Entering the fifth match of Friday’s meet trailing by 12-3, the Binghamton wrestling team found itself in a familiar hole early against Buffalo.
But on their senior night, the Bearcats (7-10, 4-4 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) refused to be silenced. They won six consecutive matches to take the Bulls (5-13, 0-7 Mid-American) by the horns, 24-12.
“It’s a testament to the guys just continuing to believe, continuing to fight,” BU head coach Matt Dernlan said. “And this is a big one because this is more than just a wrestling match tonight.”
BU’s 21-0 run was its largest of the season, as the team sent graduating seniors 125-pound David White, 197-pound Caleb Wallace and No. 22 heavyweight Tyler Deuel off from the West Gym with a team victory. Wallace and Deuel both secured victories of their own by way of major decision and technical fall, respectively.
“It felt great for the team,” Wallace said. “We’ve had a rough year and beating another rival in New York state was good.”
Falling behind early after a pair of opening Buffalo wins, 141-pound redshirt sophomore Dylan Caruana provided Binghamton the spark it needed with a final-second decision victory over redshirt freshman Colt Cotten to put BU on the board, 9-3.
One match later, freshman Vincent DePrez took care of his opponent in the 157 bout and the Bearcats never looked back. Freshman Steve Schneider shut out his competitor on the mat in the 174-pound matchup. At 184, No. 33-ranked junior Jack McKeever also clawed his way back to victory, taking a 3-1 decision win over redshirt freshman Joe Ariola to give the Bearcats their first lead of the night, 15-12.
Struggling last weekend on the road against George Mason and American, Dernlan felt that Friday’s performance showed a significant improvement in the problem areas that plagued BU last week.
“Our critical areas are scoring takedowns,” Dernlan said. “We blew them out in the take down game … We dominated them on riding time.”
Two dominant performances by Wallace and Deuel later, and Binghamton ended its 2014-15 home campaign with a victory. The win itself was impressive for the team, but Dernlan sees the senior trio as much more than a few good wrestlers. White, Wallace and Deuel were all part of Dernlan’s integration into BU after he took the helm from Pat Popolizio in 2012, and the current head coach praised the character and toughness of his seniors.
“Those guys had a tougher job than guys that we recruited because they had to buy into one system, and then, they got a new head coach and have to buy into a completely different system,” Dernlan said. “Since day one, all three of those guys have done that, and I can’t be prouder of the way they’ve competed and represented our University.”
Just this season, the three share a combined 51-31 record, with both White and Deuel earning NCAA rankings along the way. Wallace, faced with the task of filling three-time NCAA-qualifying Cody Reed’s spot at the 197-pound class this season, has also impressed. His 11-1 victory on Friday pushed his record on the season to 12-13.
Up next for Binghamton are its last dual matches of the season. The Bearcats face Bucknell on Friday and non-conference rival Bloomsburg on Sunday. Sitting with a 4-4 record in conference play, Friday’s contest will determine whether the Bearcats enter the EIWA Championships next month above or below the .500 mark. Last season, BU entered with a .222 conference winning percentage.
First whistle against Bucknell is set for 7 p.m. on Friday at the Gerhard Fieldhouse in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.