The Ohio wrestling team is riding an eight-meet winning streak heading into Saturday's meet against Buffalo, and coach Joel Greenlee does not care.
I don't pay a lot of attention to if we've beaten them eight times in a row or two times or if we've lost to them five times
he said. You can say Central's our rival or Kent's our rival...really I don't like anybody and I don't want to lose to anybody. I don't hold a lot of stock in the streak - really what's done is done; we have to go out with what we have now and win. We can't rely on what's happened in the past.
The Bulls (5-3, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) are led by a trio of ranked wrestlers: No. 13 Mark Budd at 133 pounds, No. 5 Kyle Cerminara at 197 pounds, and No. 15 Harold Sherrell at heavyweight in the NWCA/InterMat Division I Poll.
It will be familiar territory for the Bobcats (6-7, 1-1 MAC), who saw a handful of Buffalo's wrestlers in their season-opening tournament back on Nov. 12.
Included in the rematches is 197-pound wrestler Larry Reichard who lost his match to Buffalo's Cerminara, 7-5, at the Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Classic. However, Reichard said he has changed for the better since that meeting.
I feel like I've come a long way since Brockport he said. I just have more confidence in the way I wrestle and in my shots. I feel like I hit my shots more often which makes me shoot more allowing me to get more takedowns.
Cerminara is the only undefeated 197-pound wrestler in Division I, having amassed a 30-0 record this season, and Greenlee respects his abilities.
If (Cerminara) gets on a roll and scores five or six points
oh boy
he said, but if he scores a couple
and you score a couple
all of a sudden he's frustrated
and he'll close down a bit.
Wrestling one of what Greenlee called a crucial match for the Bobcats is 141-pound wrestler Albert Madsen, who knows bonus points will be vital to Ohio's success. If I go in knowing I don't have a ranked guy
I'm trying for bonus points - major decisions
technical falls
even pins - to try to balance out what their ranked guys can do
