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Eight Bulls Ready to Battle in MAC Semifinals

Harold Sherrell

DeKALB , IL – Five University at Buffalo wrestlers won their first round matches Friday afternoon and three more are awaiting semifinal matches after byes at the Mid-American Conference Championships at Northern Illinois University 's Convocation Center .

With the wins, Buffalo is behind only Central Michigan in the team standings. The Chippewas, with 30 points, won all six of their opening round matches, but the Bulls are right behind them with 24 points.

A wild heavyweight capped off the first-round matches as 16th-ranked senior Harold Sherrell (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) , as he fell behind Ohio's Marcus Adelman, 2-0, on a second period takedown. With a gutsy decision to take the top position, Sherrell quickly earned a three-point near fall to take the lead. However, he was called with locking of the hands to tie the match at three, but Sherrell rode the Bobcat for the rest of the round to take the 4-3 decision.

Dana Gingerich

After a loss at 125 pounds and a narrow loss at 141 pounds, sophomore Dana Gingerich ( Spring Grove , PA /DeLone Catholic) won his first MAC match at 149 pounds all year, as he pinned Ohio 's Aaron Gomoll at the 1:13 mark of the match. Gingerich moves on to face 2005 MAC Champion Mark DiSalvo in the semifinals.

Junior John Cummings (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore/Nassau CC) continued on his path of postseason success that saw him win two JuCo All-American honors, as he beat Eastern Michigan's Quinn Guernsey, 5-0. Cummings faces Kent State 's Kurt Gross in the semis.

Mickey Moran

Sophomore Mickey Moran ( Pittsburgh , PA /Shaler Area) posted Buffalo 's third win of the round with a 10-1 major decision against Eastern Michigan 's Josh Lewis. He faces Northern Illinois ' Johnny Galloway in the semifinals, whom Moran lost 2-1 to in an overtime decision during the dual meet season.

Senior Garrett Hicks (Chautauqua , NY /Chautauqua Lake) fought off a furious effort by Northern Illinois ' Alex Nelson to get a takedown at the end of the second period and then rode out Nelson in the final period for a 4-1 win. It was Hicks' first win at the MAC tournament, but he faces a touch test in Central Michigan 's 19th-ranked Christian Sinnott in the semifinals tonight.

Senior Kyle Cerminara (Lewiston, NY/Lewiston-Porter) , junior Mark Budd ( Orrville , OH /Orrville) and sophomore Mike Ragusa ( Foxboro , MA /Foxboro) all earned first round byes.

The Bulls will continue their quest for NCAA qualifiers and individual MAC Championships with the beginning of the semifinal round at 8:00 pm. Wrestlebacks will immediately follow, setting up tomorrow's third-place and championship matches, which begin at 12:00 pm. For up-to-date brackets, please visit: www.niuhuskies.collegesports.com/m-wrestl/spec-re;/030306aab.html .