With one contest remaining until the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships in March, the Binghamton wrestling team saw Bulls and Bears against Buffalo and Brown this weekend. Following a 24-12 loss to the Bulls (10-8, 2-5 Mid-American) on Friday night, the Bearcats (11-6, 7-3 EIWA) closed the weekend with a 30-6 victory against Brown (4-10, 2-7 EIWA) on Saturday.
While Binghamton managed to finish the weekend with a winning result, the team opened with a tumble. BU trailed, 18-0, through four matches at Buffalo before 157-pound sophomore Vincent DePrez picked up a decision victory to put the Bearcats on the board, 18-3. Redshirt freshman Anthony DePrez, senior Jack McKeever and sophomore Steve Schneider each picked up decision victories at the 165, 174 and 184-pound slots, respectively, but the effort was no match against the Bulls. The Bearcats dropped the remaining two matchups in the 197-pound and heavyweight rounds on their way to a 24-12 loss — their first to Buffalo under BU head coach Matt Dernlan.
“This time of year you can’t afford to have a slip, you can’t afford to have a bad night,” Dernlan said. “You have a bad night, this time in the season, that means your season’s over pretty quick. Fortunately, (Friday) didn’t count [toward BU’s EIWA record] … but in three weeks it’s really going to matter.”
Against EIWA foe Brown on Saturday, the Bearcats brought a postseason effort from the start, opening up with a 12-0 lead. In the upperweight division, McKeever and Schneider ended the weekend a perfect 2-0, with the latter sealing the match for BU with a late pin to push the lead to 21-6. Freshman 197-pounder Mark Tracy also picked up a decision victory on Saturday — following a loss at Buffalo which ended his match winning streak at seven — before BU collected a forfeit in the heavyweight bout to win the day, 30-6.
Saturday’s victory kept the Bearcats a perfect 4-0 at home on the season and as the year comes to a close, the duel was a strong end to a turbulent 24 hours.
“The way we wrestled (Saturday) is who we want to be, that’s who our reputation is,” Dernlan said. “We want to go out there, score points … so we showed we’re capable of that. If we’re not prepared, like we weren’t [against Buffalo] it’s not going to matter. We got to bring that added sense of urgency.”
Binghamton is set to close its regular season on Friday in a critical match against EIWA rival Bucknell. Not only will the meet give the Bearcats a chance to go undefeated at home in 2016, but a win would also be crucial for BU’s seeding heading into the conference tournament. As the only team to knock off Bucknell in the EIWA last season, Binghamton will look to capture its second-straight match victory over the Bison on its senior night.
“If we want to get something, we’re going to have to take it,” Dernlan said. “The great thing about our conference is that it teaches you that if you’re going to score and you’re going to get your hand raised, you’re going to have to earn it and you’re going to have to fight for it.”
Binghamton is set to host Bucknell on Friday night in the West Gym. First match is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Vestal, New York.