FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason wrestling team fell to Buffalo, 26-7, with four of the matches decided in overtime on Saturday at the George Mason Field House.

Mason (2-2) trailed Buffalo (5-2) 5-0 after the Bulls won by technical fall at 125 pounds.

At 133 pounds, Mason freshman Mel Ortiz built a 10-5 lead over Buffalo sophomore Derek Span after one period.  Ortiz led 10-8 going into the third before falling in a hard-fought match, 11-10, with riding time deciding the match.

"Four overtime matches and a one-point match at 133 pounds, their were five or six really close matches," Mason head coach Frank Beasley said.  "I felt like they stole it from us today.  We let them hang around in matches that we should have blown open.  One of the things is we are a really young team and we don't have a ton of experience.  We have to learn as a young team how to win those close matches."

The Bulls then picked up a decision at 141 pounds to increase their advantage to 11-0.

At 149 pounds, Mason redshirt senior Tejon Anthony (9-4, 3-1) scored two takedowns in the first period against Bulls senior Jason Estevez to build a 4-1 lead heading into the second period.

Anthony registered a takedown in the final minute of the second to take a 6-2 advantage into the final frame.  He added two more takedowns in the third on the way to a 12-3 major decision to cut the Bulls match score lead to 11-4.

"Tejon went out there and attacked early and often, Bealsey said.  "He didn't let up."

At 157 pounds, Mason freshman Kolby Ho (8-4, 3-1) and Buffalo senior Alex Smythe were tied 3-3 going to the third period, before Ho recorded an escape to take a 4-3 edge.

After Smythe took the lead with a takedown, Ho tied the bout 5-5 with an escape point to send the match to overtime before dropping a 7-5 decision.

Mason redshirt junior Colston DiBlasi (11-5, 2-1) earned a 12-6 decision over sophomore Noah Grover at 165 pounds.  DiBlasi started fast, registering a takedown and four near-fall points to build a 6-0 first period lead and he increased the advantage to 10-4 after two periods.

"Colston got taken down twice in the match and still won by six," said Beasley.  "He knows how to win and closes matches out".

The Bulls recorded decisions at 174, 184 pounds and 197 pounds to make the score 23-7.

In the final bout of the day, Mason redshirt senior Matthew Voss (11-1, 3-1) suffered his first loss of the season.  He trailed Bulls senior Jake Gunning 1-0 going into the third before tying the score 1-1 to send the match to overtime, where Gunning earned a 3-1 decision in sudden victory.

Mason hosts the Patriot Open on Sunday with the event scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the George Mason Field House.

Buffalo 26, George Mason 7

125 | Kyle Akins (Buffalo) technical fall over Talha Farooq (Mason), 18-3 | 5-0 Buffalo
133 | Derek Span (Buffalo) decision over Mel Ortiz (Mason), 11-10 | 8-0 Buffalo
141 | John Arceri (Buffal) decision over Julio Alegria (Mason), 5-2 | 11-0 Buffalo
149 | Tejon Anthony (Mason) major decision over Jason Estevez (Buffalo), 12-3 | 11-4 Buffalo
157 | Alex Smythe (Buffalo) decision over Kolby Ho (Mason), 7-5 SV-1 | 14-4 Buffalo
165 | Colston DiBlasi (Mason) decision over Noah Grover (Buffalo), 12-6 | 14-7 Buffalo
174 | Jake Lanning (Buffalo) decision over Cornelius Schuster (Mason), 6-4 | 17-7 Buffalo
184 | Logan Rill (Buffalo) decision over Paul Pierce (Mason), 3-1 SV-1 | 20-7 Buffalo
197 | Sam Schuyler (Buffalo) decision over Eli Spencer (Mason), 3-1 SV-1 | 23-7 Buffalo
285 | Jake Gunning (Buffalo) decision over Matthew Voss (Mason), 3-1 SV-1 | 26-7 Buffalo