The Buffalo Bulls wrestling team opened up Mid-American Conference competition this past weekend in Dekalb, Ill. with a two-match split. The squad dropped its first match to the Northern Illinois Huskies 22-13, but rebounded nicely to defeat the Eagles of Eastern Michigan in a 33-6 thumping.
UB did not wrestle up their ability against Northern Illinois; only four Bulls were able to pull off victories. Kyle Cerminara, wrestling at 197 pounds, tallied the most points for the Bulls with four by defeating his opponent via major decision. Ryan Bentley in the 141-pound weight division, Bill Jacoutot in the 149-pound weight division and Dave Guarino in the 165-pound weight division all won by decision.
"I think we wrestled below our capability against Northern Illinois. For one reason or another we just weren't ready, but against Eastern Michigan we picked up our intensity and wrestled better," said Bentley.
The Huskies also blew out Eastern Michigan by a score of 34-6. Their record is now 2-0 in conference play.
"I'm very happy with the way our guys performed today," NIU coach Dave Grant said. "We really showed our dominance in both matches and were very aggressive. This is a great way to start off MAC competition."
Highlighting the Huskies' win over UB was heavyweight Jon Lovrich's victory by pinfall. The overall match was still in doubt, however, until NIU's Scott Owen scored a major decision over Buffalo's Gary Cooper in the 157-pound weight class to seal the win for Northern Illinois.
Things played out much differently against Eastern Michigan. A full team effort led UB to the win as nearly all the wrestlers won by decision except Bentley, who won by fall in the 141-pound weight division. Jacoutot, Cooper, Guarino, Cerminara, Ben Cooper at 174 and Garrett Bontempo at 184 all won their respective matches by decision.
Guarino's pair of wins improved his already impressive record to 8-0 for the year. He has also compiled some impressive statistics with three takedowns, three reversals and two escapes thus far.
The Bulls hope to improve on what they have already accomplished this season when they head to Sin City (Las Vegas, Nev.) for the Cliff Keen Invitational this Friday and Saturday. Competition will be fierce in a tournament that will garner some of the best wrestlers and teams throughout the entire country.
"The team is training hard to do well at this tournament as we look to improve on our finish from last season," Bentley said. "I am still very confident in our ability to perform, and look forward to placing high in this tournament."
