Budd and Sherrell win MAC titles

Senior heavyweight Harold Sherrell and junior 133-pounder Mark Budd each entered the conference wrestling tournament ranked second in their weight classes. But both Buffalo grapplers proved the rankings wrong on Saturday, as each walked away with their first Mid-American Conference titles and bids to the national NCAA tournament.

Although Sherrell and Budd both came out with championship finishes en route to a third-place team finish -- behind nationally ranked No. 4 Central Michigan and No. 25 Kent State -- the highest profile match came at 197 pounds.

In a rematch between two of the country's fiercest college wrestlers, Buffalo's No. 2 Kyle Cerminara lost again to Central Michigan's No. 1 Wynn Michalak in the 197-pound finals, this time by a score of 7-5.

The match came down to the bitter end, just like their first encounter on Feb. 5. With eight seconds left in the third period, it looked like Cerminara secured a takedown, but no points were given and Michalak took home the win and the MAC championship.

"This was as exciting as a match you will ever see in college," said Buffalo head coach Jim Beichner. "Points were flying everywhere. You don't see that too often in one-versus-two matches. I felt Kyle outwrestled him but just didn't outscore him. Kyle had the only offensive takedown. I'm really pleased with his efforts. I think he's better than Wynn."

Although he finished in second place, Cerminara did secure one of nine conference wild-card bids to move on with Sherrell and Budd to the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.

In Sherrell's heavyweight finals, the Buffalo walk-on secured the MAC title by pinning Kent State's Jermail Porter in the second period at the 4:35 mark. The win was Sherrell's 35th of the season.

"Harold does what he does," Beichner said. "He won because he came back several times. I'm very pleased with him."

After a bye in the first round, and soundly beating Terry Jackson 11-0 in the semi-finals, Budd's first conference championship came with an injury default over Philip Plowman of Eastern Michigan in the finals. Budd was leading the match 2-0 before Plowman's injury.

"Mark wrestled a good tourney," Beichner said. "He is Mr. Consistent. He wrestles a very controlled match. He has two moves and does them very well."

The Bulls' third-place team finish is the highest the team has had in the tournament since it joined the MAC in the 1998-1999 season. Buffalo's 60 team points were also good enough to beat out the No. 24 Northern Illinois, who had previously downed the Bulls 23-21 on Jan. 6.

Ironically enough, that loss occurred in the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Ill., which hosted this weekend's conference tournament.

Beichner said he was pleased with his team's performance, but "you're never happy finishing in third."

"We didn't perform badly," he said. "We finished ahead of a Top 25 team and had three national qualifiers. (Senior 184-pounder Garrett) Hicks finished in third and there were others who finished in fourth. I'm pleased, but not satisfied because we want to be in first."

Buffalo also tied its own record with seven place finishers for the event.

Hicks took third by shutting out Brian Cesear of Ohio by a score of 8-0. Hicks concluded his final season with the Bulls with a 24-12 record and a career record of 64-46.

"He wrestled extremely well," Beichner said. "He's been a good wrestler all year, he just fell short. I'm very pleased with what he has done."

Rounding out the place winners were a trio senior Cliff Smith in the 141-pound class, sophomore 149-pounder Dana Gingerich and 165-pound sophomore Mickey Moran. Each finished fourth in his respective weight class.

Budd, Sherrell and Cerminara will now get their shot at becoming All-Americans and national champions at the NCAA Championships on March 16 in Oklahoma City, Okla.

"Our mindset going in is to shock everyone," Beichner said. "Our goal is to have three All-Americans. We won't be shocked, but others will be. I think we have a good chance."