UTICA, NY - The Pioneers will be back home this Friday night for their Senior Day as they host Elmira College in a dual meet. This meet will take place at Miga Court at the Clark Athletic Center, beginning this Friday, February 13th at 5:00 pm.
Last Time Out: The Pioneers last competed on Friday, February 7th at Lackawanna College for a tri-meet against Lackawanna College and Jamestown Community College. In the opening dual matches against Lackawanna, Utica earned three wins in contested bouts.
Logan Banks (West Hartford, CT/Conard) had the quickest match of the day at 141 pounds, winning over Lackawanna's John Almonte in 47 seconds.
Marco Milankovic (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park) earned six points by forfeit, and
Nuallan King (Pen Argyl, PA/Pen Argyl Area High School) won over Lackawanna's Adan Salazar in 2:34 during the 197-pound bout. The remaining matches went towards Lakawanna's favor, the majority being falls, giving the hosts a 40-18 decision.
During the second dual, Utica steamrolled Jamestown Community College 51-3. The orange and blue opened matchups with four straight forfeits before the senior,
Seth Richardson (Fort Plain, NY/Fort Plain), delivered a fall at 184 pounds, pinning Jamestown's Brad Smith at 6:49.
Lukas Charles (Nyack, NY/Nyack) closed the day out with an 11-8 win over Jamestown's Jameison Caldwell by decision.
Richardson's Senior Day: The 6'0" 174-pound senior holds the most wins in this 2025-2026 season with 16 wins, three by decision, one by technical fall, and nine by fall. Richardson previously earned Empire 8 Athlete of the Week, Pioneer of the Week, and SUNYAC Wrestler of the Week earlier this season. Richardson has been a member of the program since its inception, picking up 26 wins in his three years to date, posting five wins by decision, one win by major decision, four wins by technical fall, and 13 wins by fall.
Last meeting with Elmira: Utica and Elmira last met at the beginning of the season in the Pitt-Bradford Quad Meet at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. During this meet, Utica had dominated Elmira in a 38-15 win, including four forfeits, a major decision win by
Rian Kirker (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook) at 133 pounds, two decision wins by
Billy Beseth (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) at 149 pounds, and
Matt Bonato (Syracuse, NY/Liverpool) at 157 pounds, and one fall win by Richardson at 184 pounds in 1:03. The Pioneers hold a three-win-streak since their first matchup in early 2024 and all by a ten or more point margin.
Up Next: Utica's next stop is the NCAA Region 1 Championship, at a location to be determined, on Saturday, February 28th. More information will be released as the date gets closer.
