February 18, 2007 - Rider 33 Sacred Heart 6
February 18, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Wrestling
Rider University 33, Sacred Heart University 6
LAWRENCEVILLE— On Senior Day, senior Nate Galloway (State College, PA) won his final match in Alumni Gymnasium. It just so happened to be his first-ever match in front of the Rider crowd.
A mid-year transfer from Penn State University, Galloway made his Alumni Gym debut with a 20-5 tech fall win to lead Rider (11-7, 5-2 CAA) to a Colonial Athletic Association victory over Sacred Heart (5-9, 4-6 CAA) in the final dual meet of the season.
“First of all, Nate is a great kid from a great family,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. “Second of all, he’s a very exciting, explosive wrestler. He can score a lot of points in a short amount of time or he can pin you. He’s very much a national caliber wrestler.” Galloway was a three-time NCAA qualifier at Penn State. Last year he went 2-2 at Nationals with a pair of pins.
A three-time Pennsylvania State Champion while at State College High School, Galloway could have picked any school in the country to wrestle for. “It came down to Illinois (currently ranked seventh in the nation) and Penn State (ranked 11th),” Galloway remembers. “Penn State’s academic program was one of the top in the country, and the wrestling team was an opportunity for me to help them regain their status as one of the top in the country.”
So how did Galloway end up wrestling for Rider this semester, compiling a 7-2 record for the Broncs? “There were some things that went on within the Penn State wrestling room and I basically decided it was best if I didn’t return to the team for the spring semester,” Galloway said. “Originally I thought that meant my wrestling career was over. My parents looked into some rules and figured out that it might be possible for me to transfer to another school and if a lot of things happened to fall into place I could wrestle again.”
They fell into place. “Sure enough, Rider went forward with it,” Galloway said, “the coaches, the academic staff. Everyone really stepped in and got everything rolling and in a four or five day period they had me here and ready to wrestle.”
Per NCAA rules, Galloway was eligible to compete immediately for Rider. “Fortunately, we were able to be there at a time that he wanted to transfer, and Rider opened up,” Taylor said. “It was a good choice for him.”
After qualifying for three National Championship tournaments for Penn State, he’ll now try to become an All-American wearing a Rider singlet. “It would be a good feeling,” Galloway said. “I have nothing but respect for the people here at Rider, so there is nothing more I would like to do is make those people happy. They stepped up for me, and achieving All-American while wearing a Rider singlet would be sweeter than anything I could wish for.”
A Computer Information Systems major, Galloway is expected to graduate from Rider in January 2008. “In the fall I’ll be in the wrestling room in Maurer to help out some of the guys around my weight class,” Galloway said, “see if I can get them to work toward their goal of being an All-American. Like a student assistant. When I graduate I’d like to get my Master degree from Rider. I’ve loved my time here.”
“Hopefully we can keep him here longer,” Taylor said. “I’d love to see Nate go for an MBA here and help us out with coaching. He has a lot to offer.”
Also for the Broncs, sophomore Mike Kessler (Randallstown, MD/Owings Mills) used a takedown with less than 10 seconds left for the victory at 149.
Freshman 184 Mike Miller (Wilmington, DE/Brandywine) gave Rider a 3-0 lead with a 9-4 victory.
Sophomore Doug Umbehauer (Shamong/Lenape), ranked eighth in the nation, junior T. J. Morrison (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cedar Cliff), ranked 14th in the nation, freshman 133 Brian Polashuk (Thomasville, PA/Spring Grove), junior 141 Don Fisch (Williamstown/Delsea) and freshman 165 Robbie Morrison (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cedar Cliff) all won for Rider.
For Sacred Heart heavyweight Payam Zarrinpour of Iran, ranked 14th in the nation, won by fall.
The victory was Rider’s second in a row where the Broncs won nine of the ten bouts. “The good news was when we won those 18, for the most part they were against opponents who fought very hard,” said Taylor. “That’s what I really liked about it. We were in situations where we really had to wrestle hard. Some of the matches were tight. That’s good for tournament practice, because a lot of matches in tournaments get tight.”
The Broncs are off until the CAA Championships March 2-3. “The training will be a lot more intense now,” Taylor said. “We’ll try to peak at the right time. I like the fact that some of the guys had to wrestle hard to win the last two matches. We had a lot of good, tough matches and we didn’t get any injuries. That is what we wanted.”
184 –Mike Miller-R dec. Andrew Silber-SH 9-4 3-0
197 – T.J. Morrison-R dec. Kevin Fox-SH 5-2 6-0
285 –Payam Zarrinpour-SH wbf Nick Ciufo-R :51 6-6
125 –Thomas Lorenzo-R wins by forfeit 12-6
133 –Brian Polashuk-R dec. Paul Galipeau-SH 6-3 15-6
141 – Don Fisch-R dec. Cory Dunn-SH 10-4 18-6
149 –Michael Kessler-R dec. Chris Davis-SH 5-4 21-6
157 – Nate Galloway-R tech fall Mike Hartman-SH 20-5 26-6
165 –Robbie Morrison-R dec. Patrick Nappi-SH 10-6 29-6
174 – Doug Umbehauer-R major dec. Jedidiah Giguere-SH 15-4 33-6
