Category: Men

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Lacrosse Men Sports

Men’s lacrosse opens with win

Reed Dempsey

Contributing Writer

The No. 18 Bison men’s lacrosse team traveled south to Newark, Del. on Feb. 9 for its season opener against the University of Delaware Blue Hens. Three goals by Todd Heritage ’14 in front of an 11-save performance from veteran goalie Kyle Feeney ’13 helped the Bison tally their first win of the year.

The high-powered Bison offense came out firing, as Chase Bailey ’13 put the team up 1-0 just 39 seconds into the contest. Over the next 16 minutes, the Bison offense recorded four more goals, featuring career firsts for Brock Ghelfi ’16 and Sean Doyle ’16, as the defense kept the Blue Hens off the scoreboard with five straight saves by Feeney.

Delaware began to find its groove in the middle of the second quarter, hitting the back of the net three times over a six minute stretch to bring the Bison lead down to two.

With 2:26 remaining in the first half, Thomas Flibotte ’16 took the ball from the wing, beat his defender and scored top-right for the first goal of his career.

Delaware opened the second half with three straight goals to tie the game at six, but it was short-lived as the Bison took advantage of a man-up opportunity to regain their lead when Peter Burke ’14 fed Heritage for his third goal of the match. The Blue Hens fired back with another two goals to start the fourth quarter and take their first lead of the game.

Although the Bison were trailing for the first time, the team never doubted itself.

“Many others on the team, including myself, did not ever have the thought of a loss cross our minds,” Heritage said. “We knew we had to keep doing exactly what we had been doing the whole game and work for longer possessions to let our defense have energy.”

Just two minutes later, David Dickson ’15 (three assists) found Ghelfi to tie the game up at eight. Following three minutes of back and forth play, the Orange and Blue worked the ball around on offense for nearly a minute before Flibotte dodged his defender and found himself open for a shot, beating the Delaware goalie lower-left off a bounce.

Over the final three minutes, Feeney’s defense completely locked down the Blue Hens, including a save by the veteran goaltender with 22 seconds remaining.

“I think this is the best the D has looked after game one in my four years here,” Feeney said.

The Bison will travel to Maryland to face Mount St. Mary’s for their second game of the season on Feb. 17.

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Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis falls twice on the road

 Emily Evancho

Contributing Writer

The men’s tennis team had a rough weekend in Pittsburgh as it was defeated by both Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne. Despite the losses, Nick Bybel ’16 and Josh Katten ’13 led the Bison with strong performances in the matches.

The match against Carnegie Mellon was a close one that nearly belonged to the Orange and Blue. Two of the three Bison doubles teams championed in their matches with a 9-8 victory from the team of Bybel and Katten and an 8-6 win from Kelly Morque ’13 and Evan Zimmer ’13. The Bison stumbled in the singles matches but still gave successful performances, most notably Bybel’s dual 6-1 victory. Kyle Rosen ’14, Octavio Canibe ’15 and Scott Bernstein ’14 also triumphed in their matches, bringing the final score to a 5-4 loss.

“Our match against Carnegie Mellon was very tight and came down to needing a few more singles wins,” Bernstein said. “Nick Bybel showed great energy and fight in snapping up two victories.”

In the Bison’s second match against Duquesne on Feb. 9, it was Katten who led the herd with straight set victories in his singles match. Katten and the team’s efforts were not enough to seal a win for the match. The Orange and Blue returned home with a 6-1 loss.

“Early spring tournaments are great to let you know as a team what you need to work on. We found some things that need tweaking and we will continue to work and improve. Day by day, we get better,” Aidan Lynch ’14 said.

The Bison will look for signs of  improvement when they challenge Niagara and St. Bonaventure in Olean, N.Y. this weekend.

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Men Sports Track & Field

Men’s track ends regular season on high note, wins five events

Thomas Walter

Staff Writer

The men’s track and field team ended its regular season with a successful weekend of five event victories as it hosted the Bucknell Winter Classic, its final meet before the Patriot League Championships this weekend.

Leonard Joseph ’13 placed first in the weight throw with a 63-8.25 toss, successfully defending his title from last year. Kevin Keller ’15 won the long jump with a distance of 23-2.25, while Alex Prieto ’14 was victorious in the triple jump with a 47-5.75. Patryk Najbar ’14 also placed first with a time of 7.00 seconds in the 60-meter dash.

Nathaniel Witter ’14 rounded out the individual victors after clearing 15-3 in pole-vaulting, resulting in his second straight win at this event.

“My win this week gave me confidence in my consistency … but for me to achieve what I want at the Patriot League meet, I will need to jump higher than what I won with this past weekend,” Witter said. “I do know that it is obtainable, though, and with the energy level that this weekend will bring, anything is possible.”

