Gloves hit heads and noses bled as the 74th annual Bengal Bouts began Wednesday night in the Joyce Center.
The Bouts, which raise money for the Holy Cross Missions in Bangladesh, began with the preliminaries of the 140-pound weight division as freshman George Hay of St. Ed's Hall defeated sophomore Marty Curinka of Zahm in a unanimous decision.
The second fight was between sophomores James Larew and Michael Schmitt. Schmitt, of Stanford Hall, recovered from an early knockdown to come back and win a split decision over Sorin resident Larew.
Next up was a battle between off-campus senior Larry Hofman and Keenan freshman Kenton Villano. Hofman was the victor in a unanimous decision.
145-pound division
The first of seven bouts in the 145-pound weight class led off with freshman James Russell against sophomore Richard "Fletch" Cea. Cea, from Morrissey, came up short as Zahm's Russell won in a split decision.
A freshman versus senior matchup followed as off-campus senior Mark Pfizenmayer faced Alumni freshman Kevin "K-Mart" Martin. Pfizenmayer won in a unanimous decision.
Ed "Eddie Money" Liva, a sophomore from Dillon Hall, faced off against off-campus senior Matt Welsh in the next bout of the night. Welsh was the taller opponent with a longer reach, but Liva emerged victorious in a unanimous decision.
The third freshman-senior battle of the night took place next with the elder Chip Marks meeting Will McAuliffe. Marks, an off-campus senior, won in a unanimous decision over the Keenan freshman McAuliffe.
The fifth 145-pound fight involved Zahm junior Matt McConnell and sophomore Todd "The Vortex" Strobel. Strobel, of O'Neill Hall, won by technical knockout with 1:26 left in the third round.
A couple of tasty nicknames met in the next bout of the night. Off-campus senior Joe "Iron Chef" Schmidlin defeated Stanford sophomore Phil "Big Mac" McNicholas by technical knockout in 1:19 of the second round.
Freshman Mike Burke faced senior Paul Robinson in the 10th bout. Robinson, of Zahm, beat Dillon's Burke in a unanimous decision.
150-pound division
Two freshmen kicked off the 150-pound class as Keough's Clayton Lougee went toe-to-toe with Matt Cavo of Alumni. Lougee won the back-and-forth fight in a split decision.
Next up was off-campus senior David "Hormone" Harmon facing Alumni sophomore Nick Weiler. "Hormone" Harmon was the victor in a unanimous decision.
Keough's Jordan Runge faced Kevin Rycyna of Alumni Hall in the 13th bout of the evening. The freshman Runge pulled off a minor upset by defeating the junior Rycyna in a unanimous decision.
O'Neill's Brian Tyrrell was the second freshman in a row to win as he defeated Dillon sophomore Will Bezouska in a unanimous decision.
