the first round, pinned Geoff Rosa of Oneonta State University in 4:49 to advance to Saturday's semifinal. The NYU sophomore now faces #3 seed Matt Dunn of Columbia University.
"I really enjoy wrestling in the big meets. For some reason, I put a lot less pressure on myself," Accetta explained. "I feel like I can win all of my matches, even though the competition is very tough."
Senior tri-captain Nick Coleman (184 pounds) produced a pin in 6:50 over Jamestown College's Dan Rosemier in his first match, but dropped a 3-1 decision to Brett Giehl of Cortland State University in the quarterfinals and a 6-5 decision to Patrick Smith of the United States Military Academy in the consolation bracket.
In addition to Hult and Accetta, sophomore Kyle Christensen (125 pounds) and junior Joseph Ranzenbach (133 pounds) are also still alive in the tournament. They will be competing in the consolation brackets of their respective weight classes on Saturday.
Junior Byron Tuyay, competing in the "B" Division (no team scoring), took fourth place in the 125-pound bracket.
Following Friday's action, NYU is in seventh place in the 18-team competition with 37 points.
The host University of Buffalo is in first place heading into Saturday's slate.
Updated results of all the brackets can be found at: