Defeating three teams in one day is impressive by itself, but when beating a conference foe, breaking a school record and setting personal milestones are added to the equation, the taste of victory is even sweeter.
The UB wrestling squad pulled off all of the above on Saturday, as the Bulls downed the Delaware State Hornets, the Division III Ithaca Bombers, and Mid-American Conference adversary Ohio Bobcats in front of its home crowd at Alumni Arena.
At the end of it all, senior heavyweight Harold Sherrell shattered the single-season three-point near fall record by recording 10 in his last two matches of the day, putting his season total at 20 and surpassing the old mark of 18 which was shared by both Bruce Hadsell and Jim Young.
Sherrell knew going into the meet that he was fairly close to the record.
"I didn't think a lot about it going in but I knew I was close," Sherrell said. "I just went out there and got it. I don't expect to go out and get records. I just want to wrestle out to my potential."
Despite his individual accomplishment, Sherrell kept a team-oriented attitude.
"The team wrestled great," Sherrell said. "We really put it together and bounced back. Everything felt good. We're on the right track for MAC and Nationals."
The Bulls opened the meet facing the Bobcats, a team that they had not beaten in eight years and the last three years all came down to the final match up of the day. After initially trailing 9-3 through three matches, the Bulls went on to win the remaining seven matches to take a 25-9 victory over Ohio.
Next up was Delaware State, whom the Bulls cruised past en route to a 49-3 win. The lopsided loss was much of the result of the Hornets' lack of depth within their lineup. Delaware State forfeited matches at the 125-, 133-, 157-, and 174-pound weight classes, plus a 184-pound match due to injury default.
The Bulls then capped off the meet with a 31-9 victory over Ithaca in what was only the 11th win for Buffalo in the 28 meetings against the Bombers.
Head Coach Jim Beichner was pleased with the team's effort and performance, especially against the Bobcats.
"It's great anytime you go 3-0 in a dual setting," Beichner said. "I feel like we performed very well. Ohio had our back for some years. It was nice to get a really heartfelt win. The score may have seemed like a one-sided win, but it takes a lot to really dominate against a team like Ohio. I'm really proud of the team and its efforts."
UB also hit numerous other milestones. Along with breaking the single-season three-point near fall record, Sherrell also became only the 13th wrestler to surpass the 75 career wins total with his 3-0 sweep of the heavyweight division. Junior 133-pounder Mark Budd and junior 149-pounder Pat Lloyd also reached their 60th career wins on the day with Budd going 3-0 and Lloyd finishing 2-1.
Junior 157-pounder John Cummings and senior 184-pounder Garrett Hicks each recorded their 20th wins on the season as Cummings went 2-1 on the day and Hicks managed to extend his winning streak to 11 matches before dropping his last match to Ithaca's Robert Stubbs, 10-4, to end the day 2-1.
Other strong performances included senior 197-pounder Kyle Cerminara and sophomore 165-pounder Mickey Moran, who both went 3-0 on the day. Additionally, 125-pound freshman Evan Veney, 141-pound senior Cliff Smith, and 174-pound sophomore Mike Ragusa, all finished with 2-1 records for the Saturday meet.
Ragusa pulled out a 4-1 overtime win against Ryan Knapp of Ohio while Veney's 5-4 decision over Ithaca's Macario Alvarez was the first dual meet win of his career.
The Bulls hit the mats for their final two home dual meets versus Eastern Michigan on Saturday Feb. 4 and against Central Michigan the next day on Sunday.
"Ohio and Eastern Michigan are very similar," Beichner said. "The match against Central Michigan won't compare to anything we've seen. They almost beat Minnesota who is number one in the nation. They may be the toughest team we will ever face. We'll go out there and see what they do."
Both meets start at 1 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
