After being absent since Nov. 23 due to injury, redshirt sophomore Zack Trampe returned to the Binghamton wrestling team’s lineup Saturday night against American University. In the second period of the bout, he earned a win by fall over his opponent. Ultimately, the Bearcats (3-9) couldn’t win the dual meet, but the team returned to full health in the loss.

“Trampe is a shot in the arm that we’re going to need going forward,” said Binghamton head coach Kyle Borshoff. “I’m excited to have him there for the next few weeks leading up to the conference tournament.”

The match started at 149 pounds, and American (3-6) earned decisions in the first four bouts in the 18-15 loss for BU.

“They had more effort than we did, and they won because of it,” Borshoff said. “When you lose every close match in a dual meet, you usually lose the dual meet, and that’s all about effort … These guys work really hard every day in practice, and if they wrestle in these matches like they do in practice, then we have a way different result.”

At 184, No. 5 redshirt sophomore Lou DePrez earned Binghamton’s first win of the day over No. 23 redshirt junior Tanner Harvey. Freshman Sam DePrez earned his second-consecutive dual win immediately following, and redshirt sophomore Joe Doyle earned a 7-1 decision in the heavyweight class.

With the final three bouts of the match starting at 125, freshman Tomasso Frezza was defeated, followed by Trampe’s pin that tied the match at 15. Senior Anthony Sparacio came out for the final bout of the day, but was defeated in a 3-2 decision, giving American the three points needed to win the match 18-15.

Injuries have been a major issue for the team this season, with all three returning NCAA qualifiers, Lou DePrez, Trampe and Sparacio, missing meets due to injury. However, the three are now all back in the lineup, in addition to redshirt sophomore Aidan Monteverdi.

“It’s frustrating because we never got to a point where we can have momentum with a healthy team — today was the first day that we’ve had everyone healthy,” Borshoff said. “There’s a few weight classes right now that we still have to figure out who our starter is because no one has given us a clear-cut indication that they want to be the starter, and I think a lot of that is because we haven’t been healthy.”

Binghamton has just three duals remaining before the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships in March, but the team has time to regroup entering the most pivotal stretch of the season.

“Our dual meet season has not been good, so that’s unfortunate, but at the end of the day, every single guy in the lineup gets to wrestle at the EIWA Championships — every single guy gets a shot at going to the national tournament,” Borshoff said. “At this point, I’m really totally unconcerned with our dual meet season. I need to make sure we’re ready to go when we step on the mats at Lehigh at the EIWA Championships because it would be disappointing if [we] don’t send a handful of guys to the NCAA [Championships] this season.”

Next up for the Bearcats is a dual against Bucknell on Saturday, Feb. 8. The match is set to begin at 1 p.m. at the Davis Gym in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.