The Binghamton wrestling team split Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association meets this past Saturday with a dominant 36-4 dual win at Franklin & Marshall and a 23-10 loss at Drexel. After winning nine of 10 duels against the Diplomats, the Bearcats won just three of 10 duels against the Dragons.

“I think we had a bit of a down performance,” said Binghamton head coach Kyle Borshoff. “I think we are missing some effort in some of our closer matches, and we need to do a better job of closing out matches where we’re ahead and sealing the deal at the end, late in matches.”

Binghamton (5-7, 3-2 EIWA) began Saturday’s slate at noon with a dual against Franklin & Martin (1-2, 0-1 EIWA). Junior Carter Baer, who was named the No. 33 wrestler in the Intermat poll for the 165-pound class, began his day with a 10-4 victory by decision. No. 17 graduate student Cory Day picked up another victory for BU with a team-leading ninth pin.

“[Baer’s] a great wrestler, he’s doing a really nice job,” Borshoff said. “Progressively getting better every week, and we’re looking for him to have a strong end to the season and make an appearance at the NCAA championship this year, and that’s a nice starting goal for him to have to look forward to.”

Adding on for Binghamton’s 9-1 rout of the Diplomats were No. 25 junior Will Ebert and No. 33 sophomore Carson Wagner, who picked up wins in the 184- and 125-pound weight classes respectively. Rounding it out for the Bearcats was sophomore Roberto Padilla, who earned his first dual win as a Bearcat, defeating his 174-pound opponent in an 8-1 decision.

“[Back-to-back matchups] need to not have an impact,” Borshoff said. “It’s something that we need to do when we are competing … it’s something that we need to be prepared for, but I don’t know if it had an impact or not [on Saturday]. It’s hard to say.”

The Bearcats continued their day with a matchup at Drexel (5-8, 1-1 EIWA) at 6 p.m., in which they struggled, going 3-7 in the duel. Senior Ivan Garcia led the way for BU, earning his second victory of the day, 4-1, by an overtime takedown for his fourth consecutive win.

“I think the team might have overlooked Drexel a little bit,” Borshoff said. “Those guys are tough, the Drexel team wrestled like it was a street fight and our guys just didn’t put 100 percent effort in.”

Day also moved to 2-0 on the day with a 9-0 major decision victory, earning a bonus point for BU. Baer was the only other BU wrestler to go 2-0 on Saturday, which he accomplished with a 2-1 sudden victory by decision in the first period of overtime. With the loss to Drexel, Binghamton maintained its second-place position in the EIWA Independence Division.

“The same thing we focus on every week — figuring out ways to win matches against good teams,” Borshoff said. “We stay the course, we stay consistent and consistency is what is most important in this sport to prevent big ups and downs.”

The Bearcats’ upcoming slate begins with a doubleheader with their first dual against Harvard on Saturday, Jan. 25. The first bouts will be at 2 p.m. at the Malkin Athletic Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Bearcats will then take on Brown at 7:30 p.m. at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, Rhode Island.