Long-time wrestling head coach Jim Beichner has been fired, according to The Buffalo News.
Beichner, who was awarded Mid-American Conference coach of the year in 2011, is the second long-time Bulls head coach to be fired in the past two weeks.
The news was released on Friday, after four wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Des Moines, Iowa.
In a much-anticipated season - with the return of redshirt senior John Martin-Cannon - the Bulls underperformed, posting an overall record of 1-11 and a 1-4 Mid-American Conference dual-meet record.
Beichner took over the Bulls team in the 1995-96 season - a team that had only compiled just six dual-meet victories in the previous four seasons. In his second season as coach (1996-97), he led the Bulls to a 12-2-2 record - the most wins in over a decade for the program
Beichner accumulated 50 wins in his first five seasons and 144 dual-meet wins - a record that ranks second behind Ed Michael's 213 career wins in Buffalo history.
In his 18 seasons, Beichner compiled a 151-120-4 record in dual meets and coached 43 Bulls to NCAA championships, including redshirt sophomore Max Soria, sophomore Blake Roulo, senior Mark Lewandowski and Martin-Cannonwho qualified this season.
Under the Beichner reign, the Bulls saw seven wrestlers eclipse the 100-win mark. Former wrestlers Desi Green and Jimmy Hamel, Mark Budd, Kyle Cerminara, Gary Cooper, Josh States and Kevin Smith are among the grapplers to accomplish this goal.
Beichner was also an organizer for the Takedown for Cancer event, which was put on in honor of the late Jeff Parker who lost his battle with cancer in May 2010. Beichner helped raise $98,000 over four seasons.
Stay tuned to The Spectrum for more updates as the search for a new wrestling coach continues.
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