It was a rumble in the Buckeye state Saturday night when the wrestling team faced off against its Mid-American Conference foe Ohio. Despite defeating the Bobcats last year, the Bulls were not able to repeat their previous success and were once again denied their first conference win of the year.
In the words of head coach Jim Beichner the results of the meet were, "not very favorable." The Bulls lost the match by a score of 25-9, which was the same score by which Buffalo (7-4, 0-2 MAC) beat the Bobcats (13-6, 2-1 MAC) last season. Although there is a bright side, according to Beichner the team is "still a work in progress."
The first match of the night was at 125 pounds between Buffalo's Dan Bishop, who is ranked fourth in the MAC in his weight class, and the Bobcats' Seth Morton. Despite Bishop's efforts, Morton was able to take the match, 5-2.
"We thought we matched up well going into the meet," Beichner said. "Unfortunately we lost the swing matches, the ones that we thought we had a chance to win. We still have a ways to go."
One of Buffalo's highlights was a battle between two 133-pounders in Senior Mark Budd, who came into the meet ranked 16th in the nation, and Ohio's Terry Jackson. Budd got hit with a stalling penalty late in the match, but was able to hold on for the 2-1 win over the MAC's second-ranked wrestler. The win puts Budd's dual-meet record at 11-0 and was his 28th victory of the season.
Another gleam of hope was heavyweight freshman Jason Weber, who stepped in for injured senior Jeff Parker. Parker tore his PCL earlier in the season, which forced Weber into the lineup. He faced off against Ohio bruiser Marcus Adelman who is ranked 30th in the nation byWrestlingreport.com. Weber fought a hard match and was able to hold on to a 5-4 lead to upset Adelman.
Another grappler that landed in the win column for Buffalo was senior 184-pounder Ray Lamb took on Ohio senior Nick Terbay. Lamb was able to defeat Terbay by a 7-4 decision.
The other matches did not go in the Bulls' favor. In the 141-pound match between the Bobcats' Albert Madsen and freshman Andrew Stella, Madsen was able to pick up a 5-3 victory.
"(Madsen) was a little conservative I thought, but he won and that was a good match for him," said Ohio head coach Joel Greenlee in a press release.
Buffalo's freshman 149-pounder Jason Hilliard faced Ohio's freshman Clay Tucker. Despite Hilliard's efforts in the bout, Tucker turned in an impressive 13-4 win.
The 157-pound match was a low scoring contest between the Bobcats' Jake Frerichs and freshman Justin Hunt. Despite a scoreless first period, Frerichs was able to shut out Hunt in route to a 3-0 win.
The MAC's No. 4 ranked junior Mike Ragusa from Buffalo and the MAC's No. 3 ranked Jacob Ison from Ohio were featured in the 165-pound match. Only a single point decided this match, as Ison was able to hold on for 6-5 victory after securing a reverse in the final seconds of the match.
"It's always good to have that trick up your sleeve," Ison said in a press release. "There's always that one last move that you can hit. I tried to hit it and it worked. I just get pumped up watching all of these other guys win so I just go out there and do the same thing."
In the 174-pound match-up, the Bobcats' Antione Love earned his 20th win of the season against junior Nate Rock by pin-fall in the second period.
The 197-pound match was a close one as Ohio's Larry Reichard barely escaped with a 3-1 victory over freshman Ricky Scott.
Regardless of the result, there is still a feeling of optimism around the Buffalo squad.
"We're trying hard out there," Beichner said. "We still have a lot of work to do and we are trying to take this one match at a time."
The Bulls will next face Eastern Michigan in Alumni Arena. The match will take place on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
