For the first time in the team's Division I history, Buffalo wrestling will be sending three grapplers ranked in the country's top 15 to the NCAA tournament.
Senior heavyweight Harold Sherrell, senior 197-pounder Kyle Cerminara, and junior 133-pounder Mark Budd will all travel during the spring break to Oklahoma City, Okla., where they are looking to become All-Americans and National Champions.
Although the tournament seedings for the event won't be released until Monday, aspirations are soaring.
"The NCAA Championships are probably one of the most exciting events in wrestling in the entire world," said head coach Jim Beichner. "We're expecting to see a great event and we feel like we have three guys that can become All-Americans and that's our goal, to have three All-Americans and three NCAA title holders."
Of the three wrestlers competing, Cerminara - who is ranked No. 2 in most national polls - has both the least and the most to prove at the tournament. Having already won the honor of All-American in the 2004 season, the senior is looking for the school's first national championship. In order to do so he will have to go through No. 1 Wynn Michalak, who has already beaten Cerminara twice this year, once by a score of 3-2 in Alumni Arena, and once in the finals of the Mid-American Conference Championships, 7-5.
However, for Cerminara, who has compiled a record of 37-2 this year and has the best winning percentage in school history, the strategy has always been simple.
"I expect to see good wrestling," Cerminara said. "I also expect to win every single match."
Cerminara finished second in the MAC tournament and received a wild-card bid to the tournament. Sherrell and Budd won their divisions decisively to ensure their place in the year's national showcase.
Sherrell carries the mark of a success story this season after his move to heavyweight from 197 pounds proved to be lucrative. The 2001 walk-on accumulated a 35-7 record this season, the sixth best win total in university history.
Sherrell is also only one of 11 wrestlers to reach 80 wins for a career and has been ranked as high as 11th nationally by Amateur Wrestling News. As a newcomer to the national scene, Sherrell believes that there is no reason to change his approach going into the NCAA tournament.
"It's nothing different," Sherrell said. "The competition is tougher, but nothing has really changed. We have a lot of good training partners and a good coaching staff, so you just have to go out there and wrestle your best."
Budd will be representing the Bulls in the 133-pound division at the tournament. Ranked as high as No. 9 by W.I.N. Magazine, Budd delivered his most impressive performance of the season in the form of a 6-4 sudden victory win over 2005 national runner-up, and No. 1-ranked Shawn Bunch of Edinboro.
Posting a 34-4 overall record this year, Budd has earned the nickname "Mr. Consistent" from Beichner and hopes to continue his winning trend throughout the very last matches of 2006.
"My attitude is to win the national tournament," Budd said. "There's probably going to be a lot of good match-ups. It's the national tournament, the best tournament there is, but I'm going there to win."
The tournament, which will take place on March 16-18, typically attracts over 90,000 fans and will be televised nationally on ESPN.
"I would hope that people who are paying attention will be proud of the fact that these guys are wearing the UB symbol," Beichner said. "We've tried to represent ourselves in a way that makes the university proud over the years and these guys understand that it's not just themselves that they're representing, this is a UB thing and we're proud to be out there with that big UB on our chest."
