"Bulls Fall Again, Face Three-Game Losing Skid"

The struggling wrestling team went into Ypsilanti, Michigan Wednesday in search of its first victory in the Mid-American Conference, and it left still searching.

The Bulls (5-14, 0-4 MAC) were introduced to a tough environment, as Eastern Michigan (14-6, 3-2 MAC) hosted its last dual meet match of the season on Senior Night. Unfortunately for the Bulls, the momentum from the pregame festivities carried over onto the mat for the Eagles, giving them a colossal 31-7 victory, and the Bulls their third straight loss.

A 9-0 start by the Eagles did not deter the Bulls early, as senior Kevin Smith and freshman Blake Roulo would earn back-to-back wins to get the Bulls back in the match. They would trail just 9-7 after the first four matches.

Smith was able to get back on track – having lost last Friday at Kent State – turning in his usual strong performance. Wednesday's match would mark his 119th career victory, which places him in a tie for second place on the Bulls' all-time career wins list. Smith has created a standard that head coach Jim Beichner wants his whole team to emulate.

"He's an example on and off the mat," Beichner said. "He sets a pretty high bar for people and I certainly would love it if many people would follow him, he's very much appreciated."

The bar set by Smith would prove to be tough to reach as the Bulls would go on to lose their final six matches of the evening.

Promising freshman Jake Waste (20-8) has wrestled tremendously this season, but even he was not able to turn things around for the Bulls, losing by decision 4-1.

Excluding senior leader Smith, the Bulls are an extremely young team. They wrestled six freshmen against the Eagles.

"They wrestled better than us, there's really no other explanation for it," Beichner said. "It's been a long season and yesterday it showed. It showed pretty heavily."

To add to the disappointment of Wednesday night's defeat was the absence of junior Mark Lewandowski (29-6). This would be Lewandowski's second straight missed match due to a knee injury.

"It's causing him a lot of pain and discomfort, as people know when you get knee injuries they take time to heal," Beichner said. "This one here is taking time and just not going away, but we will do what's right for him and his knee. It's going to take some time and patience."

A healthy Lewandowski would add some much-needed veteran experience to the young Bulls. The combination of Lewandowski and Smith is an explosive one-two punch. Their combined 195 career victories are something that should intimidate opponents.

Fortunately for the Bulls and Lewandowski they have more than a week off before their next match. With the possibility of a winless season in conference play, Beichner will do everything he can to get his wrestlers prepared for their MAC season finale.

"We will change some of our training habits to get the most out of our guys," Beichner said. "They're going to take advantage of this little break for us and I hope we can reset some guys and get out there and have a better effort."

The Bulls are desperate for a win to gain some confidence back with the MAC Championships only a couple weeks away.

The Bulls hope that will come against Northern Illinois (6-8, 0-4 MAC), as it is the Huskies' last chance to earn themselves a victory in the MAC as well. That contest will take place in DeKalb, Ill. on Saturday at 1 p.m.

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