LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The nationally-ranked No. 20 Rider University wrestling team won three of the first four matches, but fell to MAC foe Central Michigan, 28-10, Sunday afternoon at Alumni Gym. With the loss, the Broncs fall to 3-1 (2-1 MAC), while the Chippewas are now 2-1 (2-0 MAC).
With the match starting at 165, the Chippewas took a 3-2 decision on the strength of riding time, giving them the 3-0 match lead. Rider fought back with three-straight wins at 174, 184 and 197 to take a 10-3 lead.
Dean Sherry (Brick, NJ/Brick Township) defeated Jake Lowell, 8-3, while
George Walton (Franklin, NJ/Bound Brook) dominated Ben Cushman for a 20-7 major decision.
Ethan Laird (Waterford, PA/General McLane) also held off Landon Pelham at 197, 3-2.
However, Central Michigan would win the next two bouts by fall and the final six overall to clinch the win. Fourth-ranked heavyweight Matt Stencel pulled the Chippewas to within a point at 10-9 with a fall. Another fall from No. 8 Drew Hildebrandt at 125 made it 15-10, while a decision at 133 and a major decision at 141 pushed the Chippewas to a 22-10 lead. A last-second takedown at 149 made it 25-10, while a 5-3 decision closed out the Central Michigan win.
Quotes & Notes
"There's two messages – half the team gets one: you wrestled well, you fought hard. The other half, they need to find themselves a little bit. They need to not quit on themselves and not quit on their team. When you're wrestling a team like Central Michigan that's very fundamentally-sound, very good at the basics and very patient with their discipline, you can't throw caution to the wind because you'll matches. And when you're in a bad spot, you can't give up on yourself or your team." –
Rider Head Coach John Hangey
- Central Michigan extended its lead in the all-time series to 3-1. The last two meetings took place at the 2015 Eastern Michigan Duals and 2013 Virginia Duals, while the first meeting came in 1992-93 at the East Stroudsburg Open. Rider Head Coach
John Hangey was then a redshirt senior for the Broncs.
- Rider returns to action on Thursday, Dec. 19, when it travels up Route 206 to #12 Princeton for a 7 p.m. dual.
- At halftime of the match, Rider celebrated 50 years of Rider Wrestling.
Central Michigan 28, #20 Rider 10
165: Tracy Hubbard (CMU) dec.
Georgio Poullas (RID), 3-2; Central Michigan leads, 3-0
174: #11
Dean Sherry (RID) dec. Jake Lowell (CMU), 8-3; Match tied, 3-3
184: #19
George Walton (RID) maj. dec. Ben Cushman (CMU), 20-7; Rider leads, 7-3
197: #12
Ethan Laird (RID) dec. Landon Pelham (CMU), 3-2; Rider leads, 10-3
285: #4 Matt Stencel (CMU) WBF
Ryan Cloud (RID) at 2:14; Rider leads, 10-9
125: #8 Drew Hildebrandt (CMU) WBF #18
Jonathan Tropea (RID) at 6:35; Central Michigan leads, 15-10
133: Brock Bergelin (CMU) dec.
Chris Wright (RID), 8-2; Central Michigan leads, 18-10
141: #23 Dresden Simon (CMU) maj. dec. Robbie Cleary (RID), 14-5; Central Michigan leads, 22-10
149: Corbyn Munson (CMU) dec.
Gino Fluri (RID), 3-1; Central Michigan leads, 25-10
157: Logan Parks (CMU) dec.
Gary Dinmore (RID), 6-3; Central Michigan wins, 28-10
