December 29, 2006 - Rider Currently 13th of 50 at Midlands

December 29, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Wrestling
Rider Currently 13th of 50 at Midlands

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS—The Broncs are competing against the finest collegiate and amateur wrestlers in the nation this weekend at the 44th Midlands Wrestling Championships, hosted by Northwestern University, with three wrestlers still alive going into Saturday.  “Overall it was a good day,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.  “This is a very tough tournament and we’ve competed pretty well.”

Sophomore Doug Umbehauer (Shamong/Lenape), the fourth seed in the 174 pound weight class, defeated the fifth seed, Kurt Brenner of West Virginia, 4-1 in the quarter-finals, and will now face the top seed, James Yonushonis of Penn State, in the semi-finals Saturday. “Doug continues to get better and improve,” said Taylor. “This will be a good test for him. That was a good win for him in the quarter-finals.”

Umbehauer received a first round bye before defeating Rudy Rueda of American 4-3, and Greg Goidosik of Michigan State, 3-2.

Junior T. J. Morrison (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cedar Cliff), the seventh seed in the 197 pound weight class, received a first round bye before pinning Tony Lyssiotis of Eastern Michigan in 1:47. In the quarter-finals, T.J. Morrison lost 5-2 to the second seed, Mike Tamillow of Northwestern. “T.J. got beat by a very good kid who just out-wrestled him,” said Taylor.  In the wrestlebacks, Morrison will face Nate Everhart of Indiana.

Junior 141 Don Fisch (Williamstown/Delsea) lost 2-1 in the quarter-finals to the sixth seed, Mitch Mueller of Iowa State. Fisch won by tech fall (17-2) over Mitch Webber of Lincoln College in the first round and then defeated Dan Reuttunger of Northern Illinois 8-4. Fisch pinned the third seed, Cassio Pero of Illinois, in 6:15 to reach the quarterfinals. Fisch will now face Sal Tirico of Columbia in the wrestlebacks. “Donny is wrestling very well,” Taylor said.  “He hurt his neck against the All-American from Illinois, and now that he is back on track I’m not sure how hard we want to push it.”

Freshman 184 Mike Miller (Wilmington, DE/Brandywine) defeated Will Clarke of Wabash 7-3 in the first round, and then defeated Dan Dunning of Northern Iowa 3-2. Against the fifth seed, Louis Caputo of Harvard, Miller lost 9-0. In the wrestlebacks, Miller defeated Eric Simaz of Central Michigan 5-3 in sudden victory before losing 6-3 to Andrew Silber of Sacred Heart.

Freshman 157 Rob Morrison (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cedar Cliff) received a first round bye before losing 5-3 to Brad Medchill of Iowa.  Rob Morrison defeated Zach Lord of Air Force 10-8 in sudden victory and then pinned Jimmy Pepper of American in 3:22 in the wrestlebacks, and then lost 11-4 to Jason Brew of Olivet.

Freshman 125 Tommy Lorenzo (West Orange) was pinned by John Weinert of Northern Illinois in 1:15. In the wrestlebacks, Lorenzo defeated Tom Hill of Southern Illinois 11-9 and won by medical forfeit over the second seed, Gabe Flores of Illinois, before losing 7-2 to Trevor Charbonneau of Nebraska-Kearney.

Sophomore Mike Kessler (Randallstown, MD/Owings Mills) received a first round bye before losing 3-2 to the number two seed at 149, Matt Coughlin of Indiana.  In the wrestlebacks, Kessler lost 6-4 to Danny Zeman of Illinois.

Junior Zac Cunliffe (Farmingdale/Howell) received a first round bye before losing 8-0 to the third seed at 133, Mario Galanakis of Iowa. In the wrestlebacks, Cunliffe lost 6-4 to Eric Slabaugh of Wabash.

Senior Nick Cuifo (Pt. Pleasant) was pinned by the top seeded heavyweight, Dustin Fox of Northwestern in 3:33. In the wrestlebacks, Cuifo lost 8-4 to Alan O’Donnell of Michigan State.

Competition continues Saturday. “We’re excited about Doug being in the semi’s and Donny and T. J. in the wrestlebacks,” Taylor said. “This is a good tournament for us to be at. We’re getting a lot out of it, a great experience for our guys to wrestle some of the best kids in the country.”

-RU-