For the first time in 21 months, collegiate wrestling will return to the campus of Binghamton University.

Hoping to rebound from their two losses this past Sunday to Drexel and James Madison, the Bearcats will host their first home competition since Feb. 8, 2004, against Slippery Rock University on Thursday at the West Gym at 7 pm.

“We are all pretty pumped going in,” said freshman co-captain Chris Wade. “Everyone is happy being home and I don’t think anyone is nervous.”

“Not wrestling in a big setting may affect some of the guys performances,” said head coach Tony Robie. “My job is to eliminate the distractions and have them focus on wrestling.”

The Bearcats face a Slippery Rock team coming off a tough weekend where they dropped three matches to Maryland, Old Dominion and Edinboro. While little is known about Slippery Rock’s individual wrestlers, Coach Robie knows not to overlook them.

“They will come in scrappy and wrestle hard,” Robie said. “Their coach is a friend of mine and I know he will have them ready to compete, but I am confident we can win a handful of matches.”

Already depleted by injuries and a lack of depth, the competition will be a struggle, but a struggle the team thinks it can overcome.

“The season is a learning process,” Wade said. “If everyone gives 100 percent, I don’t see why we won’t do well.”