College Wrestling

Rider University 20, Drexel University 17

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ—The Broncs won five bouts to defeat Drexel Friday night.

Of the five matches that Drexel (6-10, 3-1 EIWA) won, three were overtime.  “That was an interesting part of tonight's match, the amount of overtimes,” said Rider head coach Gary Taylor.

Two of the overtime wins for Drexel were upsets at 141 and 157.  “I give their wrestlers a lot of credit at 141 and 157,” Taylor said.  “They beat very good wrestlers.”

For Rider (11-6, 2-1 EWL) junior Conor Brennan (Brick, NJ/Brick Twp.) won by fall to give Rider a 20-14 lead. “Going into the match I knew my opponent was tough,” Brennan said.  “I felt I needed to get a few bonus points since the match was tied at the time. I was hoping it would come down to my match so I could go for those extra points for the team.”

“Conor is very powerful,” Taylor said.  “Once he is in, a lot of people don't realize how strong he is. He knew we needed something a little bit bigger, he went for it and he got it.”

Junior Rob Deutsch (Cherry Hill, NJ/Eastern Regional) won a major decision to give Rider a 10-8 lead. “Rob is just a very steady wrestler,” Taylor said.  Deutsch improved to 20-6, 14-3 in dual meets.

Rider freshman B.J. Clagon (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South) won a major decision to give Rider a 14-11 lead. “B.J. really looked sharp,” Taylor said.  “He and Conor are starting to show the form you need.”

Clagon improved to 20-7 on the season, 13-4 in dual meets.

Rider senior Donald McNeil (Plainville, Mass./Wyoming Seminary) won in overtime to cut the lead to 5-3. “Don is not 100 percent yet, coming back recently from an injury,” Taylor said, “but he's getting healthier and is improving. His timing is still a little off because he was out for a while. He did a nice job getting the win tonight.”

Sophomore J.R. Wert (Christiansburg, Va./Christiansburg) won to cut the lead to 8-6. “J.R. did a better job managing the seven minutes,” Taylor said. “We needed him back in the lineup tonight and he got a nice win.”

Rider has now won its last three matches and four of its last five.

Drexel defeated Rider 20-19 in Philadelphia last year, the first time Drexel beat Rider since the 2006-07 season.

Rider and Drexel are former East Coast Conference, East Coast Wrestling Association and Colonial Athletic Association rivals.

The Broncs and Dragons have now met 42 times since the series began in 1970-71, with Rider winning 33.

Rider hosts Cleveland State in an Eastern Wrestling League dual meet Saturday at 1pm. “Cleveland State is going to be very tough,” Taylor said.  'They have some very good wrestlers. They are a tough, hard-nosed team. We will have to wrestle better tomorrow than we did tonight to beat them.”

“Last year Cleveland State beat us and hopefully we'll be able to return that favor this year,” Brennan said.

Rider 20, Drexel 17

184  Alex DeCiantis-D  tech fall Ali Yildiz-R                     23-7                  0-5

197  Don McNeil-R  dec. Brandon Litten-D                      3-1 ot                3-5

Hwt  dec. Joey Goodhart-D Greg Velasco-R                   4-3 ot                3-8

125  J.R. Wert-R dec. Zack Fuentes-D                            6-0                    6-8

133  Rob Deutsch-R  major dec. Franco Ferraina-D         13-5                  10-8

141 David Pearce-D dec. Chuck Zeisloft-R                     7-5 ot                10-11

149  B.J. Clagon-R  major dec. Matthew Cimato-D          14-4                  14-11

157  Noel Blanco-D  dec. Chad Walsh-R                         3-1 ot                14-14

165 Conor Brennan-R  wbf Michael Paccione-D               1:55                  20-14

174  Stephen Loiseau-D  dec. Steve Nelson-R                4-3                    20-17