March 7, 2007 - Rider Sending Six to Nationals
March 7, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Wrestling
Rider Sending Six to Nationals
LAWRENCEVILLE—Six Rider University wrestlers will travel to the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan to take part in the 77th NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships March 15-17. “I think that all six are going to be prepared just for having survived the schedule that we put together this season,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. “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.”
Sophomore 174 Doug Umbehauer (Shamong, N.J./Lenape), junior 141 Don Fisch (Williamstown, N.J./Delsea), sophomore 149 Mike Kessler (Randallstown, Md./Owings Mills), freshman 184 Mike Miller (Wilmington, Del./Brandywine), senior 157 Nate Galloway (State College, Pa.) and junior 197 T. J. Morrison (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cedar Cliff) will advance to Nationals representing Rider.
Umbehauer, currently ranked 12th in the nation by Amateur Wrestling News, won his weight class at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships and makes his second trip to Nationals with a record of 28-10. Umbehauer was a Freshman All-American last season. “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.”
Fisch finished runner-up at the CAAs and makes his third trip to Nationals with a record of 28-9 after red-shirting last season. Fisch came within one win of All-America honors at the 2005 Nationals, winning three of five bouts.
Kessler was the CAA runner-up and makes his second trip to Nationals with a record of 21-11. “I think that having been to Nationals is going to help Doug, Donnie and Mike,” said Taylor. “They aren’t going to be in awe of anything and I think they are prepared, I think the schedule helped and I think that they will be better prepared for the experience.”
Miller finished runner-up at the CAAs and takes a 24-13 record to Nationals. “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, a mid-season transfer from Penn State who is currently ranked 18th in the nation by InterMat, makes his fourth trip to Nationals, first as a Bronc after three seasons at Penn State. Last year Galloway won two bouts at Nationals, both by pin, and has a record of 10-4 at Rider.
Morrison placed third at the CAAs and advances to his third NCAA Championship as an alternate wild card selection.
-RU-
