Injuries have become a trademark of Jeff Ellis's wrestling career.

The senior from Clarence Center, N.Y., returned from his third knee injury in four years yesterday with a 9-2 win over Cleveland State's Bob Benson. The match was another convincing victory in the Lions' 34-3 rout.

Ellis bruised the cartilage and sustained a small tear in his right knee in a 190-pound match against Clarion's Joe Rozanc on Dec. 3. After arthroscopic surgery on Dec. 20, plenty of ice, hours on a stationary bike and a few weeks of running prepared Ellis for his return.

"In comparison to the other ones it was nothing," Ellis said of the seriousness of the injury. An earlier knee injury forced Ellis to redshirt in 1986. During yesterday's match, he wore a knee brace and afterward wrapped ice around the knee.

"I was pleased that Jeff could go through the whole match the way he did," Coach Rich Lorenzo said. "He was not as fluent as earlier in the season but at the same time he was aggressive and his conditioning looked good."

Ellis (12-3) showed few signs of the injury against Benson. His first takedown combined strength and quickness. Controlling his opponent's arm with a Russian tie, Ellis ducked under, threw Benson to the mat and spun around for the two points.

"At the beginning when I had legs in he yanked it a little bit," Ellis said. "I felt a little soreness there but after that it felt real good."

"I just want him to take it easy a bit on his knee," graduate assistant Dan Mayo said. "He's got a front headlock that's probably one of the best in the country so what we're working on is getting that front headlock and scoring from there."

Ellis used that move to perfection for a third-period takedown. He controlled Benson's head and arm, pressured his opponent's head to the mat and easily went behind for the takedown.

In the second period, Ellis almost put Benson on his back with a bearhug. As the two fell to the mat, Benson squirmed onto his stomach, giving up a takedown but preventing a pin. Ellis dominated the match from the top with 3:07 of riding time.

During the rehabilitation Ellis has had the option of whether or not to wrestle. He was listed as a possibility for last week's matches but did not compete.

"Last week I was teetering," he said. "I wanted to wrestle but I figured I needed one more week. I've been working with Danny Mayo a lot this week stopping the other guy's shots. Danny Mayo's real explosive and good at shooting and that's what I have to defend against."

While Ellis has been able to overcome the physical setbacks, the mental aspect of the sport is his next hurdle on the way to the NCAA tournament.

"Right now the most important thing is for Jeff to believe in himself," Mayo said. "I think he does believe in himself and he just has to work hard every day. I'm going to work with him and I think he can be a national champ."

"I have to work on my confidence first of all," Ellis said. "I've done all the work. Now I just have to believe I can go out and beat anybody in the country."