Lou DePrez of the Binghamton wrestling team took home the 184-pound title at the Southern Scuffle this weekend in Chattanooga, Tenn. DePrez's 3-2 decision over No. 2 Trent Hidlay of North Carolina State came with some added motivation, as he was defeated by Hidlay on a late escape at home earlier this season.

"Lou wrestled close to a perfect tournament, capping it off with a nice revenge win," said head coach Kyle Borshoff. "If he wrestles like that at championships, we will see him on top of the podium."

The tone was set early in the final bout, with DePrez taking his fair share of shots. He was able to get an early takedown in a matchup where scoring would surely be at a premium.

Hidlay started down in the second period, and escaped to knot the score at two, but DePrez responded with an escape point of his own when it was his turn in the third. The remainder of the bout went scoreless, as Hidlay desperately looked for a takedown in the closing seconds, but was unable to do so.

DePrez picked up a pin and two major decisions, one of which was against No. 8 Nino Bonaccorsi of Pitt, en route to the title.

For the rest of the team, Anthony Sparacio headlined the Bearcats' efforts, and was one win away from the podium. Similarly to the Cliff Keen Invite, Sparacio fell in the consolation round of eight to No. 11 Tariq Wilson (NCST).

Prior to the loss, he defeated No. 7 seed Lenny Peterson (Air Force) via decision, and held a lead against 141-pound finalist and No. 1 seeded Kaden Gfeller (OK State) in a 6-3 loss.

"Sparacio wrestled a good tournament, and he's close to where he needs to be," said Borshoff. "He's knocking at the door, but we need him to kick it open in March."

Joe Doyle, Christopher Barker and Matt Swanson all notched victories as well for the Bearcats. Sam DePrez led late into his second match, but was pinned and will have to wait for his first career win.

"We were missing a couple of key starters from our lineup and had an unfortunate injury at 165," said Borshoff. "The rest of the guys have some areas that we need to work on and see some major improvements if they want to get themselves to Minneapolis in March."

The Bearcats finished in 20^th out of 33 competing teams.

Up Next
Binghamton will host Lehigh and Columbia at the Events Center for a dual doubleheader on January 10. Action begins at 5 p.m.

Final Results
125 | No. 1 seed Nick Piccininni (OKST) TF Tomasso Frezza (Bing), 16-0
125 Cons. of 16 | Carson Smith (App. St.) DEC Tomasso Frezza, 8-3
 
125 | Sean Carter (App St.) MD Carson Sauriol (Bing), 12-3
125 Cons. of 32 | Aslan Kilic (Navy) MD Carson Sauriol (Bing), 8-0
 
141 | Anthony Sparacio (Bing) DEC Brad Irwin (App St.), 8-4
141 | Round of 16 | Anthony Sparacio (Bing) DEC No. 8 seed Lenny Peterson (Air Force), 7-4.
141 Quarterfinal | No. 1 seed Kaden Gfeller (OK State) DEC Anthony Sparacio (Bing), 6-3.
141 | No. 2 seed Tariq Wilson (NCST) DEC Anthony Sparacio (Bing), 4-0
 
149 | No. 4 seed A. Alirez (N. Colorado) FALL Michael Zarif (Bing), 2:55
149 Cons. Rd of 32 | Tyler Brennan (Ark. LR) FALL Michael Zarif (Bing), 3:42
 
149 | M. Grippi (NCST) MD Matt Swanson (Bing), 14-4
149 Cons. Rd of 32 | Matt Swanson (Bing) DEC Dawson Sihavong (Stanford), 12-11
149 Cons. Round of 16 | Troy Nation (Campbell) MD Matt Swanson (Bing), 16-4
 
157 | No. 8 seed J. Franek (NDSU) MD Chris Barker (Bing) 8-0
157 Cons. Rd of 32 | Chris Barker (Bing) DEC Ryan Yorkdale (G. Mason), 7-6
157 Cons. Round of 16 | Wyatt Gerl (CSB) FALL Chris Barker (Bing), 4:47
 
165 | No. 3 Seed Thomas Bullard (NCST) MD Aidan Monteverdi, 10-1
165 | Aidan Monteverdi medical forfeited out of his consolation bracket
 
184 Rd of 32 | L. DePrez (Bing) MD TJ Pottinger (NDSU), 10-1
184 Round of 16 | No. 2 Seed Lou DePrez FALL Mason Fiscella (App. St.), 0:24
184 Quarterfinal | No. 2 seed Lou DePrez (Bing) DEC No. 7 seed Alan Clothier (N. Colorado), 6-3.
184 Semifinal| Lou DePrez (Bing) MD Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) 10-2
184 Championship | Lou DePrez (Bing) DEC Trent Hidlay (NC STATE), 3-2
 
197 Rd of 32 | No 3 Seed Nick Reenan (NCST) MD Sam DePrez (Bing), 16-6
197 Cons. of 16 | Logan Andrew (UTC) FALL Sam DePrez (Bing), 5:19
 
285 Rd of 32 | Joe Doyle (Bing) DEC Austin Harris (OKST), 8-4
285 Round of 16 | No. 4 seed Brandon Metz (NDSU) FALL Joe Doyle (Bing), 2:08
285 Cons. Rd of 16 | Ryan Cloud (Rider) FALL Joe Doyle (Bing), 4:39