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Three Bulls Reach MAC Finals

Kyle Cerminara

DeKALB , IL – All year, the University at Buffalo wrestling team could count on three wrestlers to win more than 80 percent of the time that they hit the mat. On Friday night, all three, junior Mark Budd (Orrville, OH/Orrville) , senior Kyle Cerminara (Lewiston, NY/Lewiston-Porter) and senior Harold Sherrell (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) , continued to be the Buffalo workhorses, as they advanced to the Mid-American Conference Championships at Northern Illinois' Convocation Center.

Cerminara (197 pounds), who won a 2-1 sudden victory decision against Kent State's Ardian Ramadani, will get a rematch with the nation's top-ranked 197-pounder in Central Michigan's Wynn Michalak. Cerminara, ranked second in the nation, lost a 3-2 decision to Michalak on Feb. 5 during a dual meet, his only loss of the season.

Ramadani was able to keep his match with Cerminara close, as the two traded escapes through three periods. In the first series of overtimes, however, Cerminara rode out Ramadani using two large mat returns and then escaped three seconds into his period to take the win and enter his third MAC Championships.

Mark Budd

Budd (133 pounds), who will face Eastern Michigan's Phillip Plowman in the finals, became the clear favorite to win the MAC title when he posted a 5-3 decision, taking down Terry Jackson twice in the match for the win. The top-seeded Jason Borrelli of Central Michigan , dropped a 10-6 decision to Plowman.

Harold Sherrell

The 16th-ranked Sherrell (Heavyweight), after a stunning third-period rally to overcome Ohio 's Marcus Adelman in the first round, pinned Northern Illinois' 20th-ranked Joe Sapp, posting a spread eagle to earn the pin in the second period and setting up a finals matchup with Kent State 's Jermail Porter. Porter also posted an upset of a Chippewa, Bubba Gritter, winning 6-1 against the 13th-ranked wrestler.

Four other wrestlers also will place at the championships, as they won their consolation semifinal matches to enter the third-place matches, helping the Bulls tie a school-record with seven MAC placewinners set in 2001. They also still have a chance to earn one of the MAC's nine wild-card bids.

Senior Cliff Smith (Merrick, NY/Calhoun) (141 pounds) advanced to the consolation finals after he won his first match in 22 career MAC matches, winning his 50th career match in the process with a 5-4 decision of Ohio's Albert Madsen. Smith, who entered the final period down 4-1, posted a takedown with a slam and then got a two-point near fall and erased a riding-time point to take the win. He faces Kent State 's Drew Lashaway in the third-place match.

Sophomore Dana Gingerich (Spring Grove, PA/DeLone Catholic) (149 pounds) came back in the late-night match to post a 9-3 decision against Eastern Michigan's Ahmed Joumaa, to earn a third-place match with nationally-ranked Mike Grimes of Northern Illinois. Mark DiSalvo, ranked fifth in the nation, posted a 16-7 major decision against Gingerich in the semifinals.

Sophomore Mickey Moran (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler Area) (165 pounds) advanced to the third-place match with a 4-3 win against Eastern Michigan's Chad Roush after Johnny Galloway used a first-period takedown to help himself to a 4-2 win against Moran in the semifinal match.

Senior Garrett Hicks (Chautauqua, NY/Chautauqua Lake) (184 pounds) will also place at the MAC Championships for the first time in his career as he posted nearly six minutes of riding time in a 10-0 win against Eastern Michigan's John McClure. Hicks faces Brian Cesear of Ohio in the third-place match. Christian Sinnott posted a 10-5 decision against Hicks in the semifinals, totaling five takedowns to advance to the finals.

The Bulls will look for three championships and seven of the nine NCAA wild cards, starting with the finals and third-place matches at 1:00 pm and then immediately followed by the true-second-place round.