Facing No. 17 Cornell, a strong Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) opponent, the Binghamton wrestling team was defeated in a dual meet this past weekend. Redshirt sophomore Lou DePrez and redshirt sophomore Joe Doyle were the lone winners for Binghamton during the meet and redshirt sophomore Zack Trampe took a top opponent to extra time.

“They converted a very high percentage of their leg attacks and takedowns,” said Binghamton head coach Kyle Borshoff. “We gotta work on moving our feet. I think some of our guys were winning matches, [and then] they started thinking about winning and losing instead of just thinking about continuing moving their feet and continuing to be active and aggressive, and that cost both [senior Anthony] Sparacio and [freshman Tomasso] Frezza their matches.”

The final bout was arguably the most anticipated, featuring BU’s No. 9 Trampe against No. 4 Cornell senior Chas Tucker. Trampe, who missed a portion of the season due to injury, entered the bout undefeated. At the end of regulation, he executed a strong takedown to tie the match and send it to overtime at 6-6, but Tucker closed it out with a takedown to win 8-6. The win improved Tucker’s overall record to 26-0 on the season and was Trampe’s first loss of the season, putting his record at 8-1.

“You never have a ‘good’ loss, but [the match] should help build [Trampe]’s confidence to realize he’s right there with the best guys in the country,” Borshoff said.

The dual meet started at 141 pounds, with Sparacio competing against Cornell senior Noah Baughman. Sparacio led early, but Baughman secured the victory, ending the match with a takedown and a 4-3 decision. At 184, No. 5 DePrez earned a dominating major decision against Cornell freshman Jonathan Loew to give the Bearcats their first win of the day. The victory marked his 21st of the season, putting him at an overall record of 21-5 and improving his dual meet record to 9-2.

“DePrez did great, he dominated that match,” Borshoff said.“I think there’s a pretty good chance [DePrez]’s going to end up at the one seed at our conference championships.”

Doyle also had a strong performance at 285, going against Cornell sophomore Seth Janney to win 11-2, securing his 10th dual win of the season and putting his overall record at 16-11.

“Doyle was great today,” Borshoff said. “He wrestled the complete match, seven minutes from start to finish, and really dominated his guy.”

With the match already decided in Cornell’s favor, Trampe took to the mat in the final bout of the day, where he was defeated in overtime by Tucker. The teams finished with a final score of 32-8 in favor of the Big Red.

The Bearcats have one more dual meet against Buffalo before they travel to Lehigh for the EIWA Championships in March. Despite dealing with several injuries throughout the season, the team appears to be on solid ground with the postseason nearing.

“I think we’re about three weeks away from being ready,” Borshoff said.

The Bearcats’ match against Buffalo will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21 at Alumni Arena in Amherst, New York.