Nate Rock

BUFFALO, NY - Freshman Nate Rock (Ephrata, PA/Ephrata) hadn't wrestled in 28 days due to an LCL sprain in his knee. He hadn't won a dual meet match in six attempts. Still, in the final match of Friday night's Mid-American Conference bout with Kent State, Rock ended the meet in dramatic fashion, earning himself the MAC Wrestler of the Week Award in the process, the league office announced Tuesday.

With the Bulls down 16-15 going into the match, Rock scored a first-period takedown against Aaron Miller at 174 pounds and never looked back, earning a 7-2 victory. In the third period, Rock was cut above the eye and his knee was also twisted awkwardly, but the former Pennsylvania state placewinner shrugged it off in 13 seconds of injury time and scored a reversal to clinch the match. Buffalo (2-10 overall, 1-4 MAC) won its first MAC dual meet of the year, 18-16, in the process.

Rock, a former Pennsylvania state high school placewinner, is now 10-16 overall, earning his first dual meet win with the decision over Miller, his first match since Jan. 14 against Cal State Bakersfield.

The Bulls were losing16-9 to Kent State going into the final two matches, but a pin by UB male Athlete of the Week sophomore Jake Blowers (Johnstown, NY/Broadalbin-Perth) brought the Bulls within one point and set the stage for Rock's late-meet heroics.

The win snapped a series of hard-luck MAC meets for the Bulls, who lost to Northern Illinois, 20-15, on Jan. 8, to Ohio, 20-13, on Jan. 30 and to Eastern Michigan, 20-19, on Feb. 5 in meets that all came down to the final match.

Buffalo wraps up its dual meet season on Thursday as it hosts a meet for just the third time this season, hosting Slippery Rock at 7:00 pm.