The Binghamton wrestling team pushed its record at home to 3-0 with a 22-17 victory over American on Friday night. But the meet wasn’t without hiccups for the Bearcats, (10-5, 6-3 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) who found themselves in the grip of the Eagles (4-7, 0-5 EIWA) for much of the match.
Junior Jacob Nicholson picked up BU’s first win of the evening with a six-point injury default victory in the 133-pound matchup, but a pair of American victories in the 125- and 141-pound bouts put BU behind early, 7-6. In the 149-pound battle, freshman Jesse Dellavecchia escaped with a 1-0 decision victory to give Binghamton the edge for the second time, 9-7.
“When something unexpected happens you can’t let it bother you, you can’t let it keep you from doing what you’re trying to do,” BU head coach Matt Dernlan said. “And the guys stepped to it.”
But the middleweight matchups left Binghamton back in a hole, as 157-pound sophomore Vincent DePrez and 165-pound redshirt freshman Anthony DePrez gave up major decision and decision victories, respectively, to put the Eagles back on top, 14-9. BU captured the lead right back, however, in a decisive bout at 174. Jack McKeever, 28th-ranked senior, notched a six-point victory by disqualification, due to excessive stalling from AU sophomore Michael Eckhart in an attempt to control the match’s pace. Sophomore Steve Schneider — entering the 184-pound matchup with his team ahead, 15-14 — earned his 18th victory of the season against AU junior Jason Grimes to put Binghamton up by four, tallying nine team points in two matches.
“[AU] wanted to lose by decision, lose a close match, so we had to have even extra energy, more fight, battle through tough times to get where we wanted,” Dernlan said. “And for the guys to get two bonus points at 174 … and for Steve to continue to go out there and look to dominate — it was great.”
With the victor yet to be decided by the penultimate matchup, 197-pound freshman Mark Tracy earned a convincing major decision victory, 15-4, to push BU’s team lead to 22-14 and secure the match for the Bearcats. Along with clinching the match, Tracy’s victory on Friday was his seventh straight and the latest stop on the freshman’s uphill climb this season.
“He’s been fighting … but the biggest thing is he’s believing,” Dernlan said of Tracy. “He didn’t deviate when things started going wrong early in the season. For a freshman at 197, it’s never going to be easy. So he showed tremendous resolve the first two months of the season and showed a lot of belief.”
American captured a decision victory in the heavyweight round, but the Bearcats came out on top, 22-17. Along with locking an EIWA finish of .500 or better for Binghamton, the sixth conference win marks the most for BU since joining the conference in 2013. With three matches remaining before the EIWA championships in March, Dernlan hopes that his team can continue to build on its momentum.
“Once you get a taste of that, it gets contagious and then all of a sudden you get momentum,” Dernlan said. “And momentum becomes confidence and once you get confidence, a lot of good things can start happening.”
Binghamton is set to return to the mat on Friday at Buffalo. First match is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Alumni Arena in Buffalo, New York.