Witter also knows that the team has a long way to go before it can be satisfied. But, its performance from this past weekend gives the team more confidence heading into this coming weekend.

“I think that everyone on the team is excited to see what we can do,” Witter said. “There has been some fall backs due to sickness but many people are stepping up.”

The Bison will make a run to defend their Patriot League title this weekend in West Point, N.Y.

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Men Sports Wrestling

Wrestling drops two matches

Billy Tyler

Assistant Sports Editor

The men’s wrestling team had a busy weekend, with a home meet against Lock Haven followed by a match-up at No. 10 Cornell on Feb. 10. Unfortunately for the Bison, neither match resulted in a victory for the team, and the Orange and the Blue saw their record fall to 6-11 on the year.

The match against Lock Haven was a closely fought contest that was not decided until the final bout. Entering the deciding round, the Bison trailed by just one point, 17-16, meaning that the winner of the final bout would take the match for their team. In this bout, Joe Stolfi ’15 saw his eight-match win streak end as he was pinned by his opponent in 5:57, resulting in the 23-16 loss.

The match was far closer than the final score indicated. The Bison won five of the nine contested bouts in the match. Lock Haven stayed in the match due to wins in three bouts (125, 184 and 285) which garnered them 17 points. Lock Haven benefited greatly from the forfeit in the 125 bout, as the Bison’s usual wrestler in this class, Austin Miller ’15, is out for the rest of the season with an arm injury. 

Several members of the Bison, meanwhile, put on solid performances in their matches to counterbalance Lock Haven’s weighted lead. These winners for the Orange and the Blue include Paul Petrov ’16 with a 13-3 major decision, Adam Healey ’13 with a 3-1 decision, No. 17 Corey Lear ’13 with a 2-0 decision, Robert Schlitt ’16 with a 6-5 decision and Tyler Lyster ’15 with a 7-2 decision.

The wrestling team attempted to bounce back from their loss with a win at Cornell. Things did not go according to plan for the Bison, as they fell 37-3 to the Big Red.

Stolfi redeemed his earlier loss by getting the only win for the Bison in a 9-2 decision. This win was Stolfi’s ninth win in his last 10 matches. Another match of note was the 165-pound match, which featured two ranked opponents. Lear for the Bison was pinned by No. 1 Kyle Dake in 53 seconds. Dake, a three-time NCAA champion, has won 65 consecutive bouts. His last loss was in the 2011 EIWA title bout to former Bison wrestler Kevin LeValley ’11.

The men’s wrestling team returns to action Friday at Clarion and Saturday at American.

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Men Sports Tennis

Men’s tennis comes out on top in opener

 Emily Evancho

Contributing Writer

The men’s tennis team shook off its winter coats and delivered a 5-2 victory in its first game on Feb. 2 against Saint Francis (Pa.). The Orange and Blue were especially triumphant in doubles play with a sweep in all three doubles matches.

The Bison effortlessly handled St. Francis’s doubles teams with the closest match being an 8-3 win by Nick Bybel ’16 and Josh Katten ’13. The other two doubles teams of Kelly Morque ’13/Evan Zimmer ’13 and Aiden Lynch ’14/Chris Tortora ’14 also defeated their Saint Francis opponents with an 8-2 win each.

“Everyone had high energy from the start of doubles, and that energy carried on into the singles matches,” Tortora said.

Singles weren’t as easy for the Bison as Zimmer and Katten struggled early on in their matches. Nonetheless, both demonstrated determination when they fought back to achieve dual victories for each match. Bybel triumphed easily in his singles match, winning 6-2, 6-0.

“We’re always glad with grabbing the first victory of the season, but aim to stay balanced and focused on our goals at the end of the season at the Patriot Leagues. It’s going to be a fun year,” Scott Bernstein ’14 said.

The Bison play their next pair of matches this weekend in Pittsburgh against Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne.

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Men Sports Track & Field

Men’s track dominates competition in Ohio

 

Edward Louie | The Bucknellian Members of the men's track team, pictures here at a recent home meet, raced past their competition at the Youngstown State Invitational in Ohio.
Edward Louie | The Bucknellian
Members of the men’s track team, pictures here at a recent home meet, raced past their competition at the Youngstown State Invitational in Ohio.

Thomas Walter

Staff Writer

Men’s Track & Field Travel’s To Youngstown State Invite; Records Continue to Be Broken

Christian Lupica ’15 led the men’s track and field team to a 322.5 point victory at the Youngstown State Invitational this past weekend. The Bison finished 205.5 points ahead of second-place Duquesne.

