While many students were killing time between semesters, the wrestling team competed throughout the country for supremacy on the mats.
The Bulls (9-4, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) traveled to Pennsylvania, Nevada, Ohio and Iowa with the hopes of gaining experience against quality wrestling programs.
On Dec. 13, the squad visited Bloomsburg, Pa. to compete in the Bloomsburg Duals. There, they faced the likes of East Stroudsburg (1-9), Sacred Heart (5-3) and Bloomsburg (5-4). The Bulls came out looking sharp and had no problem defeating East Stroudsburg in their opening match. After taking a 22-0 lead over the Warriors, they cruised to an emphatic 31-12 victory.
Buffalo then went on to defeat Sacred Heart 38-6, giving them fairly easy victories in their first two matches of the day. In their final contest, they competed against host Bloomsburg.
With the crowd behind them, the Huskies looked as though they were going to defeat Buffalo as they led 16-15 with just one weight class remaining. Freshman Brett Correll, however, came through in the clutch as he pulled a 6-1 decision over Bloomsburg's Ryan Sutton, propelling Buffalo to an 18-16 victory.
Head coach Jim Beichner was very pleased with the Bloomsburg outcome.
"We got on a roll," Beichner said. "We were able to win six out of 10 weight classes to defeat a really tough opponent."
After the three big wins in Bloomsburg, the Bulls flew to Reno, Nev. on Dec. 18 to partake in the Reno Tournament of Champions. Despite a few starters who weren't able to compete due to illness, Buffalo earned 10 victories by the end of the day.
Among them was sophomore Jimmy Hamel, who won multiple events throughout the day. His performance earned him fifth place in the 197-pound weight class. Hamel fell one match shy of competing in the finals as he lost to the eventual champion, Brandon Halsey of Cal-State Bakersfield (7-3). Despite the loss, Hamel was honored the MAC Wrestler of the Week.
While not having a majority of Buffalo's starters on the mats was tough, Beichner said his team gained experience from the problem.
"It wasn't an ideal situation, but regardless it was an experience that we needed to have as a team," he said.
As 2009 rang in, the Bulls were back on the road. On Jan. 3, the team visited Cleveland, Ohio to partake in the Cleveland State Duals. Prior to the contest, the Bulls had been successful in their last six dual competitions.
This time around, they weren't so lucky.
To begin the day, the Bulls took on the University of Northern Iowa (4-4), who at the time had six wrestlers ranked in Wrestling Report's NCAA Division I Individual National Rankings. Northern Iowa showed why they are one of the best in the nation as they defeated the Bulls in eight straight weight classes, a deficit that Buffalo could not recover from. The Bulls were defeated 28-6 in the first contest of the day.
The competition continued as the Bulls faced Cleveland State (4-6) in their second match. Coming off a loss, the team bested the Vikings by the score of 26-12 with the help of two forfeit victories.
"We came out a little flat footed and suffered a loss to start the day," Beichner said. "It was good to see that our team could bounce back and get a win after a poor performance."
In their final contest during winter break, the team traveled to Cedar Falls, Iowa on Saturday to compete in the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals. The Bulls would test their skills against No. 11 Minnesota (9-4) and, after a loss, faced Wyoming (4-2) in the consolation preliminary round.
Buffalo drew Minnesota in the first round and would face the likes of three of the nation's top ten wrestlers, according to USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Division I Individual Rankings, in their first three matches.
Though four members of Buffalo's squad were able to win their matches, it was not enough to defeat the firepower that Minnesota contained. Buffalo ended up losing with a score of 27-13 to one of the country's best wrestling programs.
With the loss, the team moved to the consolation bracket, where they faced Wyoming. Earlier in the day, the Cowboys were defeated by No. 1 Iowa, 38-3. When they faced the Bulls, they avenged their loss against Iowa and won the match, 24-10. Though the competition was fierce, the Bulls were disappointed with their effort on the day.
Even though their road trip ended on a disappointing note, Beichner was pleased with how his team matched up against quality teams.
"Overall, we wrestled well over the break," he said. "It was a long road trip, [but] we still have tough matches ahead of us."
The Bulls continue their campaign on Jan. 16 when they compete at the New York State Collegiate Championships in Oswego. The event begins at noon.
