It’s been a rocky road for the young Binghamton University wrestling team. Even though it has had its struggles, the team has begun to develop.

The Bearcats (9-12) have been up and down all year, and are currently riding a five-game slide. While it would be easy to dismiss the Bearcats as another average team, it’s important to look behind the wins and losses to see what’s really happening.

Over their last eight matches, of which Binghamton has lost seven, the team has faced two ranked opponents and two opponents with excellent records (Virginia Tech and American University). The Bearcats have had one match at home and also had one match in which they lost in the last bout.

“I think we’ve competed pretty well,” said head coach Pat Popolizio. “We’ve wrestled a lot of great competition, and we’ve been learning from our experiences and mistakes we’ve made. As the year goes on, they improve and get better and better, and that’s what we’re shooting for right now. I think we’re still learning how to compete at a higher level.”

What is clear is that while the team has performed very poorly against the top competition, it has never gotten discouraged.

After a 37-3 loss to No. 19 Hofstra, BU went out the next day and swept three matches at the Princeton Quads.

Following their 46- (-1) drubbing at the hands of No. 21 Old Dominion, the Bearcats beat Drexel in their next match of the day. Even at the very beginning of the year, BU faced an impossible task against No. 1 Iowa, taking a 45-0 loss.

As it seems usual now, that loss was followed by a 31-9 win over Brown. This phenomenon of following a bad loss with a strong win is not lost on coach Popolizio.

“These guys know how to rebound,” he said. “We’ve practiced, we train hard and we’re competing with the best teams in the country. They know that, that’s one thing they understand, that we’re up against a high level of competition.”

This resiliency is important to see, especially in such a young team. Over two-thirds of the team is composed of underclassmen, making this a team that is looking to the future as much as it is focusing on the present.

“Obviously we’re focusing on this season,” Popolizio said. “But I know every week is to our advantage because we have more time to work on things, and keeping guys motivated to want to get better.”

Without a doubt the team’s greatest asset this year has been 184-pound junior Josh Patterson. Ranked No. 8 in the nation for his weight class in the latest InterMat rankings, Patterson has been a steady force for the Bearcats. He is 33-4 on the year, including 19-2 in dual matches. He has recorded 17 pins, which according to a Binghamton University press release, makes him tied for the school record for most pins in a year.

“He sets the tone in a lot of ways,” Popolizio said. “He wrestles with a lot of confidence, and I’m hoping that rubs off on some of the other guys, and they understand what winning at a high level is about, could perceive him do it. We need more of that.”

So far, the Bearcats have a middling record. However, it is important to keep this season in perspective. The team is very young and still developing. Popolizio has noted that he wants to see more attitude from his team when it is wrestling, something that should come with experience. But with shining star Josh Patterson and a strong core of young players (such as 23-4 sophomore Matthew Kaylor), this team should be able to take many lessons from their difficult schedule this year to become a force to be reckoned with over the coming years.