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Cerminara Advances to NCAA Quarterfinals for First Time in Career

Kyle Cerminara

Junior Mark Budd (Orrville, OH/Orrville) also advanced in the wrestleback bracket, keeping their All-American hopes alive.

Cerminara, for the first time this year, had trouble escaping the grip of a grappler when starting from the bottom position, as West Virginia’s Jared Villers rode out Cerminara during the second period to take a 1-0 lead. Villers chose the neutral position in the third period, and Cerminara made him pay for it, as he went in on a shot with 15 seconds left and grabbed a single leg. As Villers struggled to go out of bounds, Cerminara pulled him in and tripped him, taking him to the mat. Time expired and then the referee’s hand went up, signaling the two points and giving the Bulls’ a 2-1 win.

It is the second close call for Cerminara, who earned a 2-1 win against North Carolina’s David Dashiel in the first round, but it also still the grappler’s first time entering the quarterfinals in three times at the NCAA Championships.

Cerminara moves on to face Cornell’s Jerry Rinaldi in the quarterfinals, whom Cerminara beat 5-3 in the finals of the Las Vegas Invitational.

Mark Budd

Budd dominated his 7-3 win against Ohio State’s Reece Humphrey, as the 133-pounder took the lead with an escape 20 seconds into the second period and scored a takedown 52 seconds later to take a 3-1 lead. In the third period, Budd scored two more takedowns, while all Humphrey could score on were escapes.

Budd faces Penn State’s Jake Strayer in his second consolation bracket match on Friday and with a win will face either Illinois’ Gabriel Flores or Michigan’s Mark Moos.

Unfortunately, the heavyweight Cinderella story of senior Harold Sherrell (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) ended, as he fell to Wyoming’s Dusty Hoffschneider, 15-3, in the wrestleback round. The fifth-year senior still wraps up a tremendous 35-9 season that featured four tournament championships and with a career record of 83-59, among the top 10 in Buffalo history.

Cerminara hits the mats on Friday morning with the quarterfinal and wrestleback rounds beginning at 11:00 am with coverage of the quarterfinals on ESPNU, where available.