College Wrestling
Rider Finishes 24th at Midlands
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS-The Broncs finished 24th of 53 teams at the 47th Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern University Tuesday and Wednesday. "Certain individuals got a lot out of this tournament," said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.
Rider had three of nine wrestlers competing Wednesday, after four Broncs advanced to Session Two Tuesday night.
Senior Ed Bordas (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central), the ninth seed at 285, lost 3-1 to the fifth seed, Ryan Tomei of Pittsburgh, in the consolations Wednesday. "We felt Eddie had back points," Taylor said. "That was the match to put him in position to place (in the top eight). He clearly turned the kid and if we get those two back points the match is a different story. That one was upsetting."
Bordas was 3-2 in the tournament. "Eddie wrestled well in the tournament," Taylor said.
Bordas won 4-1 in the consolations against Steve Franklin of SF State, defeated Bubba Owens of Oregon State 2-0 and then defeated Joe Rizgallah of Michigan State 4-3 on a tie breaker late Tuesday night. Bordas lost 3-2 to Clayton Jack of Oregon State in the first round.
Junior 165 Rob Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) lost 12-3 on Wednesday to the ninth seed, Tyler Grayson of Central Michigan. Morrison was 3-2 at Midlands. "Robbie had a good tournament," Taylor said. "He's getting closer. That is what we're here for, getting closer."
Morrison defeated Greg Zanetti of Rutgers 9-3 in the consolations and then defeated Karl DeCiantis of Pitt 11-3 late Tuesday night. Morrison lost 11-5 to the tenth seed, Josh Asper of Maryland in the second round. Morrison pinned the seventh seed, Bekzod Abdurakhmonov, in 4:47 in the first round.
Sophomore 133 Jimmy Kirchner (Somerville) was pinned in 2:22 Wednesday by the sixth seed, Kelly Kubec of Oregon State. Kirchner was 3-2 in the tournament. "Jimmy Kirchner had a good tournament," Taylor said. "He needed one. He needed to break out and wrestle like he is capable of."
Kirchner defeated the tenth seed, Eric Metzler of Northwestern, 13-6 in the consolations. "That was his best win," Taylor said. "He beat a good kid pretty solid." Kirchner then defeated Jeff Newby of Utah Valley 13-0 and Bill Putman of Purdue 12-2 late Tuesday night. Kirchner was pinned by the seventh seed from Lehigh, Matt Fisk in :52 in the pigtail round.
Sophomore Tyler Smith (Phillipsburg, N.J./Belvidere), the ninth seed at 197, was pinned in 6:25 by AJ Hunt of Pittsburgh in the consolations late Tuesday night. Smith was 1-2 at Midlands.
Senior Michael Kessler (Randallstown, MD/Owings Mills), the ninth seed at 149, was also 1-2 at Midlands.
Junior 141 Matt Bradley (Jackson/Jackson Memorial), freshman 174 Jim Resnick (Media, Pa./Penncrest), freshman 157 Zac Cibula (Luxenburg, Wis./Casco) and junior 125 Ilyass Elmsaouri (Camp Hill, PA/Cedar Cliff) were 0-2 in the tournament.
The Broncs travel to Old Dominion January 3 to take on host ODU, Purdue and UNC Greensboro. "That is going to be a tough trip," Taylor said. "Purdue is going to be extremely tough and ODU is very good. We're going to keep the fire up."
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