Rider Fifth at CAAs
Cibula Champ, Most Outstanding Wrestler
Santiago Runner-up, Resnick and Morrison Third
LAWRENCEVILLE-With one champion, one runner-up and a pair of third place finishers the Broncs finished in fifth place at the 2011 Colonial Athletic Association Championships. "As a group I felt we wrestled harder today," said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. "We seemed to be holding back yesterday. Sometimes with young kids that happens."
Sophomore Zac Cibula (Luxemburg, Wis./Luxemburg Casco) defeated the seventh ranked wrestler in the nation, top seeded Donald Vinson of Binghamton, 5-4 in the finals and was named the CAA Most Outstanding Wrestler.
"I think it is well, well deserved," Taylor said. "My heavens. He beat a kid who beat the defending national champion this year."
Cibula wrestled Vinson earlier this year, losing 7-2. "Vinson is an extremely skilled wrestler," Taylor said. "He is very quick. I don't think Zac was ready for that much quickness the first time they wrestled. Zac's strength is the longer a match goes, his conditioning and his strength help him. He is a very wearing wrestler. If he can stay in a match he can wear people down."
"Last time I wrestled him I was a little hesitant," said Cibula, who was a four-time Wisconsin State Champion in high school. "He's a tough kid. Since he beat me up I've trained harder and established an attitude that it was not going to happen again."
Freshman Ramon Santiago (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville) lost 9-5 in the finals against the top seed, Matt Kaylor of Binghamton to finish runner-up.
Senior Rob Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff), the top seed at 174, defeated Tristan Warner of ODU 6-3 in the battle for third place. Morrison defeated Justin Wieller 2-0 in the consolations Saturday morning.
Sophomore Jim Resnick (Media, Pa./Penncrest), the third seed at 165, defeated the top seed, Joe Booth of Drexel, 3-1 in the battle for third place and qualified for Nationals. Resnick defeated Aaron Keeton of George Mason 10-1 in the consolations Saturday morning.
"Neither Robbie nor Resnick wrestled well the first day but I felt they both wrestled well the second day," Taylor said.
Freshman Evan Craig (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) lost 3-1 to the fourth seed, Grant Chapman of Old Dominion in the battle for third place. Craig defeated the sixth seed, Cody Reed of Binghamton, 5-3 in the consolations Saturday morning.
Junior Aaron Nestor (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) lost 4-3 in the consolations Saturday morning to the fifth seed, Josh Yurasits of Drexel.
Freshman James Brundage (Ossining, N.Y./Ossining) lost 6-3 in the consolations Saturday to the fourth seed, Brock Mantella of BU.
Senior Joe Ferber (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem High School East) lost in overtime 3-1 to the fifth seed, Matt Leow of Hofstra in the consolations Saturday.
Junior Jimmy Kirchner (Somerville, N.J./Somerville) lost 6-4 in the consolations Saturday to the third seed, Fred Santaite of BU.
Freshman Chuck Zeisloft (Woodbury Heights, N.J./Gateway) lost 3-2 in the consolations Saturday to the fourth seed from Boston U., Chris McGinley.
"We'll turn the heat up," Taylor said. "We try to develop this young group and get some more good recruits in here and keep going after this championship."
Team Standings: Hofstra 94, Binghamton 78.5, Old Dominion 52.5, Boston U. 46, Rider 43.5, Drexel 25.5, George Mason 6
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