The men’s team concluded the event with wins in eight events. The Orange and Blue finished in the first five spots in the 3,000 meter and four of the first five in the 400 meter. In the field events, Ray Holmes ’14, Alex Prieto ’14 and Kevin Tapper ’15 finished first, second and third in the triple jump, respectively.

The weekend, however,belonged to Lupica; in the 60 meter, he ran a personal best of 6.93 seconds to finish fourth. In the 60-meter hurdles, he broke his own school record by one-hundredth of a second at 8.04 seconds.

“Running a personal record is always a great and rewarding feeling, and breaking my own school record is just extra,” Lupica said. “It’s a real confidence booster to be running my best this close to the league championship, and I plan on riding the positive momentum through the rest of the season and hopefully run some more personal bests.”

Lupica and the rest of the Bison will look to gain some final momentum before the Patriot League Championships as they host the Bucknell Winter Classic Saturday.

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Basketball Men Sports

Johnson tops record, helps sink Navy

 

Conor Pierson | The Bucknellian Bryson Johnson '13 shoots the ball over a Navy defender in the Bison's 69-54 victory over the Midshipmen. Johnson lead the team with 20 points.
Conor Pierson | The Bucknellian
Bryson Johnson ’13 shoots the ball over a Navy defender in the Bison’s 69-54 victory over the Midshipmen. Johnson lead the team with 20 points.

Eric Brod

Senior Writer

Bryson Johnson ’13 broke the Bison record for three-point baskets in a career and tallied a season-high 20 points to lead the men’s basketball team to a 69-54 victory over Navy. The Orange and Blue improved to 19-4 overall and 6-1 in league play, while the Midshipmen fell to 7-16 (1-6).

Johnson came into the game needing just one basket to break the record, and he wasted little time, hitting his first three-pointer of the night 57 seconds into the contest for his 295th career three-pointer.

“I never really thought about any records when I first began here, but as I got closer, people kept mentioning it. It was something that happened because I have great teammates who are unselfish and get me open looks,” Johnson said.

Johnson hit another three shortly after his first to give the Bison a 6-2 lead, and after his fourth three of the night, he extended the lead to 19-8.

“I think early on we did a good job throwing it inside and our bigs did an even better job passing back out to the perimeter when the zone collapsed on them, and that gave the wings open looks from the outside,” Johnson said.

Three-point shooting was just part of the story in the Bison’s performance. The Orange and Blue used their size advantage to out-rebound Navy 47-20, led by Mike Muscala ’13, who tied his career high with 19 rebounds to go along with 11 points in 25 minutes of game time. Eleven of the Bison’s 47 rebounds came on the offensive glass, giving them 17 second-chance points.

“Bryson [Johnson] got us started early on with a ton of threes. It was nice to see him break the record in front of the home crowd,” Muscala said. “After that I think we all played our roles well, hitting mid-range jumpers, driving in the lane and then rebounding our misses and converting them into second-chance points.”

The Orange and Blue extended their lead to 16 in the first half before Navy went on a mini-run to end the half to cut the lead to 34-22 at halftime. After Navy scored the first basket of the second half, the Bison went on a 12-0 run to extend their lead to 22. The run began on a driving layup by Cameron Ayers ’14, who was fouled on the shot and was able to complete the three-point play.

The bench also provided a major spark in the second half as the Bison continued to build up their lead. Ben Brackney ’14 hit Ayers for a wide-open three that made the score 53-31 with 7:56 left, and finished the game with four points. Chris Hass ’16 contributed six points, and Cory Starkey ’15 contributed four points and four rebounds. Brian Fitzpatrick ’13 provided tremendous hustle and rebounding, and put in an emphatic dunk off a great pass from Johnson to give the team a commanding 57-35 lead with 6:51 to play.

After struggling from the line in previous matches, the Bison shot an impressive 16-19 from the line. The Orange and Blue also shot 46.9 percent from the field, and 7-19 from three-point range, led by Johnson’s 6-10 shooting from beyond the arc. On defense, the Bison held Navy to 31.7 percent shooting from the field.

“We did a good job getting out and pressuring their perimeter players because they have a lot of shooters, so we tried to force them to take shots inside the arc and try to make them uncomfortable while running their offense,” Johnson said.

The Bison return to action Saturday, travelling to West Point to kick off the second half of league play against Army. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.

“Army is a tough place to play on the road and they play really fast, so in front of their home crowd, they can really get the momentum in their favor with a couple easy hoops in transition,” Johnson said. “It will be a good test for us and we will have plenty of time to prepare for them with no midweek game this week, so we are looking forward to it.”

