The Bulls wrestling squad has waged war against extreme competition all year long and have struggled against some of the better teams in the nation.
Finally, on Tuesday night the Bulls went up against a weaker opponent. There were no "slip-ups" at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania, as seven out of the 10 Bulls that wrestled came out victorious in one of the most lopsided victories on the year. The 29-10 victory over Slippery Rock lifted the University at Buffalo's season team dual meet record to 5-7 after losing 5 of their last 6 matches.
Ryan Bentley won the Bulls' first points of the day as he defeated Erick Eyth 9-5 in the 141-pound weight class, evening the score at three apiece. It was Bentley's 20th victory of the season, a distinct achievement.
"With our schedule more than 20 wins is significant when you go against very difficult competition. I expect it from him as a captain, I was glad to see him focus and get back on track. He did a very good job and I saw that the intensity was all there," said UB Head Coach Jim Beichner.
Slippery Rock responded at the 149-pound class in a duel between Bradley Cieleski and the Bulls' Bill Jacoutot. Cieleski's 7-2 victory gave the Rock the early edge in points, but it was the last time they would hold the lead.
The Bulls went on to take the next five matches. Dave Edwards, Dave Guarino, Gary Cooper and Garrett Bontempo all claimed victory before Buffalo registered its third major victory of the day courtesy of the UB male athlete of the week, Kyle Cerminara. His 197-pound triumph over Corey Hart ended in a 11-2 landslide.
Charlie Voorhies and Mike Cooper had winning decisions for the Bulls, although Brian Sebally was also not as fortunate when he took a 7-4 loss to open the meet against Chris Matarrese in the 133-pound class.
"This is the first time I've seen full team effort in quite some time," said Beichner.
The squad will head south to the nation's capitol for a dual meet with American University and Old Dominion this Sunday at 12 p.m.
