December 30, 2007 - Rider 12th of 50 at Midlands (Video Coverage Available)
December 30, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Wrestling
Rider 12th of 50 at Midlands
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS—With two fourths and a fifth place finisher, the Broncs placed a best-ever 12th at the 45th Annual Midlands Wrestling Tournament, hosted by Northwestern University. “We’ve never put three in the semi-finals before and this is the highest we’ve finished here as a team, so I’m pleased with that,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.
The Broncs placed a best-ever 13th at Midlands last year.
Senior T.J. Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff), the fourth seed at 197, placed fourth, losing 4-1 to the third seed, All-American Wynn Michalak of Central Michigan, in the battle for third place. “T.J. wrestled the best he has all year,” Taylor said.
Morrison placed fifth at Midlands last year.
Junior 165 Jason Lapham (West Chazy, N.Y./Beekmantown) placed fourth, losing 5-2 to Colby Covington of Iowa Central in the battle for third. “Jason made a nice debut to the Rider line up,” Taylor said. “He wrestled well, beating some good kids. Wrestling that well in your first tournament says a lot for his future.” Lapham is a transfer from Penn State and begins his Rider career with a 4-2 record.
Senior Don Fisch (Williamstown, N.J./Delsea), the eighth seed at 149, placed fifth. In the battle for fifth place, Fisch defeated the third seed, Mitch Mueller of Iowa State 5-4.
Fisch lost 19-2 to the fifth seed, Jake Patacsil of Purdue in the semi-finals Sunday afternoon. “Donnie will get another crack at him on Friday,” Taylor said. Fisch was pinned by the seventh seed, Josh Wagner of Missouri in the consolations Sunday night.
On Saturday Fisch defeated Grant Paswall of Illinois 7-3 in the quarter-finals. Fisch defeated Matt Cusick of Virginia Tech 3-0 in the round of 16 after winning a major decision (14-0) in the first round over Chris Szabolcs of Air Force and defeating Ashtin Primus of Missouri 7-2 in the second round.
Morrison lost 2-0 to the top seed and defending national champion, Josh Glenn of American, in the semi-finals. In the consolations Morrison defeated the sixth seed, David Bertalino of Iowa State 9-4.
Lapham lost 8-3 to the fifth seed, Jon Reader of Iowa State in the semi-finals. In the consolations Lapham won by default over Trevor Stewart of Central Michigan.
On Saturday Morrison defeated the fifth seed, Matt Koz of Tennessee-Chatanooga 3-1 in the quarter-finals. Morrison defeated CAA-foe Jon Oplinger of Drexel 3-1 in the round of 16 after defeating Alec Bonander of Luther 7-4 in the first round.
In the quarter-finals on Saturday Lapham defeated the eighth seed, Tim Palmer of Wisconsin-LaCrosse 3-1. Lapham defeated Benjamin Hoover of Nebraska 8-7 in the round of 16 after receiving a first-round bye before defeating TH Leet of Iowa 4-2.
Junior Doug Umbehauer (Shamong, N.J./Lenape), the sixth seed at 184, lost 6-4 in the consolations to Josh Edmonson of Tennessee-Chattanooga Sunday afternoon. Umbehauer placed runner-up at Midlands last year. “Doug was winning but suffered a head injury and just couldn’t recover from that,” Taylor said. “He really got his bell rung.”
On Saturday Umbehauer won 7-1 in the consolations against Brendan Faust of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. Umbehauer lost 3-1 in sudden victory to Phil Keddy of Iowa in the round of 16. Umbehauer received a first round bye before defeating Dave Sullivan of Pittsburgh 9-2.
Junior heavyweight Ed Bordas (Montgomery, N.Y./Valley Central) defeated Dustin Bauman of Northern Iowa 2-0 before losing to Dave Benner of Northern Illinois 5-2 Sunday. Bordas defeated Mike Sprigg of Army 7-4 in the consolations Saturday night. Bordas received a first round bye before losing 17-4 to the eighth seed, Nik Fekete of Hawk Wrestling Club. “Not bad for his first time out,” Taylor said. “He’s been out for two years (transfer from Binghamton) and the people he lost to are pretty good.”
Sophomore 174 Mike Miller (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine) lost 4-3 to Ryan Smith of Great Falls Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday Miller was pinned (4:20) by the sixth seed, Jay Borschel of Iowa in the round of 16. Miller received a first round bye before defeating Mitch Artist of Iowa State 11-7.
Sophomore Rob Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) lost 5-4 in the 157 pound consolations to Clint Arlis of Illinois Saturday. Rob Morrison lost 7-4 in the first round to Emanual Brooks of Missouri.
In the 141 pound consolations, sophomore Fred Rodgers (Perkiomenville, Pa./Boyertown) lost 5-3 to Michael Bonora of Rhode Island Saturday night. Rodgers lost 4-2 to Nick Shumate of Southern Illinois in the first round.
In the 133 pound consolations, junior Zac Cunliffe (Farmingdale, N.J./Howell) defaulted to Steve Siokos of Harper Saturday night. After a first round bye Cunliffe lost 9-0 to the #2 seed, Jim Kennedy of Illinois.
In the consolations sophomore 125 Tommy Lorenzo (West Orange) defaulted to Andrew Taylor of Dubuque. Lorenzo was pinned (1:28) by TJ Wunnicke of Northern Illinois in the first round.
Rider will host Purdue in a dual meet Friday afternoon.
-RU-
