Nick Gwiazdowski, Justin Lister, Josh Patterson and Donald Vinson — each with portraits hoisted on Binghamton’s wrestling room wall — are BU’s only wrestlers to ever earn the title of Division I All-American. This weekend, senior 174-pounder Jack McKeever and 184-pound sophomore Steve Schneider will try to make room for two more portraits on that wall at the NCAA Championships in New York City.
But the Bearcats won’t attack this weekend any differently than they have attacked their regular season — ending with a 7-4 mark in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) as McKeever and Schneider ended with a combined record of 47-16.
“The hay is in the barn at this point,” BU head coach Matt Dernlan said on Monday going into the tournament. “If we’re trying to teach guys things this week, we haven’t done our job for the past 365 days. You don’t want to deviate — it’s all the clichés — what brought us here is what’s going to take us through this tournament. But also on the flip-side of that, we’re trying to get better at what we do.”
For McKeever, Thursday marked his second appearance in the NCAA Championship after qualifying for last year’s tournament as a junior. Losing in both rounds during his first bout at the NCAAs, McKeever walked into Thursday ready for redemption and a chance to end his career on a high note.
“For someone who’s never been there, its definitely an exciting opportunity, being there for the second time, I know what to expect going in,” McKeever said. “It’s a fun environment, I just got to remember to have fun out there.”
Schneider, representing Binghamton in his first NCAA tournament appearance, entered ready to stake his claim in a tough 184-pound bracket. Finishing in fifth place at the EIWA tournament, Schneider entered Madison Square Garden young, but confident.
“To be the best, you’ve got to train with the best and you’ve got to beat the best,” Schneider said. “It’s great experience when you get to wrestle the number-one guy. Even if you lose, just keep your head up and you’ve got to learn from your losses.”
Dernlan echoed Schneider’s confidence on Monday, praising the attitude — and noting the secret weapon — shared between the pair.
“These guys have the belief that they’re ready to have the best tournament of their life,” Dernlan said. “When you have that belief, you’re set up and prepared to do something special.”
In the first round of competition on Thursday, McKeever opened the day with a match against Nebraska junior Micah Barnes. After an even first three minutes, the Cornhusker managed an escape and a take-down on McKeever to make the match score 3-0. Winning the battle on the ground as well, Barnes posted a 4-0 decision victory to push McKeever to Thursday night’s consolation bracket. In the consolation round, McKeever is set to see Harvard sophomore Josef Johnson in a rematch of his EIWA consolation matchup. In the first meeting between the two, Johnson captured a 6-4 sudden death victory over McKeever to force him to the seventh-place match.
After falling, 6-1, to Navy senior Matthew Miller, Schneider was also set to wrestle the consolation bracket on Thursday night. Matched up against UNC redshirt senior Alex Utley, the sophomore’s second round appearance will also be a rematch from earlier this season, with Schneider topping Utley, 4-1, in BU’s match against the Tar Heels on Nov. 15. Results of these matches were not available at the time of publication.
For complete coverage of McKeever’s and Schneider’s performance at the NCAA Championships, visit bupipedream.com/sports.