The 100-win plateau is a special mark for any collegiate wrestler, one that signifies sustained excellence throughout an entire four-year career. So if a wrestler wins just seven matches in his freshman campaign, reaching 100 career wins might seem impossible. But for University at Buffalo senior captain Mark Budd (Orrville, OH/Orrville), that is exactly what happened. After struggling to make an impact early in his career, the Orrville, Ohio native has developed into one of the best 133-pound wrestlers in the nation. On February 17, Budd joined Kyle Cerminara, Gary Cooper and Josh Slate in the 100-win club at Buffalo when he defeated Rob Slavin of Binghamton by technical fall 20-5. ³When I got here, I expected to win but it never really crossed my mind (winning 100 career matches). It¹s an honor to be on that list of guys who have won 100,² Budd said of the accomplishment. As a freshman in the 2002-03 season, Mark Budd competed in the 125-pound weight class, earning just a 7-9 record. The following season was a transitional year for Budd, as he moved up to a more natural weight of 133 pounds and also redshirted. After struggling to a 13-14 mark out of the gate to begin 2004-05, Budd finished the season on a high, winning 10 of his last 12, including the 133-pound title at the New York State Collegiate Championships. That late season success was an indication of what was to come. Early in the 2005-06 campaign, Budd earned a sudden-victory win over Shawn Bunch of Edinboro, the nation¹s top-ranked wrestler at the time and the 2005 national runner-up. That win put Mark Budd on the national map and is when, Buffalo Head Coach Jim Beichner believes, Budd¹s mentality started to change. According to Beichner, ³We started to see Mark Budd change and saw him explode shortly thereafter, he started to believe in himself. He had a couple of wins and a couple of close matches against some really good competitors and something clicked, I think, mentally with Mark and he started to believe that he was good enough to compete with the best kids in the country.² Budd went on to compile a 38-6 record, a second straight New York State Championship, a MAC Championship and a number 13 ranking in the final National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) poll. In this his final season, Mark Budd has continued to be a dominant force, amassing a record of 32-4, making him only the second UB wrestler ever to post back-to-back 30 wins season. He won the UB Open and the Oklahoma Gold Classic and he currently ranks in the top 20 in all of the major wrestling rankings. In addition, Budd also currently sits fourth in career takedowns at UB with 106. With just the MAC and NCAA Championships meets remaining, Coach Beichner believes that more big things could still be in store for Mark Budd. ³He¹s been working hard and wrestling extremely well over the last couple of weeks, his confidence level is up, his energy level is up. The MAC Championships are first and you have to focus and concentrate on the winning that first and forget about the NCAAs right now. But obviously when you get there then the goal is to win that tournament as well, 133-pounds is a very competitive weight class?there are a number of guys that can win at that weight class and I believe Mark Budd is one of those guys.²