In its last meet, the wrestling team rested its top athletes in preparation for conference play. That decision did not help the team as much as the coaches had hoped.
The Bulls (7-6, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) hoped to open up conference play on the right foot against the Ohio Bobcats (7-3, 2-0 MAC) over the weekend. In the end, Buffalo failed to avenge last season's loss and fell in a heartbreaking 16-15 decision.
Assistant coach Frank Beasley felt that the Bulls should have been able to earn a win because of how well-prepared they were going into the meet.
"We felt that we outwrestled them," Beasley said. "We thought we were in better shape and were the better team. We just didn't pick up the points where we needed to."
The meet started with freshman Sean Walton dropping a close 10-9 decision to Ohio's Gabe Ramos.
The rest of the evening saw both of the teams in close competition. Ohio and Buffalo each earned five wins down the stretch to bring the contest to a stalemate.
The difference ended up being in the 141-pound match. Ohio's Germane Lindsey defeated sophomore Chris Conti in a 15-5 major decision victory. The bonus points Ohio gained from the match gave them the one-point edge in the team's victory.
Beasley did not lay the blame on that match alone. He thought that the point that would've given the Bulls a win could've come from any one of the 10 matches.
"I felt that four of the matches we lost were winnable," Beasley said. "If we had turned one of those matches around we would've won."
The Bulls barely missed getting back the extra points in a few of their matches. Sophomore Ron Majerus suffered a cut near his eye in the opening seconds of his 174-pound bout against Ohio's Nick Purdue. Majerus could not recover from the injury and lost 10-5.
Even the night's most commanding performances were not enough to secure a victory for the Bulls. No. 16 nationally-ranked junior Desi Green dominated Ohio's Darrin Boing in the 149-pound weight class, defeating him 10-3. Junior Kevin Smith beat Ohio's Gavin Moore in the 133-pound division, 11-4. Both wrestlers were one point away from the major decision victory that could have given Buffalo the win.
Despite the missed opportunities, the Bulls were still within grasp of taking the dual meet.
Sophomore Mark Lewandowski had a good showing to win in a 4-0 decision against Ohio's Chris Kline. Junior John-Martin Cannon followed that up by earning a 3-2 victory over Ohio's Steve Wilson in the 165-pound match.
Senior Jimmy Hamel's 4-3 win over Ohio's Ryan Garringer at the 184-pound weight class put the Bulls ahead 15-10 with just two matches remaining. However, Buffalo dropped the next two matches and, consequently, the meet itself.
The Bulls are now preparing to host MAC rival Kent State, currently ranked 17th in the nation.
Beasley believes that the loss is only a bump in the road and that the team will be able to shake it off going forward.
"[The loss] only made us more focused," Beasley said. "We think we will be able to match up better with Kent State [as well as other MAC teams]."
The dual meet is slated to start at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
E-mail: sports@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
Photo: Paul Hokanson / UB Athletics
