Budd nips competitors on the mat for the Bulls

If you walk up to 133-pound sophomore Mark Budd with a problem, no matter what the situation is, you're likely to get the same three words of advice.

"Just work hard."

As a struggling high school wrestler, Budd adopted those three simple words as his mantra and they have served him well ever since.

Budd's wrestling career started in the small town of Orville, Ohio when his father took him to his first tournament at the age of six.

"I got into wrestling with my dad because he wrestled in high school. He took me to a tournament when I little, like six years old," said Budd. "Liked it ever since."

When Budd got into high school he struggled until his coach, Dennis Hochstetler, gave him an attitude adjustment that he never forgot.

"I started off not doing too good and I didn't really care about it too much and then, my coach had a talk with me and he was like, 'You're either going to do this the best you can or don't do it at all because it's not worth going out and not working hard,'" said Budd. "He just told me to work hard and be the best at it. So ever since then I've just been trying to be the best."

Since Hochstetler's advice Budd has done a pretty good job at being the best. After finishing his senior year with a record of 43-3 as well as being his team's captain and MVP, Budd decided that UB was the right place to pursue his education and college-wrestling career.

"I love the coaches. I love the campus. I just thought it was the place to be, that (I would) fit in here," said Budd.

After red-shirting the 2003-2004 season, Budd struggled at times in the beginning of this season. In fact, on Jan. 15 his record was just .500 as he went to a match against the No. 1 ranked Shaun Bunch in the Virginia Duals. Budd wrestled well against Bunch and narrowly lost by a score of 6-3. Budd's strong performance against a national powerhouse helped him gain confidence and turn an important corner in his career.

"The beginning of the season was rough, I never thought I was going to win a match. I don't know I just started thinking why not go after it, I was kind of timid wrestling, I was nervous and I just said, 'who cares, go out there do the best you can' and I started winning," said Budd. "It's working out now."

Although Budd has won eight straight matches since facing Bunch, the wrestling team as a whole is still experiencing growing pains. Stacked with young talent, the Bulls (3-10 overall, 1-4 in the MAC) have been unable to pull out close dual meet wins. Although its season record is a bit lopsided, Budd knows that this team has a lot of great wrestling ahead of them.

"We're not doing great, but we're starting to pull together. The freshmen realize the same thing, just go out there and wrestle and not be so timid and nervous," said Budd.

After watching both 125-pounder Mark McKnight make a strong showing at the NCAA tournament and 197-pounder Kyle Cerminara reach All-American status last season, Budd is motivated to push the envelope and be better than his teammates.

"(McKnight and Cerminara's success) just makes me want to join them. That's what we work for," said Budd. "It motivates you, it drives you. You want to be better than them, you want to be the best one on the team."

Budd knows that it won't be easy to show up McKnight and Cerminara. With the Mid-American Conference tournament just a few weeks away, Budd is currently ranked third behind the tough competition of Central Michigan's Jason Borrelli and Northern Illinois's Sam Hiatt.

"They're good competition. They're both tough, and both ranked in the nation," said Budd. "Just go after them, that's all I have to do."