March 2, 2007 - Third at CAA's - Day One
March 2, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Wrestling
Rider at CAA Championships – Third after Day One
Seven Broncs in the Semi-Finals / Two in Consolations
FAIRFAX, VA.— In omnia paratus. Latin for ‘in all things prepared’ and the motto for Rider University. It is also the motto for the Bronc wrestling team competing at the 2007 Colonial Athletic Association Championships this weekend, hosted by George Mason. “I’m pleased with the overall performance today,” said head coach Gary Taylor. “Obviously there is a lot of wrestling to go tomorrow but I am happy with where we stand.”
Coach Taylor and the Broncs prepared all season for the right to send wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in Michigan March 15-17. A brutal schedule against some of the top ranked teams in the nation and a young team that was willing to learn on the job. For Taylor, it was a mission to make sure the Broncs were prepared and with seven in the semi-finals and two in the consolations, it appears that the Broncs were more than prepared in all things and are more than prepared to have wrestlers take that trip to nationals in Michigan.
Freshman 125 Tom Lorenzo (West Orange, N.J./West Orange), who is the fifth seed, defeated fourth seed Joe Coughlin from George Mason 10-6 to advance to the semi-finals where he will face top seed Dave Tomasette from Hofstra.
“I think the tough schedule at the beginning of the year is helping the younger wrestlers now,” said Taylor. “They are not intimidated and they are not in awe of anything because they have faced some of the top wrestlers in the nation. This is where you see that it helped out. An example is Tom Lorenzo, he got beat pretty bad by the wrestler from George Mason and turned around and beat him today so you get to see how the wrestlers have grown throughout the season. Robbie Morrison is another example; he had a tight match in Alumni Gym with the wrestler from Sacred Heart and today he defeated him by tech. fall so we are pleased with how the younger wrestlers are handling what they have to do but we also know that they have more work to be done on Saturday.”
Senior 157 Nate Galloway (State College, Pa./State College H.S./Penn State), who is the fourth seed, won by fall over fifth seeded Robert Henry from George Mason and will face top seeded James Strouse from Hofstra in the semi-finals.
Junior 141 Don Fisch (Williamstown, N.J./Delsea), who is the second seed, won by tech. fall 21-3 in 6:14 over Brandon Toro-Segarra from Binghamton and will face third seed Carlo Ferrandino from Boston University in the semi-finals.
Junior 197 T.J. Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff), who is the second seed, defeated James Bartley from James Madison by tech. fall 17-1 in 6:11 and will face third seed David Mendoza from Old Dominion in the semi-finals.
“You also benefit from the tough schedule with the older kids,” Taylor added. “They have to face some tough kids on Saturday and they are better prepared because of the competition they faced earlier in the year.”
Sophomore 149 Mike Kessler (Randallstown, Md./Owings Mills), who is the second seed, defeated Justin Ensign from Wagner 8-7 and will face third seed Kyle Fried from Binghamton in the semi-finals.
Sophomore 174 Doug Umbehauer (Shamong, N.J./Lenape), who is the second seed, defeated Nick Amato of Campbell by tech. fall 15-0 in 3:54 and won by forfeit over Ivan Lagares from James Madison. Umbehauer will face third seeded Nick Kozar from Drexel in the semi-finals.
Freshman 184 Mike Miller (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine), who is the second seed, defeated Eli Vidal of Boston University 12-4 and will face third seed Jesse Strawn of Old Dominion in the semi-finals.
Hofstra currently leads Old Dominion by 17.5 points in the team standings with Rider two points behind ODU.
“There is always a chance that you could catch Hofstra but it would be such a long-shot,” said Taylor. “They have one of the best teams in the nation and we would have to turn several matches around so it would be very unusual but that is why we have the tournaments, to finish as high as you can and if the best we can do is second and beat Old Dominion who beat us twice in dual matches this season, then that’s what we’ll take. Our goal has always been to do the best we can as a team while advancing as many to nationals as possible.”
The Pride, ranked ninth in the nation advanced all 10 wrestlers into the semi-final round and are going after their sixth consecutive CAA Championship.
Also for Rider, freshman 165 Rob Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff), who is the fifth seed, defeated Ricky Nappi of Sacred Heart in a tech. fall 15-0 at 5:56 before losing to the fourth seed Billy Haydt of Drexel by fall in 1:16. Morrison will face Brent Poynter from Campbell in the consolation round.
Freshman 133 Matt Bradley (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) lost to Bill Martin of Drexel 13-2 and defeated Robert Slavin from Binghamton 10-5 advancing to face Paul Galipeau from Sacred Heart in the consolation round.
Senior heavyweight Nick Ciufo (Pt. Pleasant N.J./Pt. Pleasant Boro) lost to Jim Connors of Boston University 11-5 and fell to Angelo D’Amico from Wagner 20-11.
“By getting seven into the semi-finals, you have a chance to do very well, both individually and as a team,” said Taylor. “And that’s why we are out here, to do the best we can as a team and qualify as many as we can for nationals.”
Last year, the Broncs sent five wrestlers to Nationals including Umbehauer, T.J. Morrison and Kessler.
A total of 23 wrestlers, the top two place-winners at each weight class and three wildcards from any weight class will advance to the 2007 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan. This year, true second place matches will be held after the finals for the right to go to the NCAA Championships.
“Even if we don’t win all of the weight classes, our schedule and the wrestlers that we have faced and defeated is going to cause the committee to look positively upon Rider as far as the wild card selections go,” said Taylor. “When you prepare with a tougher schedule at a national level, those are the things that carry the votes and we have one of the strongest schedules of anyone in the conference and that’s going to help us if we don’t win certain weight classes.”
Competition concludes on Saturday and you can be that the Broncs will be prepared in all things.
Team Scores: Hofstra 46, Old Dominion 28.5, Rider 26.5, Drexel 22, George Mason 15.5, Sacred Heart 15.5, Boston U. 13.5, Binghamton 11.5, James Madison 4, Wagner 2, Campbell 1.
-RU-
