Three young UB wrestlers had good showings at a major wrestling invitational in Las Vegas over the weekend.
Sophomores Mark McKnight and Mark Budd and freshman Nate Rock each finished in the top 12 in their weight class.
Mark McKnight led the Bulls with an eighth-place finish in the 125-pound division. Despite the positive results, UB head wrestling coach Jim Beichner still desires more from McKnight.
"He doesn't think he was completely successful and neither do we, and that's just the nature of somebody who wants to be good," Beichner said. "Mark didn't achieve what he wanted to there. He was seeded sixth and he finished eighth and he wrestled some good competitors in some close matches."
McKnight began the tournament on Friday as the sixth seed, and was victorious following his first two matches. A 5-1 defeat in the quarterfinals by Michigan's Mark Moos, the 16th-ranked wrestler in the nation according to the National Wrestling Coaches Association, ended McKnight's first day of competition.
On Saturday, McKnight was able to overcome the loss to Moos. He went on to defeat Augustana's Erin Granmass 9-7, but followed that win with a 6-4 loss in the sixth-wrestleback round to Jesse Miramontes of Cal State Fullerton.
Beichner, however, knows that the best wrestlers are able to overcome their small mistakes though experience.
"Fortunately at this time of year it's about learning, experience and fixing the small mistakes because we don't want the same thing to happen when it comes time for nationals," Beichner said.
Those small errors were what cost McKnight a shot at a higher place as he finished the tournament with a 6-3 loss to Arizona State's Jeremy Mendoza.
Besides McKnight, a handful of the less experienced wrestlers were able to do well for the Bulls. Both Mark Budd and Nate Rock placed in the top 12.
"This was one of his best outings as a young guy," Beichner said of Budd. "He's a red shirt sophomore, we thought he wrestled pretty well."
Budd began the tournament without a problem, as he earned a default win. He eventually fell 6-4 to Edinboro's Shawn Bunch, the seventh-ranked wrestler in the country at 133 pounds.
In the placing round, Budd came back to beat Justin Pearch of North Idaho 3-2 as well as Dan Appello from Brown, 4-0. In his final match of the tournament, Budd ultimately fell to Pittsburgh's Drew Headlee, 9-1.
Budd is set to face Edinboro's Bunch again this weekend in a rematch against Edinboro on Saturday. Beichner says he knows what Budd needs to do to reverse his losing trend versus Bunch.
"He has wrestled (Bunch) twice, both were close matches," Beichner said. "He's going to have to slow him down, tie him up, he's going to have to be physical, keep the match close and score at the end because that's where guys make mistakes, when there is that extra pressure."
Freshman Rock was another young wrestler who placed well for the Bulls. After struggling early this season, Rock has shown signs of breaking out of the freshman slump.
"He's starting to show competitiveness, confidence and you can see it in his eyes. You can see that he's capable of winning and he wants to win," said Beichner.
UB's Pat Lloyd also faced an Edinboro wrestler at the Las Vegas Invitational, although he posted somewhat disappointing results. Beichner said that it will be necessary for Lloyd to minimize his mistakes also in order to win against the same wrestler this Saturday.
"I'd like to think that Lloyd wasn't at the top of his game," Beichner said. "He was sick the week before, so I hope that was part of the reason but he has to minimize mistakes, and he has to get off bottom."
The Bulls will get a shot to come back against Edinboro in a dual meet at Jamestown Community College. The match on Saturday is set to start at 1 p.m.
