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We're in the home stretch for Wrestling as they begin a 3 match homestand to finish off their regular season; and they'll be looking to finish strong after a couple of disappointing losses to nationally ranked Ohio and Central Michigan.
Binghamton Bearcats (10-5, 6-3 EIWA)
All-Time Series: UB leads 19-8
Last Meeting: Binghamton won 24-12
Event Time: Friday February 12th, 2 PM, Alumni Arena
Coverage: Bull Run / ESPN 3
The Bearcats have been somewhat of a thorn in the side of Coach John Stutzman since his arrival as head coach three years ago. However, with a year of a lot of firsts it seems like this squad may be ready to finally take down Buffalo's in-state SUNY rival on the mat. However, Binghamton has been strong on the mat from top to bottom this year and it shows with their 10-5 record; the Bearcats are led by sophomore Steve Schneider who is ranked in the top 20 in the nation by several publications.
To beat the Bearcats, UB will need to come out energized and dictate the pace of each individual match, which they didn't do against CMU. UB will also need to work harder on their feet to get takedowns; they only had 1 heading into the 165 pound match against CMU and if the stat line is similar against Binghamton they team score won't be close.
Northern Illinois Huskies (6-8, 1-5 MAC)
All-Time Series: NIU leads 11-5
Last Meeting: NIU won 26-10
Event Time: Sunday February 14th, 2 PM, Alumni Arena
Coverage: Bull Run / ESPN 3
In the most recent Bulls Update video Coach Stutzman praised NIU as being one of the most talented teams from top to bottom in the conference, and he isn't off base when saying so. Just the other night the Huskies gave 5th ranked Missouri all they could handle right until the very end. The Huskies are led by 15th ranked Steve Bleise at 141 pounds and feature solid competitors at each weight class.
To pull out their second MAC win of the season UB will need to be on their toes and pushing the attack to the Huskies. The old saying is that the best defense is a good offense and in the sport of wrestling that rings true; if UB is on the offensive and not forced to wrestle from behind then they can beat both NIU and Binghamton to reach double digit wins for the 1st time since the 2003-2004 season.