2008 Woodie Awards
Wrestling wins final two home matches of season
By Travis Pickens
Rocket Contributor
Issue date: 2/17/06 Section: Sports
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Leading its biggest rival, the University at Buffalo, 18-17, with one match to go in its final home meet, Matt Burkholder was put in a do-or-die situation.
In front of a raucous home crowd, Burkholder recorded a takedown of Buffalo's Harold Sherrell in overtime for a 3-1 win, giving SRU a 21-17 victory. The win, the first for SRU against Buffalo since 1998-99, gives the Rock a 10-9 lead in the all-time series.
"I was really nervous, but about 20 seconds before I went out there this calmness came over me," Burkholder said. "I knew I had to do it for everybody on the team. I had to get the win and seal the victory."
Sherrell came into the match ranked No. 14 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, but couldn't get a point against Burkholder until the final round.
"He's a tough guy," Burkholder said of Sherrell. "I knew going into the match he was going to be really tough."
Buffalo coach Jim Beichner said he knew SRU (14-9) would be excited for its last meet, but never expected to lose.
"We felt that this was a meet that we could come in here and dominate and we didn't," Beichner said. "I knew (SRU) would wrestle with emotion because this was their last meet and they did. They went out there and won."
To describe the setting as emotional would be an understatement. With SRU down, 13-9, Jerimiah Frederick's pin of Mike Ragusa put the Rock ahead, 15-13. Charlie Pienaar increased the lead to 18-13 with his 1-0 decision before the Bulls (9-6) cut the lead to one, 18-17, thanks to Kyle Cerminara's 14-2 win over Andrew Joseph in the 197-pound bout. Cerminara was ranked No. 4 according to the NWCA.
"No matter the decision of the 197-pound match before that, Matt (Burkholder) had to win for us to win this meet," SRU coach Derek DelPorto said.
Just as Thursday's meet came down to the final match, so did Saturday's. The Rock knocked off Pennsylvania State Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament runner-up Bloomsburg, 18-17.
The deciding factor in the meet, Jason Cardillo, knocked off Frank Beasley, 10-6, to pick up his 100th win. Cardillo said getting the win for the team was all that mattered.
"That's the most important thing right there; the team got the win," Cardillo said.
The meet was back-and-forth all morning. After battling back from a 6-0 deficit, Shawn Baglio knocked off George Hickman for the second time in as many weeks to put the Rock ahead, 15-14. Gerald Christian followed Baglio, but fell behind early and lost to Aric Fuhrman, 8-2, giving the lead back to Bloomsburg, 17-15. Cardillo then stepped up and earned the deciding points.
"It came down to me just like we planned and I came through," Cardillo said. "I didn't want to let them down."
The Rock is idle until the East Regional Tournament on March 4 at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina.
