WRESTLING

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

Cerminara Moves Up to Second in NWCA Poll

Kyle Cerminara

This time, when senior Kyle Cerminara (Lewiston, NY/Lewiston-Porter) hits the mats at the same tournament with Central Michigan's Wynn Michalak, they will hit the mats as the second and first-ranked grapplers in the nation at 197 pounds, respectively, according to the final InterMat/National Wrestling Coaches Association poll.

Cerminara has climbed steadily in the national polls all season along with Michalak, a consensus No. 1 in the five national polls. The 2004 All-American began the season ranked between fifth and eighth, and thanks in large part to a 34-match winning streak, has risen to second in rankings by WrestlingReport.com and Amateur Wrestling News along with the NWCA poll. Cerminara's ranking is the highest a UB wrestler has ever received in the NWCA Division I poll, and is the second highest in the conference, behind only Michalak.

The quad-captain has broken a host of records at UB this season, including marks for career wins (131), career dual meet wins (51), consecutive matches won (34) and dual meet takedowns (186) while also entering the top 10 in career dual meet escapes (63). His current 36-1 record is also the best single-season winning percentage (.973) in school history and his 36 wins is already fourth in school history, just five shy of his own school record of 41 set in 2003-04. Cerminara has won all six tournaments he has entered, including winning the UB Open for the third time and the New York State Collegiates for the second time, as well as becoming the first UB wrestler to win a Las Vegas Invitational title.

The only blemish on Cerminara's season is a 3-2 loss suffered at the hands of Michalak at Alumni Arena on Feb. 5. After Michalak earned a third-period takedown, Cerminara appeared to get in position to reverse the Chippewa as the two rolled out of bounds and no points were awarded. The desperate flurry of action, with 15 seconds left, proved that the best in the two wrestlers' rivalry may be yet to come. Michalak hasn't faltered since the win, finishing his regular season, 27-1 with 13 falls to his credit.

As the Bulls prepare for the MAC Championships, Cerminara is not the only nationally-ranked Bull seeking redemption against a front-running Chippewa, as junior Mark Budd (Orrville, OH/Orrville) (133 pounds), ranked 13th in the final NWCA poll of the year, will have to get past Jason Borelli, ranked 12th, after a 2-1 overtime loss to the Chippewa at the Feb. 5 dual meet. Senior Harold Sherrell (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) (Heavyweight), ranked 16th in the final poll, will look to get past the Chippewas' 13th-ranked Bubba Gritter, who beat Sherrell 5-3 thanks to a third-period takedown in the Alumni Arena dual.