In the blink of an eye, a day that started with so much hope ended in disappointment and heartbreak for the wrestling team.
After the Bulls (7-7, 0-2 Mid-American Conference) jumped out to an early 9-0 lead over Kent State (12-5, 2-0 MAC), they dropped six of their last seven matches en route to a 19-13 defeat in front of a raucous home crowd at Alumni Arena on Sunday afternoon.
Head coach Jim Beichner felt the Bulls failed to take advantage of several key opportunities throughout the meet. In spite of a couple of great performances, he felt the team should have performed better as a whole.
The meet started out on a high note for the Bulls when sophomores Chris Conti and Mark Lewandowski and junior Desi Green all won their matches in convincing fashion.
The Bulls got a strong effort out of Conti in the 141-pound weight class to start the meet as he defeated Kent State's Chase Skonieczky by a score of 5-2 for his first career MAC dual meet victory.
Beichner couldn't say enough about Conti's effort after the meet but didn't understand why more guys didn't step up and follow his lead.
"It wasn't our start and it wasn't our ending [that was the problem]," Beichner said. "Chris Conti did a phenomenal job. The bookends weren't a problem. We lost at least three matches we could've won. I'm extremely disappointed we weren't able to secure three matches in the middle to win this meet."
The Bulls led 9-6 with five matches remaining and looked to senior Jimmy Hamel to win a crucial match against Kent State's unranked Casey Newburg. After three tightly contested periods, the match required an overtime session to decide a winner.
Smith gave up a point in overtime and lost the match. Kent State tied the meet at nine points each and didn't look back.
The Golden Flashes won the next five matches to run away with the win. Beichner thought his team didn't excel where he expected it would.
"You have to win where you're supposed to win," Beichner said. "We lost where we were favored."
Green's win in the second match of the day was the 40th of his career, moving him into fifth on the Bulls' all-time wins list. He rode an early takedown to a 4-2 victory over Kent State's Marcel Clopton.
The final match of the day came in the 133-pound weight class and provided the most lopsided victory of the day for the Bulls. Junior Kevin Smith scored three takedowns and disposed of Kent State's Tyler Small, 12-1.
Lewandowski was involved in the most controversial match of the meet in the 157-pound weight class. He squeaked out a 6-5 win but lost his lead in the final moments of the match. He utilized the riding time to get his second MAC win this season.
Beichner knows there is no more room for error as the Bulls close out their conference schedule and continue to move toward the MAC tournament. He expects his team to come out motivated in its next meet.
"Right now, Wednesday feels like a long ways away," Beichner said. "We need to come back with a fresh attitude and some confidence."
The Bulls will host Eastern Michigan on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Alumni Arena.
E-mail: sports@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
Photo: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics
