College Wrestling
Lehigh University 24, Rider University 16
BETHLEHEM, PA?The Broncs won four matches in a loss at Lehigh Thursday night. “I thought both teams wrestled hard,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. “Lehigh was a little bit sharper in a couple of places. We knew it was going to be a tough match and a good match, and it was.”
For Rider (6-11, 3-3 CAA) sophomore Fred Rodgers (Perkiomenville, Pa./Boyertown) won at 141 to get Rider on the board. Rodgers avenged an 8-5 loss to Jeff Santo suffered at the Virginia Duals in January. “Fred made some good adjustments,” Taylor said.
“I just went out there and wrestled both times,” Rodgers said, “there wasn't much difference. This time I knew what he was going to do. I was a little more ready. I worked on the things I needed to do to beat him.”
Junior Ed Bordas (Montgomery, N.Y./Valley Central) won with a takedown with just 15 seconds remaining. Justin Allen defeated Bordas 3-2 in January. “Eddie keeps getting better every match,” Taylor said. “He had to take some chances. With the big guys, they don't take a lot of chances but you have to take some or you can't score. He did that at the end and it paid off for him.”
“I feel a lot better now than I did at the Virginia Duals,” Bordas said. “I was a little more cautious this time. I knew he wasn't going to take me down, it was just a matter of when I could take him down.”
“When guys are fairly even, that is going to happen,” Taylor said of Rodgers and Bordas avenging their losses. “We made adjustments after looking at the films. Plus, when everybody is good like these four wrestlers, on any given night anyone can win.”
Junior Doug Umbehauer (Shamong, N.J./Lenape), ranked 12th in the nation, won by fall with 1:11 left to wrestle. Umbehauer was leading 13-4 at the time of the pin. “Doug did a much better job in this match,” Taylor said.
Senior T.J. Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff), ranked 12th in the nation, won a major decision.
Senior Don Fisch (Williamstown, N.J./Delsea) lost on a take down with 15 seconds left in the match. “The guy Donnie wrestled is a very good kid,” Taylor said, “a very solid kid who is hard to score on. Donnie missed a couple of matches and isn't 100 percent yet, but he'll be back to it soon.”
For Lehigh (11-12, 6-0 EIWA) 20th ranked Alex Caruso won by fall to give the Mountain Hawks a 24-3 lead.
Lehigh and Rider met earlier this year in the consolation round at the Virginia Duals, a 21-11 Lehigh victory. Rider defeated #21 Lehigh 24-14 to start the 2006-07 season.
Rider hosts #2 Nebraska on Saturday at 2pm. “They are tough,” Taylor said.
125 - Mitch Berger-L dec. Ilyass Elmsaouri-R 8-3 3-0
133 - Seth Ciasulli-L wbf Thomas Lorenzo-R 4:55 9-0
141 - Fred Rodgers-R dec. Jeff Santo-L 8-4 9-3
149 - Trevor Chinn-L dec. #18 Don Fisch-R 3-1 12-3
157 - Dave Nakasone-L dec. Rob Morrison-R 7-3 15-3
165 - Mike Galante-L dec. Jason Lapham-R 6-1 18-3
174 - #20 Alex Caruso-L wbf Mike Darling-R 6:06 24-3
184 - #12 Doug Umbehauer-R wbf Manuel Schubert-L 5:49 24-9
197 - #12 T.J. Morrison-R major dec. Alex Iacocca-L 12-3 24-13
285 - Ed Bordas-R dec. Justin Allen-L 3-2 24-16
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