March 3, 2007 - 3rd of 11 at CAA's / Five Advance to Nationals
March 3, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Wrestling
Rider 3rd of 11 at CAA Championships
Five Advance to Nationals
FAIRFAX, VA.—The Rider wrestling team placed third of 11 teams at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships this weekend and will send five wrestlers to the 2007 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan. “I am pleased with how we wrestled,” said head coach Gary Taylor. “We wrestled a tough schedule all year and it paid off in many of these matches.”
For the Broncs, sophomore 174 Doug Umbehauer, won at 174 with junior 141 Don Fisch, sophomore 149 Mike Kessler and freshman 184 Mike Miller all placing second to earn automatic berths in the national tournament March 15-17. Senior 157 Nate Galloway placed a ‘true second’, defeating the second place wrestler in his weight class after the finals to also qualify for nationals. Umbehauer and Kessler both qualified as freshmen in 2006 and Fisch qualified as a sophomore in 2005.
A total of 23 wrestlers, the top two place-winners at each weight class and three wildcards from any weight class advanced to the 2007 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan. This year, true second place matches were held after the finals for the right to go to the NCAA Championships.
A ‘true second’ occurs when the third place finisher did not face the second place wrestler during the competition and can petition for a wrestle off to determine who will advance to nationals.
Hofstra won the team title for the sixth year in a row, followed by Old Dominion and Rider.
Umbehauer (Shamong, N.J./Lenape), who was the second seed, defeated third seeded Nick Kozar from Drexel in the semi-finals 3-2 and won the 174 final against fourth seed Josh Patterson from Binghamton by a score of 12-10.
“Doug is a great kid,” said Taylor. “He competes with everything that he’s got. He is our most consistent wrestler and he is a very hard wrestler to face. He goes for seven minutes and never stops and he wins a lot of matches just by wearing people down. He is very relentless and he is also a great student. He is the full package.”
Kessler (Randallstown, Md./Owings Mills), who was the second seed, defeated third seed Kyle Fried from Binghamton 8-5 in the semi-finals before losing 5-3 to fourth seed Mike Roberts (Boston University) in the finals.
“I think that having been to nationals once is going to help Doug and Mike,” said Taylor. “They aren’t going to be in awe of anything but I also think that all five are going to be prepared just for having survived the schedule that we put together this season. Facing Iowa State, going to the Vegas Tournament and to Midlands, all of those things help to prepare you for the national tournament. With that said, we know that since this is NCAA’s, everyone is going to be very tough to face. I think they are prepared, I think the schedule helped and I think that Doug and Mike will be better prepared for the experience last year.”
Fisch (Williamstown, N.J./Delsea), who was the second seed, defeated third seed Carlo Ferrandino from Boston University in the semi-finals 14-2, before falling to top seed Charles Griffin from Hofstra 7-1 in the finals. Fisch then fended off a ‘true second’ challenge match from Ryan Williams from Old Dominion who placed third. Fish won that match 5-2.
Miller (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine), who was the second seed, defeated third seed Jesse Strawn of Old Dominion 7-4 in the semi-finals before losing 7-2 to top seed Joe Rovelli from Hofstra in the finals.
“It is extremely hard to qualify as a freshman,” Taylor added. “It is a difficult task and both Doug (last year) and Mike (this year) put the work in to get that accomplishment and Mike continues to improve. The good news is that both Mike and Doug can improve more so that’s a good thing.”
Galloway (State College, Pa./State College H.S./Penn State), who was the fourth seed, lost to top seeded James Strouse from Hofstra 5-1 in the semi-finals and defeated sixth seed Nate Patterson 6-4 from Binghamton in the consolation round. Galloway defeated third seed Chris Brown from Old Dominion 3-2 for third place and defeated Ryan Hluschak from Drexel 8-6 in the ‘true second’ match.
Also for the Broncs, junior 197 T.J. Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff), who was the second seed, was pinned in 4:01 by third seed David Mendoza from Old Dominion in the semi-finals and won by fall over fifth seed Harry Zander from George Mason at 2:51 in the consolation round. Morrison defeated fourth seeded John Oplinger from Drexel 7-5 for third place and will be the first alternate from the CAA to advance to nationals if any of the 23 wrestlers are unable to wrestle due to injury.
Not to be overlooked are the contributions of the Bronc coaching staff, led by associate head coach John Hangey ’93 and assistant Adam Derengowski ’91, two of the most successful wrestlers in the history of the program at Rider.
“John has been an asset in every aspect of the program,” said Taylor. “He has helped develop the kids technically but also mentally. John went to nationals in 1993 and finished fourth in the nation at 190, earning All-American status and Adam was third in the nation in 1991 at 118, earning All-American status. With them as well as Darren Schulman helping us out who was a two-time All-American at Syracuse, having all of that talent on the staff along with Sean Jenkins, another national qualifier, it gives us a tremendous advantage to help our teams understand what they have to do to get to and succeed on the national level. It builds your confidence working with people who were successful in getting to the level that you are trying to.”
