The Binghamton University men’s wrestling team is gearing up for its first invitational tournament of the season this Saturday as it prepares for Cornell University’s annual Body Bar Invitational.

Set to join the No. 25 Bearcats at the event are 11 other teams, including Army, University at Buffalo, Columbia University, Kent State University and host Cornell. The 12-team field consists of a number of nationally ranked wrestlers.

The Bearcats hope to improve on the eighth-place position they received at last year’s tournament.

“It’s important to find out where we are and where we need to get to before the conference and national tournament,” Binghamton assistant coach Frank Beasley said. “[The Body Bar tournament] is a good gauge to tell us where we’re at and what we need to work on and improve on by the end of the year.”

Binghamton is coming off a strong showing at the 16-team Binghamton Open last Sunday. The Bearcats had six of their own wrestlers named placewinners, with freshman heavyweight Nick Gwiazdowski garnering the title for his weight bracket. Gwiazdowski was named Binghamton’s athlete of the week for his achievement.

The nation’s No. 1 heavyweight recruit entering college, Gwiazdowski pinned his first college opponent in last Saturday’s dual win over George Mason University. On Sunday, he notched two more pins, one of which came in the final. Trailing Cornell’s Jace Bennett 5-0 early in the final match, Gwiazdowski battled back and eventually went on to pin Bennett end the bout in 3:58.

“It’s a good start [to] my college career,” Gwiazdowski said. “I came into this weekend looking to have a lot of success.”

Beasley appeared confident about Gwiazdowski’s upcoming performance at Cornell on Saturday.

“He certainly has the ability to go out this weekend and win,” Beasley said. “He is a special kind of athlete, a special kind of wrestler that can compete with anybody in the country; that’s because of his work ethic, focus and desire to win.”

Beasley noted, however, that Gwiazdowski’s inexperience at the collegiate level of wrestling hinders him from being the complete package just yet.

“He will be tested this weekend, more so than last weekend because there are three guys who are ranked ahead of him,” Beasley said. “He does have the ability to win. He is just a freshman though, so he is going make some freshman mistakes and so we are working on those things and improving them, so that he will be ready to compete for the national title by the end of the year.”

Following Binghamton’s opening week, captain and senior 157-pound Justin Lister jumped to No. 6 in the nation in the latest Intermat ratings, while junior 149-pound Donnie Vinson ascended to No. 7.

Lister made the climb up from No. 11 after taking six of seven matches over the weekend. He scored a big win at the BU Open, knocking off the nation’s fifth-ranked wrestler, Walter Peppelman of Harvard, 6-5.

“Justin showed what kind of competitor he is,” Beasley said. “He was down 5-1 and came back to win the match because he was very driven and tough. He has the ability to beat anybody in the country; he can win the national title this year.”

His run ended with a 6-2 loss to top-ranked Kyle Dake of Cornell in the championship match.

The Bearcats will be missing a few of their starters for this weekend’s Body Bar Invitational due to minor injuries, but will be back with their full squad for the Northeast Duals in Albany next weekend.

The Cornell Body Bar is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow in the Newman Arena.