February 3, 2007    
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Wrestling
Rider University 37, Clarion University 9

CLARION, Pa.—The Broncs won eight matches and defeated Clarion in a non-conference dual on Saturday afternoon.  “Anytime you get off to a good start and get a win under your belt on the road, especially in front of a large crowd, it gives you a good shot of confidence,” said head coach Gary Taylor.

Freshman 133 Brian Polashuk (Thomasville, Pa./Spring Grove) got Rider to a strong start, winning a hard fought match 4-3 to open the dual.  “It was a good step for Brian to get a win up here,” said Taylor.  “That got us started on a good run.  We got to work hard in some tough matches and got out of the day without any major injuries so I am happy about that as well.”

For Rider (9-6), junior Don Fisch (Williamstown, N.J./Delsea) won a major decision at 141 with senior transfer Nate Galloway (State College, Pa./State College H.S./Penn State) winning by fall in 46 seconds at 157 and junior 197 T.J. Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) also winning by fall in 2:38.

“I thought Clarion wrestled hard,” Taylor added.  “Our kids beat them but they came at us hard and got after it and we had to work for the points that we got.”

The Broncs are now 8-2 against the Golden Eagles.

Rider which has won three matches in a row and five of its last six travels to Ames Iowa to take on the number three ranked Cyclones of Iowa State on Friday, February 9 at 8:00pm.

“Obviously Iowa State is traditionally a premier wrestling program,” said Taylor.  “They are good year in and year out and this year, they have one of the best teams that they have had in many years.  We are trying to get our best wrestlers the chance to wrestle some of the top kids in the country and prepare them not only for our conference championships but also a run at the NCAA Championships.  We are going to go out and have a chance to wrestle one of the best teams in the country.”

-RU-

133 – Brian Polashuk-RU def. Sal Lascari-CU   4-3            3-0
141 – Don Fisch-RU maj. dec. Greg Lewis-CU  13-4         7-0
149 – Michael Kessler-RU dec. Hadley Harrison-CU 9-6  10-0
157 – Nate Galloway-RU wbf. Nick Billips-CU  0:46         16-0
165 – Mario Morelli-CU dec. Robbie Morrison-RU  10-4  16-3 
174 – Doug Umbehauer-RU dec. Dominic Ross-CU  9-4   19-3 
184 – Mike Miller-RU won by forfeit                                  25-3
197 – T.J. Morrison-RU wbf. Dixon Jordan-CU  2:38        31-3
285 – A.J. Brooks-CU wbf. Nick Ciufo-RU   3:44             31-9
125 – Thomas Lorenzo-RU won by forfeit                          37-9