College Wrestling
Rider University 30, Princeton University 10
University of Pennsylvania 23, Rider University 18
PRINCETON/LAWRENCEVILLE--The Rider University wrestling team split two duals on Sunday, winning at Princeton before losing in Alumni Gym against Penn.
For Rider (3-3), sophomore 149 Zac Cibula (Luxemburg, Wis./Luxemburg Casco) won twice with senior 184 Rob Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) also posting two victories. Cibula improved to 14-3 including 4-1 in dual meets with Morrison improving to 13-2 (5-1 in duals).
Against the Tigers, junior Jimmy Kirchner (Somerville) got the Broncs on the board with a 10-5 win at 133 with junior 141 Aaron Nestor (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) posting a 4-0 win to tie the match at six.
"The kids wrestled well at Princeton,." said head coach Gary Taylor. "Robbie and sophomore Jim Resnick (Media, Pa./Penncrest) have improved tremendously this year. "Robbie has become more patient and confident and he is finishing things much better. The wrestler he beat today is a returning All-American (top eight at NCAAs) so anytime you win against that type of competition, it is good for your confidence and shows what you are capable of."
Cibula won 6-2 and after two forfeit wins, Morrison won 8-3 to give Rider a 24-10 lead. Junior Tyler Smith (Philipsburg/Belvidere) won 6-3 at 197 with freshman Evan Craig (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) recording a 4-0 shutout for the final score.
"It was a long day," Morrison said about the away/home dual. "I just tried to focus on keeping my routine and my conditioning the same." Morrison was one of six NCAA qualifiers for Rider in 2009-10.
"I was coming off a bad hamstring (from Friday against Army)," said Cibula. "I wasn't even sure I was going to wrestle and with all of that, I'm pretty happy with how the day went, picking up two wins. UPenn is a very solid team so I'm pretty happy to get the victory."
"Zac is a very steady wrestler who compiled a lot of wins (19) for us last year," Taylor said. "I expect that to continue. He was a little banged up coming into today but he did what he had to do."
Against the Quakers, Rider won three matches (Cibula, Morrison and freshman 157 Ramon Santiago (Sayreville)) and the Broncs won heavyweight by forfeit. Santiago won by fall at 5:40 to cut Penn's lead to 13-9.
"Ramon's pin was a momentum swing," Taylor said. "Resnick at 165, (ranked 12th by Intermat) had beaten Gab Burak at the Keystone (hosted by Penn last month) and Burak was able to beat Resnick and give him his first loss of the season today. They are both very, very good wrestlers and that's what can happen against two evenly matched athletes. Ramon has been struggling quite a bit and today he showed up to wrestle and that is what he is capable of doing."
Rider defeated Princeton last season 24-13 and lost to Penn 21-15. The Broncs have won 10 of the last 12 against the Tigers. Penn is 4-0 all-time against Rider.
"I'm having a lot more fun this year," Morrison added about his 13-2 start to the season. "I really didn't do anything until my senior year in high school and now it seems that everything is repeating itself. I've matured a lot more and working with Associate Head Coach John Hangey all summer really helped. Before I even hit the mat, I have a game plan and that has really helped as well."
"Coach Hangey has done a good job of getting Robbie to be more of a patient wrestler," Taylor added.
"I'm happy with my season so far," Cibula said. "The three losses, I probably could have won so this early in the year, there is still room for improvement. I think, as a team we wrestled well, both against Princeton and against Penn but Penn just got us by a little bit."
Rider competes at the Midlands Championships December 29-30.
"Midlands is the toughest tournament in the country besides nationals," Cibula added about the upcoming trip to Chicago. "We have been training for this meet and I think we can get a handful of guys on the winner's podium."
"We view the Midlands as a pre-national to the nationals," Taylor said. "It is the closest thing you are going to get to NCAAs. The tournament has pretty much the best teams in the nation competing and it really gives us a chance to go up against the best."
-RU-
Rider University 30, Princeton University 10
125: Garrett Frey (Princeton) wbf Chuck Zeisloft (Rider) 2:36 0-6
133: Jimmy Kirchner (Rider) dec. Anthony Comunale (Princeton) 10-5 3-6
141: Aaron Nestor (Rider) dec Zachary Bintliff (Princeton) 4-0 6-6
149: Zac Cibula (Rider) dec. Brandon Rolnick (Princeton) 6-2 9-6
157: Daniel Kolodzik (Princeton) major dec. Franklin Miele (Rider) 13-5 9-10
165: Jim Resnick (Rider) won by forfeit 15-10
174: James Brundage (Rider) won by forfeit 21-10
184: Rob Morrison (Rider) dec. Michael Erdman (Princeton) 8-3 24-10
197: Tyler Smith (Rider) dec. Daniel Santoro (Princeton) 6-3 27-10
285: Evan Craig (Rider) dec. Robert Grogan (Princeton) 4-0 30-10
University of Pennsylvania 23, Rider University 18
125: Mark Rappo (Penn) tech. fall Chuck Zeisloft (Rider) 24-9 0-5
133: Rollie Peterkin (Penn) major dec. Jimmy Kirchner (Rider) 11-2 0-9
141: Zack Kemmerer (Penn) major dec. Aaron Nestor (Rider) 10-2 0-13
149: Zac Cibula (Rider) def. Andrew Lenzi (Penn) 3-0 3-13
157: Ramon Santiago (Rider) wbf Brad Wukie (Penn) 5:40 9-13
165: Gabriel Burak (Penn) def. Jim Resnick (Rider) 4-2 9-16
174: Rob Morrison (Rider) def. Scott Griffin (Penn) 6-4 12-16
184: Harrison Cook (Penn) def. Joe Ferber (Rider) 6-0 12-19
197: Micah Burak (Penn) major dec. Tyler Smith (Rider) 9-1 12-23
285: Evan Craig (Rider) won by forfeit 18-23