Freshman 125 Tom Lorenzo (West Orange, N.J./West Orange), who was the fifth seed, was pinned in the semi-finals by top seed Dave Tomasette from Hofstra in 1:16 and defeated sixth seed Abby Rush from Boston University in the consolations 16-7. Lorenzo lost to third seed Kyle Hutter from Old Dominion 14-6 in the third place match.
Freshman 165 Rob Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff), who was the fifth seed won by fall in 3:42 over Brent Poynter from Campbell in the consolation round and won in a medical forfeit over third seed Tyler Tisdell from George Mason. Morrison was pinned in 2:53 by Drexel’s Billy Haydt who was the fourth seed for third place. Haydt also pinned Morrison during the preliminaries on Friday.
Freshman 133 Matt Bradley (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) was eliminated by fall in 3:47 by Paul Galipeau from Sacred Heart in the consolation round.
Team Scores: Hofstra 138.5, Old Dominion 89, Rider 84.5, Drexel 66.5, Sacred Heart 41.5, Boston U. 29.5, Binghamton 28, George Mason 25, James Madison 7.5, Campbell 5.5, Wagner 2.
-RU-
CAA National Qualifiers
125: Dave Tomasette – Hofstra
125: Steve Mytych – Drexel
133: Lou Ruggirello – Hofstra
133: Christian Staylor – ODU
141: Charles Griffin – Hofstra
141: Don Fisch – Rider
149: Mike Roberts – Boston U.
149: Mike Kessler – Rider
157: James Strouse – Hofstra
157: Ryan Hluschak – Drexel
157: Nate Galloway – Rider
165: Mike Patrovich – Hofstra
165: Nick Pullano – ODU
174: Doug Umbehauer – Rider
174: Josh Patterson – Binghamton
174: Nick Kozar – Drexel
174: Alton Lucas – Hofstra
184: Joe Rovelli – Hofstra
184: Mike Miller – Rider
197: Chris Weidman – Hofstra
197: David Mendoza – ODU
285: Payam Zarrinpour – Sacred Heart
285: Chris Cowen – Drexel
Championship Bouts
125: Dave Tomasette (Hofstra) dec. Steve Mytych (Drexel), 4-0
133: Lou Ruggirello (Hofstra) dec. Christian Staylor (ODU), 6-4
141: Charles Griffin (Hofstra) dec. Don Fisch (Rider), 7-1
149: Mike Roberts (Boston U.) dec. Mike Kessler (Rider), 5-3
157: James Strouse (Hofstra) dec. Ryan Hluschak (Drexel), 8-4
165: Mike Patrovich (Hofstra) maj. dec. Nick Pullano (ODU), 19-3
174: Doug Umbehauer (Rider) dec. Josh Patterson (Binghamton), 12-10
184: Joe Rovelli (Hofstra) dec. Mike Miller (Rider), 7-2
197: Chris Weidman (Hofstra) dec. David Mendoza (ODU), 6-4
285: Payam Zarrinpour (Sacred Heart) dec. Chris Cowen (Drexel), 6-4
Consolation Finals
125: Kyle Hutter (ODU) maj. dec. Tommy Lorenzo (Rider), 14-6
133: Bill Martin (Drexel) dec. Paul Galipeau (Sacred Heart), 13-6
141: Ryan Williams (ODU) maj. dec. Carlo Ferrandino (Boston U.), 11-3
149: Kyle Fried (Binghamton) dec. Kaylen Baxter (ODU), 4-1
157: Nate Galloway (Rider) dec. Chris Brown (ODU), 3-2
165: Bill Haydt (Drexel) fall Rob Morrison (Rider), 2:53
174: Nick Kozar (Drexel) dec. Alton Lucas (Hofstra), 4-2
184: Jesse Strawn (ODU) dec. Andrew Silber (Sacred Heart), 7-3
197: TJ Morrison (Rider) dec. Jon Oplinger (Drexel), 7-5
285: Matt Pollock (Hofstra) fall Matt Peller (ODU), 0:46
True Second Matches
141: Don Fisch (Rider) dec. Ryan Williams (ODU), 5-2
157: Nate Galloway (Rider) dec. Ryan Hluschak (Drexel), 8-6
165: Nick Pullano (ODU) dec. Billy Haydt (Drexel), 4-3
174: Nick Kozar (Drexel) dec. Josh Patterson (Binghamton), 5-3
Wild Cards
Alton Lucas Hofstra 174 lbs
Josh Patterson Binghamton 174 lbs
Ryan Hluschak Drexel 157 lbs
Most Outstanding Wrestler: 165 lb Champion Mike Patrovich Hofstra
