Nothing ruins a senior night like losing.
Fortunately for the UB seniors, the Bulls handled Slippery Rock easily en route to a 33-9 victory. It was Buffalo's last home meet of the season and their last before getting into the bulk of their MAC schedule.
The Bulls came out of the gates early as Mike Sebaaly took the 125 pounds division 11-2. After giving up an early takedown to Adam Renner of Slippery Rock, Mike took control, as he had 11 unanswered points and took the match with ease.
Mike Trotta won by forfeit in the 133 pounds division as Slippery Rock did not field a wrestler thus making the score 10-0 in favor of UB. The 141 pounds was Slippy Rock's first match win as Cliff Smith fell 6-5. This brought Slippery Rock within 7 with the score UB 10, SRU 3.
This momentum carried for Slippery Rock as they took the 149 pounds division 7-1 and closed the overall gap by 4, 10-6.
UB then took the next five matches, giving the Bulls a commanding 33-6 lead as Labe Black took the 157 pounds division 9-0 defeating Jason Cardillo. Tom Paladino won at 165 pounds 9-4.
Senior Gary Cooper won by medical forfeit against Justin Stamm. The victory made him 11-0 in dual meets this season.
Garret Bontempo won at 184 pounds, defeating John Opfar in commanding form 17-3 giving the Bulls a 27-6 lead.
UB won by disqualification as Slippery Rock's Corey Hart was whistled for stalling four times in the match giving Kyle Cerminara the Bull's final win of the night.
Slippery Rock won the heavyweight division 10-4. UB's Tom Curl lost to Bob McKillop. The match was close until McKillop turned it up in the third period.
Buffalo has four straight conference meets on the schedule, starting Friday against Central Michigan, which is ranked No. 20 in the nation.
"The important part of our season is ahead of us. Every single game we wrestle from this point on is very competitive, and if we're not ready for them we could be 4-0 or 0-4," said Head Coach Jim Biechner.
This match was the last home match of UB senior Gary Cooper.
"I just wanted to finish my last home match on a positive (note) and be aggressive," said Cooper. "The season is really just starting, and it doesn't matter what you have done at this point.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
