For Immediate Release: March 3, 2006
Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-6800

BU wrestling in eighth place at Colonial Athletic Association Championship
Freshman Nate Patterson advances to semifinals at 149 pounds

Championship Results

PHILADELPHIA. - Binghamton wrestling won six matches on Day 1 of the Colonial Athletic Association Championship, held at the Daskalakis Athletic Center on the campus of Drexel University. The Bearcats currently are positioned in eighth place out of 11 teams and have five of six wrestlers still alive heading into Saturday's competition.

Four-time defending conference champion Hofstra leads the championship with 30.5 points, followed by Drexel (24.5), Old Dominion (24.0), Rider (23.5) and Sacred Heart (12.0) to round out the top five. Binghamton garnered four team points.

149-pound Nate Patterson (Ontario, N.Y.) enjoyed the most success for Binghamton. Patterson, seeded fifth, scored a 4-2 decision over Justin Ensign of Wagner in the first round and then earned a 9-4 decision over fourth-seeded Robert Henry of George Mason in the quarterfinals. That reversed a 12-3 loss Patterson suffered to Henry earlier in the season. He will now face top-seeded Jon Masa of Hofstra in a Saturday semifinal. An upset win would assure Patterson of an NCAA tournament berth.

Still alive in the consolation bracket are four freshmen: 125-pound Steve Gurien (North Bellmore, N.Y.) 133-pound Errick Cholewa (North Tonawanda, N.Y.), 157-pound Chris Wade (Islip, N.Y.) and 165-pound Sam Sirota (Tully, N.Y.). Each of those wrestlers can still finish as high as third place. Gurien won twice in the consolation bracket to offset an opening-round defeat.

The top-two finishers at each of the 10 weight classes plus three wild cards will advance to the NCAA Championship.

Saturday's action gets started at 10 a.m. and the championship finals close out the schedule at 6 p.m.