Coming off their first Mid-American Conference victory of the season over Ohio, the Buffalo wrestling squad could not ride its momentum into a match against the Central Michigan Chippewas. The No. 5-ranked Chippewas ran over the Bulls, defeating Buffalo 32-3. It was the dominant Chippewas' 25th consecutive dual meet victory.
"They have a great group of wrestlers, we can't take anything away from them. They have an awesome team," said head coach Jim Beichner.
The only win for Buffalo came in the 133-pound weight class by junior Joe Wilson. Wilson was victorious with a score of 3-2 over Central Michigan's Josh Williams. Wilson had a take down in the first period and then later scored on an escape. Beichner said that, "he was proud that Joe won; he wrestled hard for seven minutes."
Central Michigan has six wrestlers who are nationally ranked, and the Chippewas won nine of ten matches.
"They had a group of six or seven seniors that have led the team all year. They don't put guys out there who aren't ready to wrestle," Beichner said.
The meet started with sophomore Dan Bishop falling in a close match to 19th ranked Luke Smith in the 125-pound weight class. Smith defeated Bishop 4-0 by totaling three points in the second period via an escape and a takedown. Smith finished the scoring by receiving one point in riding time at the end of the match.
Central Michigan squeaked out a win at 141 pounds as Buffalo sophomore Andrew Stella battled against the 12th ranked wrestler in the country, Eric Krueger, losing 3-0. Krueger and Stella were scoreless after the first period, but Krueger recorded a reversal in the second period, and finished the scoring by receiving one point in riding time to end the match.
Junior Mickey Moran came into his match against the nation's 3rd ranked wrestler, 174-pound Christian Sinnott, having won 12 consecutive matches. Sinnott snapped Moran's winning streak by recording four takedowns on his way to a 10-4 victory.
Freshman Jimmy Hamel was no competition for the two-time All-American Wynn Michalak, currently ranked 6th in the nation at 197-pounds. Michalak notched six takedowns on Hammel winning the match at 15-3.
"Our guys are disappointed, whether they lose to someone ranked fifth in the country or if they lose to a guy who isn't ranked," Beichner said. "I can't walk out of here being to happy with the match."
Heavyweight Jeff Parker wrestled against eighth-ranked Bubba Gritter and ended up losing 4-1 in a tough match. Gritter scored on an escape in the second period to take the lead. Parker scored an escape with less than a minute left, however, and Gritter recorded a takedown on Parker to finish the match at 4-1.
"When you train and work as hard as we do, and you lose it is upsetting and disappointing," Beichner said.
Coming into the match the Bulls had won six of their previous seven dual matches, but they are now 8-5-1 in the season, and 1-3 in the MAC. Up next for Buffalo is Kent State for their final MAC dual match of the year on Sunday, Feb. 10.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
