LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Senior Gino Fluri (Blairstown, NJ/North Warren Regional) and junior Jesse Dellavecchia (Great River, NY/East Islip) won the Broncs' last two matches as the Rider University wrestling team came from behind to defeat Penn, 20-18, Thursday night at Alumni Gym. Trailing 18-13 after eight bouts, Fluri took a sudden victory at 157 to keep the Broncs alive and Dellavecchia earned a 10-2 major decision to push Rider to victory.

After Penn took the first bout at 174, Rider won the next three to establish a 10-3 advantage. Michale Fagg-Daves (Somerset, NJ/Franklin) got things started with a major decision at 184, before Ethan Laird (Waterford, PA/General McLane) and Ryan Cloud (Brookville, OH/Northmont) took decisions at 197 and 285, respectively.

Anthony Cefolo (Florham Park, NJ/Hanover Park Regional) scored a late takedown for a 6-4 win at 133 to give Rider the 13-6 lead, before Penn got wins by fall at both 141 and 149 to surge ahead, 18-13.

But heading to overtime tied at 5-5, Fluri got a takedown for the sudden victory at 157 and Dellavecchia dominated at 165 for a major decision as the Broncs completed the 20-18 win.  

Results
174 – Jake Hendricks (Penn) dec. #25 Dean Sherry (Rider), 14-9; Penn leads, 3-0
184 – Mike Fagg-Daves (Rider) maj. dec. Ryan Farber (Penn), 17-6; Rider leads, 4-3
197 – Ethan Laird (Rider) dec. Patrik Garren (Penn), 6-1; Rider leads, 7-3
285 – Ryan Cloud (Rider) dec. Ben Goldin (Penn), 5-3; Rider leads, 10-3
125 - Carmen Ferrante (Penn) dec. Jonathan Tropea (Rider), 13-7; Rider leads, 10-6
133 – Anthony Cefolo (Rider) dec. Doug Zapf (Penn), 6-4; Rider leads, 13-6
141 – Grant Aranoff (Penn) WBF Travis Layton (Rider), 1:30; Rider leads, 13-12
149 - #20 Anthony Artalona (Penn) WBF Evan Fidelibus (Rider), 4:59; Penn leads, 18-13
157 – Gino Fluri (Rider) dec. Joe Oliva (Penn), 7-5 SV-1; Penn leads, 18-16
165 – Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider) maj. dec. Evan DeLuise (Penn), 10-2; Rider wins, 20-18

Quotes & Notes
"A win's a win. You take them when they come. They're never easy to come by in college athletics. But I didn't like the way it came down. I wanted it to be a little cleaner. But credit the pen. They came and they wrestled smart, they wrestled well. Our backs were against the wall and our team showed up at the end." – Rider Head Coach John Hangey

"That's why you wrestle, for situations like this. You've got to be prepared and I feel like our team is prepared. I was prepared to just go out there and try to win." – Senior Gino Fluri

"That's what I love to do. When it was announced that I was the last match, I was super ecstatic. I love being in that position. I love being able to have the opportunity to win the match for the team." – Junior Jesse Dellavecchia

"I knew I had to go out and score a lot of points for the team. So that made me feel good that I was able to go out and score points. I knew it was going to be close." – Redshirt senior Michale Fagg-Daves

- The Broncs evened the all-time series with Penn, 5-5, including wins in each of the last five meetings, with one in each of the last five seasons.
- Last year's match at Penn also came down to the wire, with Cloud's win at 285 sealing a 19-15 Rider win.    
- Dellavecchia, Jonathan Tropea (Harrington Park, NJ/Saint Joseph (Montvale)) and Travis Layton (Woodstown, NJ/Woodstown) each wrestled for the first time in a dual in Alumni Gym.    
- The Broncs return to action Dec. 16, when they travel to intrastate foe Rutgers at 1 p.m.