Leading off the late session of Bengal Bouts preliminaries Tuesday night at the Joyce Center Fieldhouse, freshman Mike Reilly of Fisher took on Eric "The Red Menace" Retter, a sophomore from Stanford, in the 180-pound division. The Red Menace knocked Reilly down in the first round, but the freshman used an aggressive strategy in the second and third rounds to come back and win by split decision.
In the next bout, also in the 180-pound division, senior Dana Collins defeated graduate student Jason "The Amarilla Killa" Miller in a unanimous decision. Collins was bloodied twice - once in the first round and once in the second - but recovered and landed several shots to Miller's head, including one that drew a gasp from the crowd as the final bell sounded.
Next up in the division was Ed "Optimus Prime Rib" Hattrup and Doug "Six Months in the Hospital or Sudden Death" Bartels. Bartels attacked Hattrup early and often, dazing him and beating him into three standing eight counts by the middle of the second round. The referee stopped the fight 40 seconds into the second frame and declared Bartels the winner by technical knockout.
Michael Siefring and Stu "Beans" Stypula started their 180-pound division fight tentatively, dancing their way through an uneventful first round. Stypula finally took the initiative in the second round, backing Siefring into the ropes. In the third round, Beans forced his opponent back into a neutral corner, and, despite valiant counterpunching by Siefring, won by unanimous decision
Kevin "No Name" Phipps opened the heavyweight division by putting on a clinic against Chris "The Institute" Nanovic. Phipps looked like a title contender with his effective use of aggressive hooks and skillful jabs. The referee counted off a standing eight for Nanovic only 10 seconds into the fight and then again in the second round. The Institute made a valiant attempt at a comeback in the third round but a Phipps counterpunch knocked him down and earned No Name the win by unanimous decision.
In the last fight of the night, heavyweights Tony "Tiny Bubbles" Cunningham and Michael Milligan squared off. Cunningham landed several hard shots to Milligan's head early, using his superior size to great advantage.
Late in the first round, a hard Tiny Bubbles cross knocked Milligan through the ropes. In the second round, Milligan tried to use his quickness, but Cunningham landed several hard blows and knocked him down. In the third round, Milligan regained his confidence and briefly gained the upper hand, but it was too little too late as Cunningham recorded a win by unanimous decision.
After getting knocked down less than 20 seconds into the match, Chase "The Gunner" Gund nearly pulled off an amazing comeback in the first 180-pound match-up of the night. Michael "Tepic Carl" Schmeid drew blood from the O'Neill sophomore early and dominated the early portions of the bouts. However, Gund turned the tide late in the second and dominated the third with powerful jabs. It was not enough, though, as Schmeid won in a split decision.
Nicholas "Goulet" Klein and Scott "Cheese Whiz" Kustes battled in the next fight, going back and forth in a very even bout. After starting slowly, Klein landed enough headshots in the second and third rounds to win a split decision and advance to the next round.
The third fight of the class pitted Robert "The A.L.T.ien" Lochridge against Jeff Gola.
The more powerful Gola dominated the match, connecting on many more combinations and jabs than the junior from Knott. Thanks to Gola's headshots and power, the judges gave him a unanimous win.
