In what is expected to be the final match of Slippery Rock wrestling history, the Rock grapplers came out as hungry underdogs and gave the Bulls more than they could handle.
The Rock wrestling team is one of seven programs that the school is planning on cutting at the end of the year as a result of lack of funding. With nothing left to lose, Slippery Rock upset the Bulls in Morrow Field house 21-17.
"We were upset by a team that was fighting for their lives," said Buffalo head coach Jim Beichner. "We lost a match we shouldn't have. They wrestled desperate."
The only high point of the night for Buffalo came as All-American Kyle Cerminara obtained his 51st career dual-meet victory. Cerminara beat his opponent Andrew Joseph by a major decision score of 14-2, improving his record to 36-1 on the season and breaking Bruce Hadsell's record of 50 from 1978.
Cerminara said that it was difficult to enjoy his record-breaking performance after the team dropped a match that he felt it should have won.
"I was kind of overshadowed by our team losing," Cerminara said. "I don't think our guys wrestled with enough heart. They just beat us."
Thursday night's match started with a Buffalo loss at 125 pounds as freshman Eric Piedimonte was beaten 5-4 by Chris Clarke. The match was Piedimonte's first outing of the season for the Bulls. He is the third grappler to fill the weight class this season. The team has been forced to forfeit in the 125-pound division in four of its last seven dual meets this season. However, Biechner said that Piedimonte is expected stay in the slot for the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
At 133 pounds, junior Mark Budd easily beat Sal Lascari 13-4, giving the Bulls the first of two major decisions on the night. Following Budd's 34th win of the season, senior Cliff Smith was pinned by David Pienaar at 2:26 in the 141-pound weight class.
Junior Dana Gingerich then picked up an 8-4 decision over Shawn Baglio in the 149-pound match-up and junior John Cummings won in overtime at 157 pounds, beating Gerald Christian 4-3 and making the team score 10-9 in favor of Buffalo.
Sophomore Mickey Moran then picked up a win at 165 pounds as he downed Jason Cardillo 3-2. The victory improved Moran's record to 26-7 on the season.
After the win at 165 pounds, things started to go downhill for the Bulls. At 174 pounds, sophomore Mike Ragusa was pinned at 3:29 by Jerimiah Frederick and senior Garrett Hicks lost 1-0 to at 184 pounds to Charlie Pienaar. Hicks went into the match-up as the favorite after beating Pienaar 3-0 last season when the Bulls soundly beat the Rock 29-6.
Cerminara said that giving up two pins in one match is unacceptable.
"We gave up two pins and we should never do that against any team," Cerminara said. "They came out with more heart than we did."
Hicks' loss lead into Cerminara's major decision victory, giving the Bulls four more team points and making the team score 18-17 in favor of the Rock going into the heavyweight match.
The final match featured Buffalo senior Harold Sherrell and Mark Buckholder. The two grapplers took the fight down to the wire but Buckholder came out with a 3-1 overtime win. The loss dropped Sherrell's record to 32-7 on the season and solidified the four-point victory for the Rock.
The unexpected team loss comes at a pivotal time for the Bulls as they head into the MAC tournament. Cerminara said that he hopes to see better performances out of his teammates during playoff time.
"Honestly, if they aren't ready, there is nothing I can do for them," Cerminara said. "If they don't have the guts, it's their own fault. They need to realize this is an opportunity of a lifetime and they need to start believing in themselves again."
The MAC tournament will serve as a challenge for Cerminara as well. He will most likely be seated second behind Wynn Michalak of Central Michigan. Michalak is not only the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the MAC, but he is also the No 1 ranked wrestler in the country.
Cerminara faced the top-seeded Michalak once this season and received his only loss of the year.
"This time I'm going to be more aggressive," Cerminara said. "I'm going to score more points early and beat him bad. I'm expecting to win."
Beichner said that the loss to the Rock is something his wrestlers will have to bounce back from quickly in order to make a run at achieving All-American status.
"We are going to prepare the same way we always have," Beichner said about the postseason. "We are better than that. We have a group of guys that are looking to become All-Americans and maybe even a national champion."
The Bulls will have two weeks to prepare before the MAC tournament, which will take place March 3 and 4 at Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Ill.
