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Three Bulls Remain in MAC Wrestling Championship Contention

Mark Budd

BUFFALO, NY – With the first round of action in the 2007 Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships in the books, the University at Buffalo wrestling squad has three members being represented in the semifinals following Saturday morning’s events. The three Bulls, all of which earned seeds, will advance to this afternoon’s semifinals starting at 4 p.m.

Northern Illinois leads the team scoring after the morning session with 9.5 points, followed by Central Michigan with nine. Buffalo sits at fifth with three points.

Ray Lamb

Senior Mark Budd (Orrville, OH/Orrville) came into the morning being UB's only top-seeded wrestler at 133 pounds. Given a bit of a challenge in the first round, Budd was able to score a 6-4 decision over Eastern Michigan's Chris Jenkins to advance to the semifinals. All tied up at 3-3 entering the third period, Budd scored an escape and a takedown to increase his lead. Budd will meet Conor Beebe of Central Michigan in the semifinals.

Jeff Parker

Fellow senior Ray Lamb (Vineland, NJ/Absegami) earned his first-ever MAC Championship victory in convincing fashion over EMU's John McClure, 12-5. Lamb jumped out to an early lead thanks to two first-period takedowns. Letting McClure score two escapes in the second period, two more takedowns and a two-point near fall in the second period would put Lamb up 10-3 and up for good. Lamb next faces top-seed Christian Sinnott of Central Michigan in the semifinals.

Junior Jeff Parker (Foxboro, MA/Foxboro) also earned his first MAC Championship win against Charlie Walker of Eastern Michigan. Parker would go on to win his decision, 10-4, after scoring a plethora of takedowns in the second period. An escape and an immediate takedown in the third would secure the win. Parker earns a chance to play upset as he meets Bubba Gritter of Central Michigan in the semifinals. Gritter is currently ranked second in the nation at heavyweight.

Seven other Bulls will have chances to climb back into contention in the consolation rounds, which will begin at 4 p.m. along with the semifinals rounds. The championships finals are scheduled to begin Sunday at 11 a.m, and will be available via live web streaming offered at www.ubathletics.buffalo.edu/wrestling/mac07.

UB First Round Results
125 - Chad Sportelli (KSU) maj. dec. Dan Bishop (UB, 8-0
133 - Mark Budd (UB) dec. Chris Jenkins (EMU), 6-4
141 - Dan Ruettiger (NIU) pins Andrew Stella (UB), at 3:33
149 - Mike Grimes (NIU) pins Jason Hilliard (UB), at 6:55
157 - Jacob Frerichs (Ohio) dec. Scott Rendos (UB), 7-2
165 - Nick Conklin (EMU) dec. Mike Ragusa (UB), 7-4
174 - Brandon Sinnott (CMU) maj. dec. Nate Rock (UB), 15-5
184 - Ray Lamb (UB) dec. John McClure (EMU), 12-5
197 - Wynn Michalak (CMU) pins Jake Blowers (UB), at 2:04
285 - Jeff Parker (UB) dec. Charlie Walker (EMU), 10-4