In a season filled with peaks and valleys, it was only fitting for the Buffalo Bulls wrestling team to conclude its 2007-2008 regular season with a tight 20-16 victory over the Binghamton Bearcats at Alumni Arena on Sunday afternoon.

The dual-meet was also Senior Day for the Bulls, as the program honored its seven seniors. Thus, poetic justice was served once again as the decisive victory for Buffalo came on the shoulders of senior 285-pounder Jeff Parker. The fifth-year co-captain scored a major decision over Mike Patterson by posting a 20-16 victory.

"It was a good match for me," Parker said. "We might not have wrestled as well as we wanted to but it was a good win for us and all the seniors."

Parker originally started his collegiate wrestling career at Binghamton before transferring to Buffalo after his freshman season.

"It was a good crowd so I wanted to put on a show," Parker said. "I worked awful hard so I wanted to let it all out."

The opening match of the dual-meet went in favor of the Bearcats (13-12), as Tyler Malmberg beat sophomore Dan Bishop in the 125-pound bout. This was followed by a pin-fall victory recorded by junior 133-pounder Joe Wilson that boosted UB (9-7-1) into the lead, up 6-3.

"That was really the difference between us winning and losing was Joe Wilson going out there and getting the pin," said Buffalo head coach Jim Beichner.

Binghamton then took the next three matches to go up 12-6. In this stretch, Buffalo's 141-pounder sophomore Andrew Stella lost to Anwar Goeres, 4-3, while senior Pat Lloyd was defeated by Nate Patterson, 4-1, in the 157-pound match. Also in the three-match skid, senior 149-pounder Ryan Needle lost in overtime to the 18th nationally ranked Kyle Fried, 2-1.

Buffalo halted the slump when senior John Cummings beat Brett Nelson, 1-0, in the 165 pound bout. Cummings was bumped up from his normal 157 pound weight class to replace the injured senior Scott Rendos, with Lloyd filling in for him at his regular spot.

"It was a hard shuffle to move the guys up but that's how we are going to finish the year," Beichner said. "We had injury problems again and our guys are dealing with it the best they can."

The Bearcats posted their biggest lead of the dual-meet after Josh Patterson recorded a 12-2 major decision over senior 174-pounder Mike Ragusa. But the Bulls responded in the next match with their own major decision as co-captain junior 184-pounder Mickey "Steel City" Moran defeated Anthony Esposito, 14-6.

The Bulls tied things up at 16 after freshman Jimmy Hamel posted a 4-1 victory over Corey Waite in the 197 pound bout, before UB eventually took the win after Parker's meet winning match.

"Not exactly the way I would've scripted it," Beichner said. "I would've liked to have won by 20 but it was great that it came down to a fifth-year senior captain as our two captains set a great pace for the team and did an awesome job."

The win snaps a three-game losing streak with the team also finishing the season with a 6-1-1 record in home dual-meets.

UB now moves on to the Mid-American Conference Championships which take place from March 8-9 in Kent, Ohio.