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Beichner Wins 100th Career Dual Meet as Bulls Soar Past Eagles

Jim Beichner

The win was the 100th of Beichner’s 11-year stay in Amherst, as he became just the second coach in the 68-year history of UB wrestling to achieve the honor, joining legendary Ed Michael (1970-91), who won 213 matches.

After falling behind 12-3 after four matches, the Bulls (9-3 overall, 2-1 MAC) charged back by winning the final six matches, including the last four with bonus points. The senior quad-captain trio of upperweights clinched the meet after the Bulls held a slim 13-12 advantage by posting two technical falls and one fall.

Garrett Hicks

Senior Garrett Hicks (Chautauqua, NY/Chautauqua Lake) (184 pounds) pushed the Bulls’ lead to six after his three 3-point near fall performance helped him to a 17-1 technical fall against John McClure. Senior Kyle Cerminara (Lewiston, NY/Lewiston-Porter) (197 pounds) posted a quick fall of Tony Lyssiotis in 1:55 to clinch the Buffalo win, helping setup his showdown with No. 1-ranked Wynn Michalak of Central Michigan on Sunday. Cerminara is the last undefeated 197-pounder in the nation.

Senior Harold Sherrell (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) (Heavyweight) closed the meet in dominating fashion, posting four 3-point near falls to extend his school single-season record to 29. He won by technical fall against Jake Wood in the first period.

After a first-match forfeit, junior Mark Budd (Orrville, OH/Orrville) won a hard-fought match with Phillip Plowman at 133 pounds, as Budd earned a third-period stalling point and then earned an escape with one second left to counter Plowman’s riding-time point. He took the 2-1 win for his 14th straight and 32nd of the season.

The Eagles’ Nick Conklin snatched back a late-round decision at 141 pounds when he earned a takedown with three seconds left to take a 4-3 victory from senior Cliff Smith (Merrick, NY/Calhoun), who had physically dominated the match.

Junior Pat Lloyd (Middletown, NY/Valley Central) gave a noble fight against preseason NWCA/InterMat 13th-ranked Jermain Thompson, sending the match through four overtime periods before Thompson earned a takedown. Lloyd had almost earned a takedown but got a no call at the beginning of the fourth overtime. In the second overtime, Thompson got a reversal but Lloyd immediately countered with one of his own as time expired to retie the score.

Junior John Cummings (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore) got Buffalo back on the winning side of the ledger with a dominating 8-1 victory over Chad Roush for his 13th win in the last 15 matches. Sophomore Mickey Moran (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler Area) then posted his fourth straight win with an 8-4 decision against Chad Roush to bring the Bulls within three at 12-9.

Mike Ragusa

Sophomore Mike Ragusa (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) gave the Bulls their first lead of the meet after the 174-pound match as he posted a dominating 20-8 major decision against Don Funk. Ragusa posted nine takedowns in the match as he became the sixth Buffalo wrestler to reach 20 wins this season.

The Bulls wrap up their home slate on Sunday at 1:00 pm when they square off against USA Today/NWCA sixth-ranked Central Michigan on Senior Day at Alumni Arena. The meet, which features 12 nationally-ranked wrestlers and three MAC-ranked 1-2 matchups, will be broadcast live on WLVL-AM 1340. The broadcast will also be available on BuffaloBulls.com via Teamline.

Buffalo 29, Eastern Michigan 12
125: #20 Sean Clair (EMU) by forfeit
133: #13 Mark Budd (UB) dec. Phillip Plowman, 2-1
141: Nick Conklin (EMU) dec. Cliff Smith, 4-3
149: Jermain Thompson (EMU) dec. Pat Lloyd, 5-3, SV-2
157: John Cummings (UB) dec. Quinn Guernsey, 8-1
165: Mickey Moran (UB) dec. Chad Roush, 8-4
174: Mike Ragusa (UB) maj. dec. Don Funk, 20-8
184: Garrett Hicks (UB) tech. fall John McClure, 17-1
197: #4 Kyle Cerminara (UB) by fall Tony Lyssiotis, 1:55
HWT: #15 Harold Sherrell (UB) tech. fall Jake Wood, 16-0, 3:00