College Wrestling
Rider University 18, Princeton University 15
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ—The Broncs won five of the 10 bouts to defeat cross-town rival Princeton Friday evening. “We knew it was going to be a tough match,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. “We had strengths in certain places and they had strengths in certain places. It was a good match.”
For Rider (13-7) junior Conor Brennan (Brick, NJ/Brick Twp.) upset the 20th ranked wrestler in the nation in overtime. “That was a good win for Conor,” Taylor said. “Both wrestlers did some nice things in that match. I was impressed with both wrestlers. They both competed hard.”
“Going into the match I knew he was tough,” Brennan said. “We trained accordingly for that, setting up a different kind of style for tonight. It all worked out in the end.”
Junior Rob Deutsch (Cherry Hill, NJ/Eastern Regional) won by fall, his fourth fall of the season, to give Rider a 9-0 lead. Deutsch improved to 16-4 in duals. “I loved that pin,” Taylor said with a smile.
“We wanted to go out and score a lot of points,” Deutsch said. “That was our main goal.”
Freshman Chad Walsh (Cherry Hill, NJ/Camden Catholic) improved to 26-7 with a victory at 157.
Sophomore Ryan Wolfe (New Castle, Del./Caravel Academy) returned after missing several matches with an injury to win at 174, giving Rider an 18-6 lead. “It was good to have Ryan back in the lineup after almost a month,” Taylor said.
Sophomore J.R. Wert (Christiansburg, Va./Christiansburg) won to get the match started.
Princeton (9-7) won the final three bouts but it was not enough.
Rider defeated Princeton 21-15 last year. Rider has now beaten Princeton six straight times.
Rider travels to Penn State Sunday for a 2pm match. “It is going to be a tough time with the Nittany Lions,” Taylor said. “They are again a very solid team, a top five (in the nation) team. Some of our individuals need that level of competition.”
“We saved the big one for last, Penn State,” Deutsch said. “To go in there and wrestle in front of thousands of people, that is going to be a great environment.”
Last year Rider lost 34-8 to the three-time defending National Champions.
“I'm excited about wrestling Penn State in front of a big crowd,” Brennan said. “They are a very tough team so it will be a big challenge but we're tough this year.”
The next time Rider returns to Alumni Gym it will be for the Eastern Wrestling League Championships. “If we don't get anybody hurt this weekend the EWLs will be the first time since mid-season that we have everyone back and at full strength,” Taylor said. “So we are looking forward to that.”
Rider 18, Princeton 15
125 – J.R. Wert-R dec. Ryan Cash-P 8-2 3-0
133 – Rob Deutsch-R wbf Trey Asianian-P 5:41 9-0
141 – Jordan Laster-P dec. Chuck Zeisloft-R 5-4 9-3
149 –Chris Perez-P dec. Jimmy Morris-R 4-3 9-6
157 – Chad Walsh-R dec. Rich Eva-P 4-0 12-6
165 – Conor Brennan-R dec. No. 20 Jonathan Schleifer-P 6-4 ot 15-6
174 – Ryan Wolfe-R dec. Judd Ziegler-P 12-7 18-6
184 – Brett Harner-P dec. Clint Morrison-R 4-3 18-9
197 – Abram Ayala-P dec. Donald McNeil-R 7-4 18-12
285 – Ray O'Donnell-P dec. Greg Velasco-R 4-0 18-15
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