Ohio gets razor-thin win against wrestling team

After taking the early lead in an important Mid-American Conference match-up, the wrestling team lost a nail-biter that came down to the heavyweight finale.

The Bulls (1-8 overall 0-2 MAC) suffered a bitter MAC loss Sunday afternoon at Ohio (9-8-1 overall 2-1 MAC) by a score of 20-13.

Sunday's loss came down to the last bout of the day when junior Harold Sherrell (17-14) lost to nationally ranked Joel Weimer 3-2 in overtime.

Last weekend's loss became the third in a string of heartbreaking defeats for the Bulls. The third time did not prove to be the charm for UB with the Bobcats gaining a narrow edge over the Bulls in the last two showdowns. In 2003 the Bulls lost in a tiebreaker match and then were narrowly beaten again in 2004 by a score of 17-16.

This time it looked as though the Bulls' luck had changed, as they jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead. Sparked by sophomore heavyweight Jeff Parker, Buffalo won the first three bouts of the day. Parker took the defending MAC Champion, Ohio's Jeremiah Beltran, the full three periods and then edged out a 3-2 overtime victory.

Sophomore Mark McKnight continued the momentum at 125 pounds with a 6-0 win over Caleb Metcalf. McKnight, who is ranked 18th in the nation by Wrestlingmall.com, improved his record to 22-11 on the season and 56-19 for his career.

"I wrestled the kid (Metcalf) already once this year and I should have beat him by more than I did. I changed my style a little bit. I wanted to bring back my old style with a lot of movement on my feet," said McKnight. "I wanted to get a major for my team but I only ended up beating him 6-0. I'm sure I could have got the major but I was more focused on just wrestling. I'll think about that next time."

Sophomore Mark Budd, at 133 pounds, added to the Bulls' team points, as he continued his personal winning streak with a 13-4 major decision over Matt Smith. Budd's win on Sunday was his fourth straight after winning his first New York State Championship in Oswego on Saturday.

After Budd's win, the Bulls lost all their momentum and dropped five straight matches.

"That was such a huge momentum swing, we lost too many close matches. When you start losing like that your morale goes down, your momentum just slows way down, I mean you can't expect guys to perform miracles when your momentum slows that much," said McKnight. "We started out with three big wins then all those losses it's hard to bounce back from."

Junior Garrett Hicks picked up a win at 184 pounds and temporarily brought some life back to the Bulls with an 8-3 decision over Brian Cesear. Hicks's win over Cesear put the Bulls within a major decision victory of the Bobcats before going into Sherrell's 197-pound loss to Weimer. Hicks' win also improved his record to 21-14 on the season.

The Bulls hope to wash the taste of Sunday's defeat out of their mouths as they turn their attention to a tough two-match weekend in Michigan. The Bulls will travel to the Great Lake State for conference matches against both Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan.

"Eastern Michigan I don't think we should have too much trouble with, but Central is a another story. Last year I think me and (Kyle) Cerminara were the only ones that won, so hopefully we can get a few more wins," said McKnight. "I know I have a pretty tough kid so I'll be looking forward to that match."

The Bulls will face both MAC opponents on Saturday. The first match will be at Eastern Michigan at noon followed by a 7:30 p.m. match at Central Michigan.