While most of America got ready for the Super Bowl on Sunday, the wrestling team prepared for a match against conference foe Kent State at the M.A.C. Center. Not only did the Bulls face the 19th nationally-ranked team, they did it without star sophomore Desi Green, who was injured Wednesday against Eastern Michigan.
The day started off well for Buffalo (8-6-1, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) with a victory in the 125-pound weight class. Senior Dan Bishop earned his third win in a row against Kent State's (13-3, 2-0 MAC) Troy Opher.
Despite Bishop's initial success, the Bulls quickly lost momentum, dropping their next four matches. The Golden Flashes took eight of 10 matches disposing of the Bulls in dominating fashion, 31-6.
In the 133-pound matchup, sophomore Kevin Smith faced the ninth ranked-wrestler in the country. Kent State's Danny Mitcheff defeated Smith in an 11-2 decision. KSU's Chase Skonieczny beat freshman Andrew Schutt in a close 6-4 battle in the 141-pound weight class.
At 149 pounds, redshirt freshman Chris Conti competed in the first MAC dual match of his career. Conti held a 5-3 lead through the first two periods before Marcel Clopton came back with a reversal in the third period to take the match into overtime. Conti fell 7-5 in the end after a takedown by Clopton.
The next bout in the 157-pound weight class went to the Golden Flashes. Senior Andrew Stella fell to Mallie Shuster in a 5-2 final.
Sophomore John-Martin Cannon picked up his 20th career dual victory with a 4-2 win over KSU's Ross Tice at 165 pounds. Cannon and Bishop are the only two Bulls with perfect 3-0 records in MAC competition.
Head coach Jim Beichner did not see the loss as a failure.
'I [can] always find something positive,' Beichner said. 'The score didn't indicate the match's intensity.'
Coach Beichner was impressed with the fight that the Bulls put up against a top-ranked team and he felt the loss would help the team in the long run.
'We're learning as much as we can from dual meets [in order] to get ready for the [Mid-American] Conference Finals,' Beichner said. 'Three of four matches were lost by a point, or in overtime… Our focus is to get as many guys [as] possible into the MAC championships.'
The Bulls faced two nationally-ranked wrestlers in Danny Mitcheff and Dustin Kilgore. Kilgore, who is ranked fifth in the nation, defeated freshman Josh Peters in the 184-pound bout.
Each top wrestler in the conference will be competing at the Conference Championships. Beichner plans to have a handful of Bulls representing UB, including Desi Green, who is currently sidelined with an injury.
Beichner hopes Green will be healthy for the MAC Championships.
'Desi had knee surgery on Friday and looks to be out [for] around three weeks,' Beichner said. 'Hopefully he will be back by the MAC Championships. [Green] is 14th in the country, and we have another three or four [wrestlers] in the top 33.'
The Bulls look to bounce back as they square off against No. 6 Central Michigan. The match is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. at Alumni Arena.
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