VESTAL, N.Y. - The Binghamton Wrestling team will open the 2018-19 campaign this Sunday, November 11, when they host the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open at the Events Center. The open tournament, an event that honors a fallen veteran who wrestled for the BU program, features 12 teams and over 200 wrestlers from across the country. The event provides a unique combination of proven, nationally-ranked wrestlers and young, talented freshmen who are beginning their collegiate career.
"The Bearcat Open is huge for us," head coach Kyle Borshoff said. "As one of the athletic departments larger showcase events, it's a great opportunity to show off our facilities at the University while honoring someone very significant to our program. Jonathan was a big part of Binghamton wrestling and naming the tournament after him allows us to commemorate his time with us and his time serving our country."
This year's field features 12 premier programs along the east coast, including five teams ranked within the top 15 in the country. No. 1 Penn State headlines a stacked tournament field that also includes No. 6 NC State, No. 10 Lehigh, and Cornell and Princeton, who are both tied with a No. 14 national ranking. Binghamton is 1 of 9 EIWA programs who will be participating in the event, including EIWA rivals Army, Brown, Franklin & Marshall, Harvard and Navy, to go along with nationally ranked Lehigh, Cornell, and Princeton.
"We're really looking forward to a great weekend of wrestling," Borshoff said. "There are going to be a number of really good teams with some really talented wrestlers here. It's a great opportunity for us to see where we're at to kick off the season, and to see the improvements we need to make to get where we want to be."
The History
Named after Jonathan Kaloust, a former Binghamton wrestler who enlisted in the military after graduating and was killed in the line of duty, the Kaloust Open has seen a wealth of talent come through the Events Center doors. The past five years have seen nearly 25 NCAA champions and 50 All-Americans compete in the early-season tournament. The highly competitive event also allows Binghamton to showcase its campus and facilities to the wrestling world.
Doors will open at 8am with competition set to begin at 9am. The finals are tentatively scheduled for 3pm, depending on match length throughout the day. The event will run all day through TrackWrestling. Live, match by match scoring/results will be provided along with updated brackets and mat assignments at the conclusion of each match.
Deprez looking to build on past success
After back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2016 and 2017 at the 165 lb weight class, redshirt-senior Vincent DePrez is wrestling this year in the 174 lb weight class, and has his sights set on the title. He also brings a preseason No. 17 national ranking into this year's tournament.
Louie Louie
Fresh off of a trip to the UWW Junior Nationals, redshirt-freshman Lou DePrez looks to build on his runner-up finish last year in the 184 lb weight class. DePrez brings the highest preseason ranking of this year's Binghamton wrestling squad into the tournament with a No. 13 national ranking at 184 lbs.
Frankie's Back, Back AgainÂ
Redshirt-juniorÂ
Frankie Garcia, the sole returning national qualifier for Binghamton, looks to place for the first time in his career at the Open. A second-place finish at the 2018 EIWA tournament and a 1-2 record at nationals earned Garcia a No. 17 ranking on TrackWrestling's preseason list at 149 lbs.
'Cats on the prowl
In last year's Open, redshirt-sophomoreÂ
Audey Ashkar (125) and redshirt-seniorÂ
Joe Nelson (125) both finished in fifth place in their respective weight class. Both wrestlers look to improve on that finish Sunday.Â
