The wrestling team racked up two more wins to bring its win streak to nine consecutive matches. The Bison faced off against the Binghamton Bearcats on Feb. 10 at home in Davis Gym and against the West Point Black Knights on Feb. 12 on the road.

The Bison won eight of 10 bouts in the match against Binghamton. Jordan Gessner ’20 got things off to a strong start at 125 pounds by pinning his opponent in 5:32 minutes. Gessner was trailing in points at the time of the pin, tallying an important comeback victory. Joey Gould ’20 continued that momentum and won his match 6-2 at 133 pounds. Tyler Smith ’18 added to the excitement with an 18-3 technical fall.

Before the match, Victor Lopez ’17 was honored for garnering his 100th win on Feb. 4 against Sacred Heart. He continued his individual winning streak with a 7-0 decision at 157 pounds. Logan Kerin ’17 followed with a 4-0 decision at 165 pounds, succeeded by D.J. Hollingshead ’19 at 174 pounds, who pinned his opponent with only 1:50 minutes on the clock.

Tom Sleigh ’18 and Tyler Greene ’17 won the last two bouts of the evening at 197 and 285 pounds, respectively. Sleigh had a major decision of 10-0 and Greene won 8-5. The pair has been reliable throughout the season, solidifying team victories by closing out matches with individual wins. Their wins cemented the eighth-straight victory for the Bison, who beat the Bearcats by a final score of 33-7.

The Bison faced off against the Black Knights on Feb. 12 for a dual with considerably more drama than the Binghamton match. The most exciting match-up of the afternoon was between two nationally-ranked opponents —no. 19/12 Smith for the Orange and Blue and no. 15/16 Logan Everett of Army—at 141-pounds. Smith was able to come out victorious with a 14-10 score. His win was the first on the board for the Bison. Seth Hogue ’20 played off of the adrenaline from Smith’s match and won his own at 15-11, another high-scoring bout. Lopez continued to build momentum and pinned his opponent with 4:52 minutes on the clock.

After losing the next two weight classes, the Bison bounced back with wins in the 184, 197, and 285 weight classes. Garrett Hoffman ’20 won his match with a close 5-4 decision. He was followed up by Sleigh who came out strong to garner a major decision at 14-4. Sleigh’s win pushed the Bison ahead 19-16. Greene finished off the match with a 5-2 win to seal the 22-16 victory over Army.

“Our team is extremely resilient. Things were not going our way early, but some young guys stepped up and found a way to extend our winning streak to nine matches in a row. Although we did not perform our best, we still found a way to win the duel and win some key matchups,” Smith said.

Assistant coach Jim Gibson echoed Smith’s statement.

“This weekend was a great example of a team effort. When you have ten guys out there competing hard and taking care of their individual performances, good team results usually follow. With our last dual meet of the regular season being next Friday, we are still focused on finishing out the regular season with 10 consecutive wins,” Gibson said.

The Bison will be back in action for their last regular match-up at home in Davis Gym against Columbia on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. The team looks forward to hosting the EIWA Championships on March 3–4.