Bulls Fall to #6 Central Michigan, 35-3

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo wrestling team fell to sixth nationally-ranked Central Michigan, 35-3, in a Mid-American Conference match on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Arena. The Chippewas earned victories in nine of the 10 bouts with two one-point decisions.

Dan Bishop Prior to the dual, the Bulls honored seniors Dan Bishop, Andrew Stella and Jason Weber as part of Senior Day.

In his final match at Alumni Arena, Bishop battled ninth nationally-ranked Matt Steintrager of CMU. Trailing 3-1 at the start of the second period, Bishop trimmed Steintrager's lead to 3-2 off an early escape. With Steintrager choosing down to start the third, Bishop rode the ninth-ranked wrestler. Looking to break down Steintrager, Bishop allowed him to reach his feet only to slam him back to the mat. Steintrager managed to add to his two-point lead late in the third to walk away with a 6-3 close decision.

Following their opening decision at 125, Central Michigan (15-2, 3-0 MAC) recorded decisions at 133 and 141. In the 149-pound bout, the Chippewas scored a technical fall to extend their lead to 14-0.

At 157, Stella came out on the attack against 14th nationally-ranked Steve Brown of Central Michigan. Within the first minute of action, Stella took Brown to the mat for the first point of the bout. Throughout the period, Brown managed to close the gap, 3-2. Holding a one-point advantage to start the second period, Brown extended his lead to a four-point edge. At the buzzer, Stella scored an escape to cut Brown's lead to 6-3. In the down position for the third, Stella ripped away from Brown's grasp to pull within two. Despite collecting a point at the end due to stalling by Brown, Stella fell by decision, 6-5.

The Chippewas continued their win streak, earning a fall at 165 followed by a technical fall at 174 to take a 28-0 lead.

Central Michigan's win streak was snapped at 184 as redshirt freshman Josh Peters captured a 4-1 decision over the Chippewas' Dillon Kern. Peters jumped out to a 2-0 lead at the start of the first period. Following a scoreless second period, Kern cut Peters' lead in half, 2-1 off an escape from the bottom. Tirelessly working Kern, Peters scored a takedown to seal the 4-1 decision over Kern, handing Buffalo its first decision of the day.

Junior Jimmy Hamel came close to recording the Bulls' second victory of the dual at 197. Facing a three-point deficit to start the third period, Hamel reversed CMU's Eric Simaz to pull within one. After an escape by Simaz and a takedown by Hamel the bout was tied up at 4-4 with 1:20 remaining in the contest. Simaz was able to escape Hamel's grasp for a 5-4 lead, which he was able to hang on to for the decision.

Making his final appearance at Alumni Arena in the 285-pound weight class was Weber. In the heavyweight bout, the senior fell to third nationally-ranked Jarod Trice of Central Michigan, 19-7.

"With a full lineup, Central Michigan is easily a top-five team in the nation. I feel in some weight classes, we were out-manned and in others we were aggressive," said head coach Jim Beichner. "Before getting this one out of our heads, we are going to have to learn a lot from this loss as we will face them in the MAC [Mid-American Conference] championships in about a month."

The Bulls (8-7-1, 1-3 MAC) close out their MAC dual schedule as they travel to Northern Illinois on Sunday, February 21 at 2:00 pm.