The wrestling squad's dual-meet record has wallowed in mediocrity all season long, and this past Sunday didn't do much to help the cause as it went from 5-7 to 6-8 with a split at the American Duals this past Sunday. The Bulls had one of their strongest efforts all year in thumping the host American University Eagles at Bender Arena 36-6, but perhaps suffered a letdown when they then went on to fall 20-15 to the Old Dominion Monarchs.
Overall, though, Buffalo had a solid outing, because all in all the Bulls did put on some impressive performances. Four wrestlers went 2-0 on the day, and Garrett Bontempo gave a tough showing to one of the best wrestlers in the country. It is absolutely necessary as the season winds down and heads to the MAC championships that the team continues to improve each week. But, still this team wants to win every match, and they were not pleased with the weekend's outcome.
"We were really very disappointed (because) we fully expected to come out 2-0. We dominated a team we should have in American University, but Old Dominion came out as the underdogs and fought a little harder than us," said Buffalo Head Coach Jim Beichner.
Charlie Voorhees won two closely contested match ups to improve his record on the season to 15-11 at the 125-pound mark. He defeated American's Willie Harris with a 2-0 decision and then eked out a 2-1 over John Starkes of Old Dominion.
"Charlie is 3-0 in his last three outings, and they have been against three good solid athletes, and he has beaten them the hard way, in closely contested matchups. He has been very focused," said Beichner.
Dave Guarino also went undefeated on the day, first posting a 16-8 major decision over American's Eric Fantegrossi and then taking a 2-1 decision over Old Dominion 165- pounder David Kaplan.
Gary Cooper continued the 2-0 trend against his competition. His first victim was the Eagles' Aaron Baker, who was blown out of the water 23 seconds into the match by Cooper's pin. Cooper then went on to take a 10-7 decision over John Adams of Old Dominion in the 174- pound weight class.
Freshman standout Kyle Cerminara continued his success in the 197-pound class in posting his first career dual meet technical fall in whipping the Eagles' Adam Montgomery. He held an awe-inspiring 26-11 lead only two-minutes and 23 seconds into the match. The Monarchs' Brad Krepps also fell into Cerminara's hands in a loss via a 9-4 decision.
One hundred thirty-three pound Brian Sebaaly took it to American's Matthew Pelligrino with a 22-5 technical fall. Dave Edwards also scored a technical fall, a 24-8 defeat of American's Aviv Bercovicz. Ryan Bentley received a forfeit victory for the 141-pound weight class against American.
Garrett Bontempo took his opening match against American's Kyle Mason in the 184-pound weight class with a 9-3 decision. The level of competition would increase dramatically though, as he was pitted against the fourth-ranked wrestler in the nation, the Monarchs' Jeff Rusak. Bontempo fought valiantly, but was decisioned 4-2 as Rusak went to 27-0 on the season.
"Garrett wrestled very well, and it's hard to say that when you lose, but he is not content with the loss and I am very pleased with that," said Beichner
Bill Jacoutot also had to battle a top 20 ranked player, 18th-ranked Marc Hoffer of American University. Jacoutot fell with a 4-1 loss, but would come back to rebound against Old Dominion's Casey Todd in the 149-pound class via a 10-4 decision.
The regular season comes to an end next Saturday as the Bulls will venture to the Cornell Duals where their arch rival Ohio will be waiting for them. Also on tap for the day will be the Big 12's Missouri, in what's sure to be a nail-biting weekend.
"It's time to finish a year that hasn't been that good as we had hoped it had been, but we're still looking forward to going to the MACs and doing some damage," said Beichner.
