Sometimes a hometown atmosphere isn't enough to create an upset.
This held true for the wrestling team this weekend, when it took part in the Mid-American Conference Championships at Alumni Arena. After completing the regular season in last-place and winless in conference play, the Bulls found themselves at the bottom of the heap at the Championships.
Out of 10 grapplers representing Buffalo, seven lost in both the first round and in wrestle-backs on Saturday.
"It's very, very disappointing," said Buffalo head coach Jim Beichner. "I'm hoping our guys are as disappointed as I am. This is something we need to reflect on and learn from and hopefully rebound from next year."
The biggest bright spot for the Bulls was senior 133-pounder Mark Budd who won his second consecutive MAC Championship. Budd became Buffalo's third wrestler in history to win two conference titles.
"It's great to get it off my chest," Budd said. "I have worked for this all year."
The InterMat's nationally 15th ranked wrestlers' path to the title began with a 6-4 decision over Eastern Michigan's Chris Jenkins. Budd followed that with a tough 6-4 victory that went into overtime against Connor Beebe of Central Michigan in the semifinals.
In Sunday's finals, Budd wrestled Kent State's Danny Mitcheff who is ranked 29th in the country by WrestlingReport.com. The battle between the two nationally ranked opponents culminated with a 3-2 victory in favor of Budd.
"This tournament here has more pressure than the next one (for Budd)," Beichner said. "The MAC Championships are very hard fought. The stress level is so high. You can't even put it in words. I think he'll have less pressure going into NCAAs."
Besides Budd's first-place finish, the only other wrestler to place at the meet was senior 184-pounder Ray Lamb. Lamb beat John McClure in the first round by a 12-5 decision but couldn't continue his winning ways against Central Michigan's Christian Sinnott in the semifinals. He fell to the No. 1 seeded Sinnott, 15-5.
Lamb next faced Ohio's Nick Terbay in the consolations and was able to take a 3-2 decision. This win put him in the third-place match against Kent State's Eric Chine the next day, where the winner would have a chance of facing the championship runner-up in a True-Second place match. This did not occur for Lamb though as he lost to Chine, 19-6.
"I'm very proud of Ray Lamb," Beichner said. "He fought a very hard tournament."
The only other Buffalo grappler to pick up a win at the Championships was junior heavyweight Jeff Parker. His sole victory came in the first round over Charlie Walker of Eastern Michigan via a 10-4 decision.
Parker though fell short against InterMat's No. 2 nationally ranked heavyweight, Central Michigan's Bubba Gritter. The MAC's No. 1 seeded Gritter won by a 10-2 major decision. David Benner then denied Parker a shot of wrestling in the third-place match and avenged an early season overtime loss to Parker, with a 6-5 decision.
Central Michigan came away with the team championship. The Chippewas, who are ranked No. 5 in the country by InterMat, who were undefeated in the regular-season conference meets, took home six of the 10 individual championships.
Kent State followed in second-place, with Northern Illinois coming in third, Ohio in fourth, Eastern Michigan in fifth and Buffalo in last.
The Chippewas also won their fair share of individual titles. 197-pounder Wynn Michalak took home MAC Wrestler of the Year and Tom Borelli won MAC Coach of the Year for Central Michigan. Northern Illinois's Pat Castillo was awarded most Outstanding Wrestler of the MAC Championship.
This concludes the 2006-2007 season for the wrestling team besides Budd. With the MAC Championships, Budd earned himself an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. This will be Budd's second trip to the national championship tournament.
"My goal is to be National Champion," Budd said. "I've been working for it for a long time."
The NCAA Championships will be held in Detroit, Mich. from March 15-17.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