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Men Sports Wrestling

Wrestling demolishes George Mason

 

Estie Pyper | The Bucknellian Stephen McPeek '14 tries to pin his opponent in one of the wrestling team's recent matches. The Bison defeated George Mason 21-12 in their home match last Saturday.
Estie Pyper | The Bucknellian
Stephen McPeek ’14 tries to pin his opponent in one of the wrestling team’s recent matches. The Bison defeated George Mason 21-12 in their home match last Saturday.

Billy Tyler

Assistant Sports Editor

The men’s wrestling team earned a 21-12 victory against George Mason, where the Bison got ahead early and never looked back in Davis Gym.

The Orange and the Blue took the first seven bouts of the match and a 21-0 lead. All seven bouts were won by decisions and included notable victories by Paul Petrov ’16, Corey Lear ’13 and Joe Stolfi ’15.

Petrov, in the 133 lb. bout, fell behind and entered the third period trailing 5-1. He put on a remarkable performance in that third period, going 9-1 and sealing the 10-6 victory. Lear, ranked 17th in the country in the 165 lb. weight class, won his team-high 19th match of the year against George Mason, shutting out his opponent 6-0. In the heavyweight bout, Stolfi won handily by a score of 5-1. This victory extended his win streak to eight consecutive bouts.

Other notable wins for the Bison include Robert Schlitt ’16 in the 174 lb. weight class with a 6-4 decision, Robert Marchese ’16 in the 184 lb. class with a 5-2 victory, Tyler Lyster ’15 in the 197 lb. class with an 8-2 victory and Austin Miller ’15 in the 125 lb. class with a 7-4 comeback victory.

The next match for the Bison will take place on Friday at 5 p.m. in Davis Gym. They will take on Penn College of Technology and Lock Haven in back-to-back matches.

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Men Sports Swimming & Diving

M. swimming comes out on top against PL rival Lehigh

Emily Evancho

Contributing Writer

At the men’s swimming and diving meet, both teams brought home the gold for the Orange and the Blue with a victory of 175-118 over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. The Orange and the Blue also celebrated Senior Day by honoring the five senior men.

Among the most impressive competitors for the Bison was Ben Seketa ’15, who won first in the 100 breast and 200 breast, marking his third time championing in both events. Tim Perley ’15 and Sam Mackie ’16 also claimed top spots in both events. Mike Nicholson ’14 came in first for both the 100 fly and 200 fly. Will Rappaport ’16 continued to excel for the Bison as the first place finisher in both the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke.

“I think we dominated from beginning to end and were able to improve from our previous meet against Army,” Perley said.

The Bison diving team also performed well, with Tyler Wenzel ’16 claiming his own victory in the one-meter. Wenzel also took second off the three-meter.

“I was happy with how I dove, but there are still personal improvements to be made on the three-meter board,” Wenzel said. “I feel the team came together and performed well overall to show that we are where we need to be going into the post season.”

The Bison look to continue their winning ways Saturday at the Bison Invite.

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Men Sports Track & Field

Joseph leads men’s track & field

Thomas Walter

Staff Writer

Leonard Joseph ’13 became the most decorated Patriot League field athlete of all-time with an exceptional performance at the Bison Open & Multi this past weekend. Robert Yamnicky ’13 also helped set the pace for the Bison at the Gerhard Fieldhouse, while Kevin Tapper ’15 led the Orange and Blue at the Penn State National Invitational.

At Penn State, Tapper recorded a victory in the 500 meters with a time of 1:04.28. Back in Lewisburg, Yamnicky took home the gold medal in the mile with a time of 4:21.38.

However, the weekend belonged to Joseph. At Penn State, he threw for 65.75 feet. It was Joseph’s first throw longer than 64 feet, and it was also the second longest throw in Bison history. He finished second in the meet, but was first among all collegiate competitors.

Joseph also won the Patriot League Field Athlete of the Week award for his performance this past weekend. It was the eighth time he won this award in his career, passing former Bison standout Tyler Hoffman’07 and making him the most decorated Patriot League field athlete in history.

“[Tyler] Hoffman was a great thrower and it is an honor to say that I have surpassed him in that area,” Joseph said.

“Lenny Joseph has really worked himself into one of the best hammer throwers in the nation with virtually no prior experience. He came into school as a discus thrower,” head coach Kevin Donner said. “He has put himself in the position where he is one of the elite Patriot League Athletes of all time and now one of the top throwers in the country.”

With Patriot League Championships only two weeks away, Donner is excited about the championship, but he points out that the team will need to stay healthy to compete.

“We need to live clean and try to avoid getting sick or hurt. It comes down to the little details from putting time in the training room to even stretching and eating well, which contribute to the body being 100 percent for competitions,” Donner said.

The Bison will return to competition this weekend as they travel to the Youngstown State Invitational.