Sports
COLLEGE WRESTLING: UB's Needle still finding his way
AMHERST — Success breeds success, we’re told. More accurately, success fuels a hunger to achieve greater things.
Ryan Needle won 240 wrestling matches at Newfane High School, a record that still stands. He won state championships at 96, 130 and 140 pounds. As a senior, he went 48-0, earning MVP honors at every tournament except the state championships and recognition as a Cadet and Junior National All-American.
Needle has won falls on mats all over the country — as a youth, as far as Tokyo with professional grappler Dick “The Destroyer” Beyer. But with more than half of his NCAA eligibility sweated away, Needle is feeling pressure to compete at the national level while he still can.
“You always have high goals. Once you accomplish one you want to accomplish another,” said Needle, now a junior at the University at Buffalo. “I haven’t accomplished my goals yet in college. Hopefully I will before I graduate next year.”
Needle received a full scholarship to wrestle at Ohio State after graduating from Newfane. After redshirting as a freshman and going 9-7 in 2004-05, Needle decided he couldn’t accomplish his national championship goals as a Buckeye, and transferred.
“There were a lot of reasons, but mostly, they over-recruited around my weight,” Needle said. “We were three-deep at my weight (149 pounds) and all three of us were top recruites. I didn’t want to have to wrestle off every couple of weeks for the spot.”
Upon arriving at UB, Needle had to sit out all of last season due to a prior injury that wasn’t healing. Having undergone complete reconstruction of his four-time dislocated right shoulder, Needle is at full strength for the first time since the beginning of his college career, he said.
But Needle’s first season in blue and white hasn’t been without setbacks. Predicted in the preseason to finish second in the Mid-American Conference at 141 pounds, Needle had to bump up the more competitive 149-pound class after three meets.
“I felt like I was cutting too much weight and wasn’t getting any advantage,” said Needle, who walks around at 155 pounds. “I’m more comfortable at this weight. I feel better, I feel stronger.”
Needle is 5-5 so far this season at 149, after going 5-2 at 141. The latest MAC rankings, released Dec. 9, have Needle third at 149, behind Eastern Michigan’s Jermain Thompson and Kent State’s Jason McGee.
The 149 division provides a tougher road to nationals, Needle admits, but so did having to drop so much weight for each meet. And tougher competition will likely bring out the best in Needle.
“Here’s a guy who thinks bigger than anyone else in the (wrestling) room,” UB head coach Jim Beichner said. “He’s going to be hard to beat.”
Contact Jonah Bronstein at 693-1000, Ext. 111.
RYAN NEEDLE
• YEAR: Junior
• WEIGHT CLASS: 149 lbs.
• MAJOR: Sociology
• HIGH SCHOOL: Newfane
• NOTABLE: Earned 240 victories in high school, a Section VI record. The national record is 243.
- Sports
-
-
News names Farrell swimming POY
Scott Farrell, the Tonawanda News' Player of the Year in boys swimming, capped his five-year varsity career at NTHS by competing in the 50 and 100 freestyle events at the NYS championships, during which he was named the recipient of the Section VI Sporstmanship Award.
-
For SU, tourney will show whether key departures were a blessing
“Certainly it hurts to lose your top three scorers,” said Andy Rautins, a fifth-year senior for the Orange. “But at the same time, it made us into a better team. We have a lot of chemistry this year. Everybody is always on the same page regardless of what five guys are on the floor. I think we’re a very unselfish team. That’s what has made us so successful.”
-
Falls' Carter ready to get back in the ring
Niagara Falls' Terry Carter will make his first appearance in the boxing ring in five years when he fights in the Golden Gloves Tournament Saturday at ECC's Flickinger Center in Buffalo.
-
MMA: GI’s Weiser heads from field to octagon
Former Grand Island standout and current Buffalo State linebacker Eddie Weiser’s roots run deep when it comes to fighting.
-
NCAA TOURNAMENT: Gonzaga trumpets small conference cause as a mid-major player
With a big budget, a 6,000-seat arena that’s nearly impossible to get into, and a string of top national and international recruits, Gonzaga has become the poster child for the emergence of mid-major basketball.
-
Blue Devils' Badgley to step down
After 10 seasons as head coach of the Kenmore West boys basketball team, Jim Badgley is resigning in order to spend more time with family.
-
SABRES: Miller pulled in 4-3 loss to Thrashers
Ryan Miller was pulled after giving up three goals in the first 6 minutes and Jim Slater’s third-period goal gave the Thrashers a 4-3 win over the Northeast-leading Sabres on Tuesday night.
-
Blachowski lifts Lightning to state hockey title
Chris Blachowski buried the game-winning goal with under four minutes left in regulation, lifting the Tonawanda Lightning 99s to the title over the host Binghamton Jr. Senators.
-
Caruana named News' Wrestler of the Year
Kenmore West sophomore Dylan Caruana compiled an overall record of 37-5 this season en route to the Section VI title at 119 pounds and a bid to the state tournament.
-
TENNIS: Ken White revels in match of a lifetime
City of Tonawanda native Ken White played the biggest match of his career when he recently competed in the Babolat World Tennis Championships in Palm Springs, Calif.
- More Sports Headlines
-
