Rider University freshman Doug Umbehauer was named to the second team Amateur Wrestling News All-Rookie Team. “This is a tremendous honor,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.  “Doug had a great season and to be recognized as the second best freshman in the entire nation at his weight class verify’s that.”

Rider's Mike Kessler (149) and Doug Umbehauer (174) were awarded Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie honors it was announced Thursday.

The Rider University wrestling team, along with senior Joe Maroney, were honored by the National Wrestling Coaches Association for their high grade point averages.

The Rider University wrestling team has signed five State Place Winners and a State Qualifier for the 2006-07 season, Rider head coach Gary Taylor announced.

Joe Maroney of Bensalem, PA, a senior at Rider University, is one of five student-athletes to be honored by the Colonial Athletic Association as a recipient of the CAA Scholar-Athlete Award, for excelling both athletically and academically in the winter sports season.

The Rider University wrestling season came to an end Friday at the 2006 NCAA Division I Championship Tournament. “We had a young group out here with two freshmen and two sophomores, and they gained valuable experience this weekend,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. “Now they see what is needed to be done to get back here and to compete out here.”

All five Rider University wrestlers have drawn top-10 seeds in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Division I Nationals, which begins Thursday.

Rider University freshman Mike Kessler (Randallstown, Md./Owings Mills) is joining four teammates on a trip to Oklahoma City, OK this weekend for the NCAA Division I National Championship Tournament. “Mike showed this year he is one of the best in the conference,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.

Doug Umbehauer of Rider University has been named the CAA Rookie of the Week, for all competition the first week of March.

The Rider University wrestling team placed fourth in the 11-team Colonial Athletic Association Championships, hosted by Drexel University, and will now send four wrestlers on to Nationals. "I’m excited about taking four qualifiers to nationals," said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. "I would have liked to get a fifth, we had a deserving one."

The Rider University wrestling team won 11 of 15 bouts Friday and is currently in third place in the 11-team Colonial Athletic Association Championships, hosted by Drexel University. Rider has seven wrestlers in the semi-finals Saturday and two others alive in the consolations. “That’s a good start,” said associate head coach John Hangey. “We are very pleased with having seven in the semi-finals.”

Five Rider University athletic teams will be competing in Championships this weekend.

TJ Morrison of Rider University and Jon Oplinger of Drexel University have been named the Colonial Athletic Association Wrestlers of the Week, and Bryan LaShomb of Old Dominion University is the CAA Rookie of the Week, for all competition February 14-20.

The Broncs improved to 7-0-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association with a CAA victory at Sacred Heart Saturday, winning eight of 10 bouts. “We picked up right where we left off last night and we wrestled pretty good,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.

The Broncs won seven of 10 bouts to defeat Boston U. in a Colonial Athletic Association dual meet Friday.  “Things went very well tonight,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. “We wrestled well and seem to be coming on at the right time of year.”

The Broncs split a pair of dual meets with Ivy League opponents Saturday evening, defeating cross-town rival Princeton after falling to 13^th ranked Cornell. “Cornell is one of the better teams in the country,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.  “I’m very proud of our kids today and the job that they did.  We told them this is an opportunity to wrestle some of the best kids in the country, and to step up to the plate and let it fly. And I felt they did do that.”

The Broncs won eight of 10 bouts to defeat Clarion Saturday. “Clarion has great tradition, has a great program, but they are a little down this year, hit by injuries,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. “Having been in that situation I can sympathize with them. They wrestled hard, gave some of our better kids decent matches. They definitely wrestled hard, they’re just banged up.”

Mike Kessler of the wrestling team, and Priscilla Modrov of the swimming & diving team, were named the Rider University Athletes of the Month for all competition in January.

Doug Umbehauer of Rider University has been named the CAA Rookie of the Week, for all competition the last week of January.

The Broncs won four bouts in a loss to Columbia Saturday.  Columbia (4-4) won the first three bouts to take a 9-0 lead. “Columbia is a solid team,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.  “They’ve had a pretty good year. They won the first three weights, and that surprised me. I thought we’d win two of them, and that hurt us.”

The Broncs won six bouts, including two by fall, to defeat Rutgers Wednesday night. “I think things went as well as can be expected considering we are still banged up quite a bit,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.  “We wanted to make sure we got by the other RU.”

Mike Kessler of Rider University was named the CAA Rookie of the Week, for all competition January 17-23.

The Broncs defeated Binghamton and James Madison and tied Old Dominion on the second day of the two-day CAA Duals, hosted by George Mason. Rider was 4-0-1 in the CAA Duals. “Things went pretty well down here,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.  “We had a good day.”

The Broncs swept host George Mason and Wagner on the first day of the two-day CAA Duals. “Things pretty much went as expected,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.

The Broncs lost to North Carolina on the second day of the 2006 Virginia Duals Saturday at the Hampton Coliseum. “We had a lot of matches that we were capable of winning, we just didn’t,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.  “We wrestled hard, but we didn’t wrestle well.”

Rider won 11 of the 18 bouts it wrestled on Friday at the 2006 Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum. “We did pretty well today,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.

The Broncs began the Colonial Athletic Association portion of their schedule with a victory at Drexel Tuesday, winning seven of the 10 bouts. “We wrestled better tonight,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. “Drexel is a good team, so this is a good win for us.”

The Broncs won four bouts, losing at Bloomsburg Saturday. Rider lost one bout by just one point, and another in overtime.

Doug Umbehauer of Rider University was named the CAA Rookie of the Week, for all competition December 20-January 2.

The Broncs placed 26^th of 32 teams at the Southern Scuffle, hosted by the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. “This was a very tough tournament and a lot of learning went on,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.

The Broncs are competing Thursday and Friday at the Southern Scuffle, hosted by the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

It looks like the 174 pound weight class is going to be a strong one in the Colonial Athletic Association this season, as all three weekly award winners hail from that weight class this week.  Doug Umbehauer of Rider University is the CAA Rookie of the Week, for all competition prior to December 5.

Freshman Doug Umbehauer of the wrestling team, and freshman Priscilla Modrov of the swimming & diving team, were named the Rider University Athletes of the Month for all competition in November.

Bloodlines. There has to be something said for bloodlines. Tim Morrison was an All-American wrestler for Rider in 1983, graduated with a career record of 89-9-1, and was inducted into the Rider Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993. Tim’s brother, Dan, compiled a 40-0 wrestling season at Rider in 1982. Now, Tim’s son and Dan’s nephew, T. J., is following in their footsteps. T. J. Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) and freshman Doug Umbehauer (Shamong, N.J./Lenape) won their weight classes at the 11th annual Keystone Classic, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania Sunday.

The Rider University wrestling team received 26 votes in the National Wrestling Coaches Association InterMat Preseason Poll on Thursday.

Five athletes from five different sports will be inducted into the Rider University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.  Terrance Armstrong ’94 from the cross country and track & field teams, wrestler Francis Dunn ’97, softball player Colleen Fox ’99, baseball player Ed Horowitz ’89, and basketball player Mark Wilcox ’94 will enter the Athletics Hall of Fame in a ceremony scheduled for February 4, 2006.