In a battle of Mid-American Conference heavyweights, the Buffalo Bulls and Ohio Bobcats found themselves involved in a closely contested encounter as they entered the final match on Sunday afternoon in Alumni Arena.
In fitting fashion, it came down to the heavyweights themselves, UB's Greg Thomas and Ohio's Jeremiah Beltran, to determine the winner of the MAC showdown.
With the Bulls up 16-14 over OU, Thomas and Beltran took to the mat for the match that would decide the afternoon's outcome.
Thomas and the Bulls would finally go down in overtime, and Ohio snared a close fought 17-16 victory from UB. The loss was Buffalo's (10-3, 1-1 MAC) first MAC loss of the year and propelled the Bobcats to a record of 8-3 (21-1 MAC).
Entering the third and supposed final round of the match, Thomas had a 3-1 lead, but things were about to go awry for the Buffalo junior.
Beltran brought the score to 3-2 after a 1-point escape, and then with just 45 seconds remaining, he took a 4-3 lead after a two-point takedown.
Thomas however, showed immense heart and gained one point for an escape to tie the match and force overtime.
Seconds into the overtime session, however, Beltran brought Thomas down to the mat for a 2-point take down and Ohio University victory.
The loss dropped Thomas' record to 16-17
Kyle Cerminara increased his team leading win total to 30 (three losses) by defeating Ohio's Joel Weimer. Cerminara is currently ranked 20th in the 197-pound weight class according to the most current individual rankings released by The Amateur Wrestling News.
Buffalo's next match will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday in Alumni Arena against the Central Michigan Chippewas.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
