TEN QUESTIONS WITH...

Senior Kyle Cerminara, an All-American last year, decided to redshirt this year to prepare for a national title run in 2005-06, leaving the 197 pound weight class open for you to start. What has it been like working with Kyle day-in and day-out for the past three years?
It’s been a good experience. When I first came here, I was nowhere near ready to wrestle at the Division I level. As everyone knows, Kyle came in and immediately made an impact. Having him around to lead the way and work with really made me grow as a wrestler a lot quicker.

You started out the year 1-3, but have rebounded with an 11-6 record since and three place-finishes at tournaments. What finally clicked to get you on the right track?
It’s just hard training. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is believe that you can go out there and compete. You have to believe in the training. (Head) Coach (Jim) Beichner, (Assistant) Coach (Josh) Koscheck and (Assistant) Coach (Brandon) Newill, they just put us through incredible workouts and if you believe in the workouts, you’ll start winning. That’s just what I started doing.

This has been a season in which the team has experienced some growing pains with four freshmen starting. As one of two juniors in the starting lineup, what do you tell the younger guys to keep them prepared to wrestle?
Sometimes you just have to put your head down and go out there and fight. You’re going to have situations where someone is going to be better than you, a little more experienced, a little stronger, but that means you have to go out there and fight that much harder. You have to know that eventually, it will pay off. You get your lumps now, but you give them out later.

Coach Beichner added two of the most prestigious tournaments in the country to the schedule in the Las Vegas Invitational and the Virginia Duals. What is it like to get the chance to wrestle against some of the best in the nation?
It’s great. It shows that the program is going in the right direction. We’re a very strong program on campus and our goal is to get better every year, just like any other team on campus. Being able to go to Las Vegas and the Virginia Duals really shows that we’re putting in that extra effort to become one of the top teams in the country.

Last week, Buffalo held the Second Annual UB Open in Alumni Arena where you finished fifth at 197 pounds. What is it like being able to wrestle in a tournament at home, on UB’s campus?
It’s really great mentally. As you’re done wrestling there’s nowhere you’d rather be than home, especially at a tournament like this where you’re wrestling three, sometimes four matches. Being able to just go home relatively soon after the tournament is really something that’s nice to think about.

In the previous two years, you’ve wrestled at 184 and heavyweight as well as your natural weight of 197. How difficult was it to cut weight or gain weight and still be prepared to wrestle?
Whenever Coach Beichner asked me to wrestle up or down, it was just one of those things where it was what coach needs me to do, so I just do it. I mean, I don’t have the talent of Kyle, but I’ll go out there and wrestle anybody. Wrestling up was never tough for me. Wrestling a big guy, there are exceptions, but usually, the big guys are less skilled. You just have to go out there and fight your best.

Cutting down to 184 was a big test. That was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in wrestling, going down to 184 and keeping it. It was really mentally and physically draining to do that all year.

You list your proudest accomplishment as winning your first match at Alumni Arena. What was that match and the crowd like that day?
I think it was last year against Ohio University (a 4-2 win over Travis Smith) and I was wrestling 184. It was just a really tough year, making it down to 184 every week. It was really draining. Just to go out there and have the fans out there and go out there and have them cheer for you was great. You always have your teammates cheering for you, you always have the coach behind you, but to have those extra fans to support you and to feel that pride in UB and being able to compete in our arena and win, that was just amazing to me.

Coming from just outside of Syracuse and having gone to high school when Donovan McNabb was throwing spirals in the Carrier Dome, do you think the Eagles can make the Super Bowl without Terrell Owens?
They can do anything. They have a lot of talent and Donovan McNabb, he’s the magic man. He’ll get it done. Really, it’s just a matter of putting your head down and getting it done, not letting little things slow you down.

Being a UB Scholar-Athlete in the spring semester as a communication major, how have you been able to balance wrestling and your academics?
It’s really tough. When I first got here as a freshman, it was difficult and then when Coach Koscheck started, we really amped up our workouts. We went to a two-a-day workout program and it’s really hard, when you have to work out at 6 a.m. When you work out at 6 or 6:30, you’re done at 7:30 and then you have to get a shower and then get to class if you have an 8:00 class. It’s taxing. You just have to toughen up and do it because if you don’t get grades, then you’re not going to be able to wrestle.

What has been your favorite moment as a student-athlete at the University at Buffalo?
Anytime I finish a real, real hard workout. You’re there, just sweaty and beat up and it’s done. You really feel like you accomplished something and you feel like you got better. You made a step towards being able to go out there and beat people.