Wrestling Weekly Release

Bulls Fall to #9 Central Michigan 32-3

The University at Buffalo wrestling team fell to ninth ranked Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon at Rose Arena, 32-3. The Chippewas captured victories in nine of the ten bouts with Desi Green collecting the Bulls’ lone victory at 149. In recognition of his performance, Green was named this week's Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Week.

The Bulls faced a solid Central Michigan squad with five Chippewa wrestlers ranked in the top 20 of the latest Intermat/NWCA /NWMA Division I Individual Rankings at 125, 133, 149, 165 and 174.

Desi Green

The Bulls opened the match by dropping three consecutive bouts at 125, 133, and 141, leading to the Chippewas’ 11-0 start.

In the 149-lb weight class, Green faced the tenth ranked wrestler in the nation, Steve Brown. Following two periods, Green and Brown entered the final period tied at 2-2. The match came down to Green’s takedown with four seconds remaining, leading to his 4-3 decision over Brown. With Green’s victory, he has etched his name in the UB wrestling record books. Green is now tied for 14th place in dual meet wins in a season and is only two wins away from 15th place for most overall wins in a season.

At 157, CMU’s Eric Cubberly defeated John-Martin Cannon with a third period escape for a 1-0 decision. The Bulls dropped the next five bouts with three of the five bouts coming from major decisions.

Next Up: Kent State

The Bulls will return home for the first time since November 26 when they take on the 24th ranked team in the nation, the Kent State Flashes (9-4, MAC 1-0), on Saturday, February 7 at 7 pm.

In Buffalo-Kent State all-time dual meets, the Bulls are 7-16. The last time these two teams met was in the Bulls’ final Mid-American Conference dual meet of the 2007-2008 season, which the Flashes won 23-9. In the match, Jimmy Hamel picked up his fourth conference win of the season by the score of 5-1 in overtime.

Jimmy Hamel

In this year’s matchup, Hamel will face Kent State’s Eric Chine who recently captured his 100th victory. Chine wrestled in last year’s bout at 184 against Mickey Moran with Chine victorious, 7-5 in extra time. At 125, there will be a rematch from last year’s bout. Dan Bishop will face reigning 2008 MAC champion Nicholas Bedelyon, who Bishop lost to by a 4-2 decision in last year’s matchup.

In the latest Intermat/NWCA/NWMA Division I Individual Rankings, the Flashes currently have four wrestlers nationally ranked in the top 15 at 133, 141, 184 and 285. Kent State’s Dustin Kilgore at 184 and Jermail Porter at 285 are ranked fourth and fifth, respectively.