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Wrestling Announces Team Awards

BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo wrestling program honored its 2004-05 team award winners at UB's annual Athletic Awards Banquet, which was held at the Millennium Hotel on May 3. Four different individuals from head coach Jim Beichner's team received awards at the ceremony.

Senior Kyle Cerminara (Lewiston, NY/Lewiston-Porter) earned the Most Outstanding Wrestler Award, senior Harold Sherrell (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) was honored with the Coaches' Award for the second straight year, sophomore Mickey Moran (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler Area) received the Most Imporved Wrestler nod and junior John Cummings (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore/Nassau CC) took the Top Newcomer honor.

Kyle Cerminara

Cerminara, who also earned the school's Male Athlete of the Year Award at the banquet for the second time in his career, went 39-4 as a senior, en route to a top 12 finish at the NCAA Tournament. He became the first UB wrestler to earn a Division I national ranking of second in the InterMat/NWCA poll, as he also entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2-seed at 197 pounds. He won a school record 34 straight matches and his wins were tied for second most wins in a season in school history. Cerminara also became the first UB wrestler to win the prestigous Las Vegas Invitational, when he won the tournament in early December. By winning five tournament titles during the season, he also took home two MAC Wrestler of the Week Awards. Cerminara earned All-American honors in 2004 and wrapped up a career that saw him win a school-record 41 matches as a junior and set school records for dual meet takedowns in a career (186) and in a season (64, 2004).

Harold Sherrell

Sherrell wrapped up a magical senior season by winning the MAC Championships and earning his first career NCAA qualifier at heavyweight. The fifth-year senior still went a tremendous 35-9 during a season that featured four tournament championships, including the Mat Town USA Invitational and the UB Open. Perhaps his most stunning performance came in the MAC Championships, though, as he battled two nationally-ranked wrestlers in the first two rounds, coming from down 2-0 in the first round by scoring a three-point near fall, then earning a fall in the second round. In the finals, facing Jermail Porter of Kent State, the MAC Freshman of the Year, an opponent that outweighed Sherrell by 50 pounds, Sherrell earned a pin to post one of the most impressive wins of the tournament. He set the school-record with 29 dual meet 3-point near falls, smashing Jim Young (1974-75) and Bruce Hadsell (1977-78)’s record of 18 as he finished his career with 38 3-point near, the second-best mark in school history. His career record of 83-59 is also among the top 10 in Buffalo history.

Mickey Moran

Moran had one of the most remarkable turnarounds on the Bulls, as he went from 7-21 as a freshman to 26-10 as a sophomore. Starting at 165 pounds, he earned rankings as high as 17th in the nation from W.I.N. Magazine, 19th from Amateur Wrestling News and The WrestlingMall.com and 25th from WrestlingReport.com. He recorded 39 dual meet takedowns, which tied him for the 11th best mark in school history. Posting four wins against nationally-ranked opponents during the season, Moran helped the Bulls by placing in five tournaments, including second-place finishes at the Oklahoma Gold Classic and the Mat Town USA Invitational. He also placed fourth at the MAC Championships and earned MAC Wrestler of the Week honors once, on Nov. 22 after winning two matches by pin and another by major decision at a quad meet.

John Cummings

Cummings, a two-time Junior College All-American at Nassau Community College, joined the Bulls and became an immediate starter at 157 pounds. He finished 24-16 and also amassed a 3-2 MAC mark to finish among the team’s top five in wins, dual meet wins, dual meet falls, dual meet technical falls, dual meet reversals and dual meet riding time points. He also earned MAC Wrestler of the Week honors after a two-pin performance on Dec. 20 in a tri-meet with Appalachian State and Mercyhurst as the wins helped spark a six-match NCAA winning streak. Cummings had a great second-half after starting his UB career 9-10, as he won 15 of his last 21 matches to end the season. One of seven Bulls to finish the season with 20 wins, he finished second at the UB Open, third at the New York State Collegiates and sixth at the Oklahoma Gold Classic.

The Bulls went 9-6 under 11th-year head coach Jim Beichner, as the team earned votes in the NWCA/USA Today poll for the first time in his career and was ranked 23rd by WrestlingReport.com.