College Wrestling
Rider University 37, Duquesne University 6
Rider University 25, Clarion University 19
LAWRENCEVILLE-The Broncs won all nine bouts they wrestled to defeat Duquesne Saturday afternoon before beating Clarion in a five-five split come-from-behind victory Saturday night. "Clarion is a much improved team," said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. "To beat this team, I am very pleased with the way our guys fought. I think both teams knew it could come down to a five-five split so it was going to come down to who got the bonus points."
Against Clarion, sophomore Tyler Smith (Phillipsburg, N.J./Belvidere) won by fall for the 12th time this season to give Rider a 20-19 lead, Smith's second win of the day to improve to 19-12 on the season. "Tyler had a huge win to take some pressure off of Eddie," Taylor said. "All of the kids who picked up the bonus points were real key to the Clarion match. Tyler certainly put us in a good position."
"I like being someone who can save the match," Smith said. "I like being able to set up Eddie. When it is not a close match, I like to go early and then relax and cheer on my teammates, but when it comes down to the wire like this, I like being there."
Senior Ed Bordas (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central) won by tech fall (15-0) for the final score against Clarion. Bordas, who is ranked 20th in the nation, improved to 24-7 overall, 11-3 in duals. It was a major decision from Bordas that gave Rider a 19-18 win at Clarion last season. "Last year I needed to get a major, but this year all I had to do was win," Bordas said.
"Eddie had a nice win," Taylor said. "We've been working with him a lot to get back to scoring more on top, with his legs."
"Sometimes I like being the last guy," Bordas said. "Because I am the team captain that is where the pressure of the match should be. It looked like it could be a five-five split and it was probably going to come down to me."
Smith, sophomore Jimmy Kirchner (Somerville) and freshman Jim Resnick (Media, Pa./Penncrest) and all won twice on the day for Rider. Kirchner had a tech fall and a pin. Kirchner won by fall to tie the score at 6-6 with Clarion. Clarion won four of the first five bouts. "Jimmy getting the pin was big," Taylor said. "We need to get some wind in our sail. That pin stopped their momentum. That could have been the key to the match. He pinned a very good kid."
"It looked like we were in trouble at first," Smith said, "but Jimmy got that huge pin, Resnick had the big tech fall that pumped us up and I went out there on fire."
Junior Rob Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) won twice, including by forfeit against Duquesne.
"You never know exactly what to expect," Taylor said. "Duquesne showed a lot of heart, a lot of character."
Duquesne announced just last week that it was dropping wrestling, along with four other men's sports. "It's a tough time for them, a tough situation," Taylor said. "That decision came out of the clear blue."
Sophomore Aaron Nestor (Transfer, PA/Reynolds) began the Duquesne match with a pin, his fourth of the season. "We're trying to get Aaron to work on some things," Taylor said. "He's always been a good competitor and now he's getting better technically."
Kirchner won by tech fall for the final score of the Duquesne match. "Jimmy has been making some good college adjustments," Taylor said of Kirchner, who improved to 10-4 in duals. "He's really starting to get on target."
Freshman Zac Cibula (Luxenburg, Wis./Casco) and junior Ilyass Elmsaouri (Camp Hill, PA/Cedar Cliff) won by major decisions against Duquesne. "Ilyass did a nice job," Taylor said. "He is progressing. We're trying to get more offense out of the entire team and this was a match for them to do it. Zac did that tonight and continues to improve."
Senior Michael Kessler (Randallstown, MD/Owings Mills) and senior Mike Ward (Mayfield, Ohio/Mayfield Village) also won for the Broncs against Duquesne.
The Broncs did not send a heavyweight to the mat against Duquesne for the Dukes' only points. "I knew if we were winning by a lot I wasn't going to wrestle against Duquesne," Bordas said, "since my knee was not 100 percent. We all thought I would be needed in the Clarion match. I think I could have beaten the Duquesne kid, and I'd like to have more wins, but I knew in the end it would be worth it."
Clarion recently defeated the top ranked team in Rider's Colonial Athletic Association, Old Dominion. "Clarion is very good," Taylor said. The Golden Eagles were led by their nationally ranked wrestlers, 149 James Fleming (19th by Amateur Wrestling News) and 157 Hadley Harrison (17th by AWN, 19th by InterMat). "They are pretty solid at 141 also," Taylor said.
The Broncs host Hofstra February 10. "We haven't been home too much so we're looking forward to wrestling at home again," Taylor said.
Hofstra won eight conference championships in the 1970s and early '80s, then Rider won 13 in 17 years in the 1980s and 1990s, and now Hofstra has been back on top again, winning eight CAA Titles. Rider is 15-14 against Hofstra in the last 30 years. "They've been a traditional rival," Taylor said. "It has gone back and forth, where we have been on top of them and they have been on top of us. Now we want to get back on top."
The Hofstra match will be a Code Cranberry night, when all of the other varsity athletes come out to support each other. "I'm hoping to get another pin that night," Smith said, "Show off a little bit on Code Cranberry Night."
Rider 37, Duquesne 6
141: Aaron Nestor-Rid wbf Tony Lascari-D 4:39 6-0
149: Michael Kessler-Rid dec. Josh Pascazi-D 11-4 9-0
157: Zac Cibula-Rid major dec. Alex Martinez-D 17-6 13-0
165: Rob Morrison-Rid won by forfeit 19-0
174: Jim Resnick-Rid dec. Seth Csaszar-D 2-1 22-0
184: Mike Ward-Rid dec. Ryan Sula-D 5-3 25-0
197: Tyler Smith-Rid dec. Justin Buchanan-D 10-3 28-0
Hwt: Nadeem Farah-D won by forfeit 28-6
125: Ilyass Elmsaouri-Rid major dec. Taylor Wilde-D 12-2 32-6
133: Jimmy Kirchner-Rid tech fall Jake Swink-D 15-0 37-6
Rider 25, Clarion 19
125: Joe Waltko-C wbf Ilyass Elmsaouri-Rid 2:34 0-6
133: Jimmy Kirchner-Rid wbf Jay Ivanco-C 2:36 6-6
141: Greg Lewis-C major dec. Aaron Nestor-Rid 10-1 6-10
149: James Fleming-C dec. Michael Kessler-Rid 7-0 6-13
157: Hadley Harrison-C dec. Zac Cibula-Rid 11-5 6-16
165: Rob Morrison-Rid dec. Nick Milano-C 4-1 9-16
174: Jim Resnick-Rid tech fall Steve Cressley-C 15-0 (4:38) 14-16
184: Clint Podish-C dec. Mike Ward-Rid 6-2 14-19
197: Tyler Smith-Rid wbf Alex Thomas-C 3:31 20-19
Hwt: Ed Bordas-Rid tech fall Quintas McCorkle-C 15-0 25-19
