Sidelines

Ready, Set, Transfer

UB's wrestling team has barely started its current season, and the front office is already looking ahead to next year's squad. With red-shirt senior Kyle Cerminara returning to the mats next season, the Bulls have bolstered their possible lineup, adding junior college transfer and All-American, Hanif Abdush-Shahid.

Abdush-Shahid is a junior college transfer with two years of eligibility left. Last February, Abdush-Shadid placed third at the Division III NJCAA championships, and at last season's state championships, Abdush-Shahid placed second, with his only loss of the tournament at the hands of current UB volunteer assistant Ed Pawlak. Abdush-Shahid will transfer into UB this spring, but is expected to red-shirt the rest of this season.

Abdush-Shahid is not the first member of the Bulls' recruiting class this year; he joins Ricky Scott who recently committed to joining the Bulls next year. Scott has won three section IX titles and last year captured the New York State High School Championship at 171 pounds.

Golden Boot

UB freshman punter Ben Woods had an exceptional first season for the Bulls, and in turn, was selected to The Sporting News's All-Freshman team. This year, he averaged 41.2 yards per punt, just one half yard short of the school record. In addition, Woods had the longest punt recorded in the Mid-American Conference at 68 yards against Akron. He helped the Bulls obtain great field position all year, with 12 of his punts downed inside the 20-yard line.

Athletes of the Week

The final UB athletes of the week for the fall semester are Daniel Gilbert and Jennefer Brankovsky.

On the women's side, Brankovsky, a senior swimmer, participated in two straight meets in which she set a multitude of school and personal records. At the Giant Eagle Zippy Invitational held at Akron last weekend, she set school records in all three events that she swam. In the 500-meter freestyle, she swam an impressive 4:57.97, in the 100-meter breaststroke, she set the school record with a time of 1:04.63, and the school record for the 200-meter butterfly was broken when Brankovsky turned in a time of 2:03.02.

For the men, Daniel Gilbert of the men's basketball team averaged 12.5 points and five rebounds for the Bulls in their games against Colgate and Western Michigan. He tied his career high with five steals against Colgate and had a season-high seven rebounds against the Broncos. Currently, Gilbert is tied for third place in the MAC with 2.6 steals per game.