On Saturday evening, the Binghamton wrestling team hosted Princeton in an Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) dual meet after a senior day celebration, which recognized six senior Bearcats. Three BU wrestlers picked up victories, and despite competing early on in the dual, the hosts failed to keep up and were soundly defeated by the Tigers 28-10.

“I don’t think we competed hard,” said Binghamton head coach Kyle Borshoff. “It was a disappointing dual meet for us. I think that we were passive, even the matches that we won.”

Although Binghamton (4-11, 3-4 EIWA) went down 4-0 early after dropping the initial 125-pound bout, the team picked up traction in the second bout of the day. Redshirt senior Anthony Sobotker battled in the 133-pound weight class, and the Bearcat secured an 11-3 major decision over his Princeton (3-9, 1-3 EIWA) opponent. During the bout, Sobotker maintained control of his opponent and scored a reversal. This allowed BU to tie the score up at 4-4 heading into the next bout.

“We’ve got to work on the stuff we got beat on tonight,” Borshoff said. “Sobotker getting back on the mat, putting the guy on his back was nice to see.”

Although the Bearcats dropped the following 141-pound bout, this made way for graduate student Michael Zarif to earn Binghamton’s second win of the day at 149 pounds. Although Zarif managed an early takedown to put himself in the lead, the bout would come down to the wire. However, the graduate student pulled through, earning the victory 7-6 and knotting up the score again at seven points apiece.

“We were letting Princeton’s guys control the pace,” Borshoff said. “We’re gonna have to do better from an effort standpoint as we close out the year.”

Despite going back-and-forth at the start of the dual, BU dropped the next three bouts after Zarif’s victory, including a loss by pin in the 165-pound match. This three-bout skid caused the Bearcats to fall behind 19-7 in the meet. Binghamton found itself down 12 points with only three bouts remaining, needing multiple major decisions or pin-falls to make a comeback. However, the Bearcats failed to recover from the deficit.

“Overall, I think that we competed very hard in our past few matches, and we didn’t compete hard tonight,” Borshoff said. “That’s why the score ended up the way it did.”

Despite trailing, BU managed one more victory during the meet. Redshirt junior Jacob Nolan picked up the Bearcats’ final win of the day in the 184-pound matchup. The redshirt junior managed a six-point move to secure an 8-3 decision and added three points to the team’s total. After Nolan’s victory, BU would lose both the 197-pound bout by fall, and the 285-pound bout by decision as it dropped the dual meet to Princeton 28-10.

“[Nolan] got a nice win,” Borshoff said. “I just want to see us compete hard … We have to wrestle hard. We can’t be losing close matches, and we can’t be losing close matches when we’re out there.”

Binghamton will return to action against Cornell on Friday, Feb. 10. First bout is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Hilton High School in Hilton, New York.