With the regular season slowly coming to an end, the Binghamton University wrestling team is set to face American University this Friday in the first of four dual meets remaining before the Colonial Athletic Association Championship on March 3. As they prepare, the Bearcats now have another landmark to celebrate in an already record-breaking season, as the team climbed to the 18th ranking in this week’s NWCA/USA Today Division I Team Coaches Poll.

“I think it is a pretty good accomplishment,” BU head coach Pat Popolizio said. “But we can keep on improving by continuing to win. Our goal is to be a top-15 team this year at the national tournament so we will keep on working hard.”

The Bearcats (12-3) suffered a setback at Stillwater last Sunday, however, when they were convincingly defeated by the nation’s top-ranked team, Oklahoma State University. Binghamton managed to win just one of the 10 matches against the Cowboys before falling by a final score of 35-3.

The solitary BU win came at the hands of 184-pound junior Nate Schiedel over OSU’s Chris McNeil, 2-0.

157-pound senior Justin Lister fell to No. 13 Albert White by two points, dropping Lister’s rank four places to 10th.

Fourth-ranked 149-pound junior Donnie Vinson was also beaten for the first time in a dual by second-ranked Jamal Parks.

“It is a reality check,” Popolizio said. “They are the No. 1 team in the country. We need to re-evaluate each individual and things that they need to work on. We are not far off. I know the score didn’t show that, but we need to work on improving and technically getting better. But it was a great experience to go out there and compete in that kind of setting.”

Popolizio believes that the loss to Oklahoma State could be a learning curve for his team.

“In our sport the only way to learn is by getting beat,” he said. “It motivates you when you win but more importantly you learn from your losses. That is something we will have to do.”

And the team did just that later that same day, as the Bearcats bounced back from the defeat against Oklahoma State to crush Bucknell University, 36-6. After dropping the first match at 125 pounds, BU won eight of the remaining nine, with pins by Vinson and 174-pound freshman Caleb Wallace.

When the team takes on American University (4-6) this Friday, Popolizio will come face-to-face with the team where he coached seven NCAA qualifiers and the school’s first All-American. Popolizio will also face off against former teammate Teague Moore, who is in his first year as head coach at American.

“We worked together at Oklahoma State when I was in college, so he was a former teammate of mine,” said Popolizio, excited by the upcoming encounter against Moore. “We still have a good relationship. It is exciting especially because when you are facing a former teammate as coaches, it is extra motivation to beat him.”

The Eagles have a solid record on the road in dual meets, winning three of the four trips away from Washington D.C. The BU head coach fully expects a tough encounter against the team that finished fifth at the 2011 NCAA Championship.

“American is a very good team,” Popolizio said. “What that means is that they [have] very good individuals. If all their guys wrestle well, they can be really up there in the country. So our team has got to be ready for that matchup.”

With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, Popolizio is looking for a solid run of form from his team leading up to the NCAA Championships.

“We are at the time of the year where everybody has to wrestle,” he said. “We need to finish the season strong, and we need momentum going into the national tournament. So all the starters will get matches under their belts from now until the national tournament.”

Action is set to take place at 7 p.m. tonight in the West Gym.