After the wrestling team earned its first Mid-American Conference win on Saturday it looked to ride that momentum on the road to win back-to-back dual matches for the first time this season.
The Bulls (7-14, 1-4 MAC) traveled to Edwardsville, Ill. Sunday afternoon to face an out of conference opponent in Southern Illinois-Edwardsville (5-15) and won their second straight match, 28-10.
"We executed plain and simple," said head assistant coach Matt Lackey. "It was a group effort; everybody wrestled well and did the right things."
The Bulls have had a year of inconsistencies with an extremely young team. With the MAC Championships only a couple weeks away the Bulls have earned some much needed confidence.
"It's been a turbulent year," Lackey said. "To go out with a couple wins and wrestle well is a great stepping stone heading into the MAC tournament."
Another positive of the weekend was the return of junior Mark Lewandowski. He won both of his matches this weekend; including an impressive technical fall (17-0) win over Cougars senior Steven Ross.
Lewandowski suffered a knee injury and was absent for multiple matches in the heart of conference play, but the Bulls have now won both of their matches since his return.
"He's one of our leaders," Lackey said. "To not have him in the lineup hurts us considerably, he does a lot creating momentum throughout the lineup. Mark [Lewandowski] is a great person and a tremendous part of this program."
Lewandowski has had sensational success throughout his tenure at Buffalo. With a career record of 78-30 Lackey expects that Lewandowski will be announced as an All-American at the end of this season.
Senior Kevin Smith took to the mat in the final dual match of his career with the possibility of obtaining sole possession of first place on the Bulls all-time dual match wins list.
Smith over-powered his opponent early and often, leading him to a technical fall (16-1) victory. The win would mark his 52nd career win in dual matches, breaking his tie with Kyle Cerminara for first place.
Freshman Jake Waste proved his promise once again throughout the weekend, winning both of his matches. After an 8-2 victory on Saturday against Northern Illinois, Waste ousted his opponent on Sunday with a 4-1 victory, improving his dual match record to 14-4 on the season.
The Bulls got some much-needed support outside of their big three on Sunday as well. Freshmen Wally Maziarz and Justin Heiserman punched wins to help seal the victory.
Junior Jed Mason wrestled last for the Bulls, his win (8-3) completed the thrashing of the Cougars. The 18-point victory included seven wins in 10 matches. The Bulls will need to keep their momentum going through the MAC Championships.
"We just keep doing more of the same," Lackey said. "There are certain basic skills that our guys need to have and keep improving upon to be successful at this level, and we're going to keep sticking to the game plan."
The Bulls' opponent will be unknown until the seeds are finalized. Their next meet is the MAC Championships in Athens, Ohio on March 3 and 4.
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