FAIRFAX, VA – Ethan Laird (Waterford, PA/General McLane) and Dean Sherry (Brick, NJ/Brick Township) won individual titles at 197 and 174, respectively, as the Rider University wrestling team finished second at EWL Championships Saturday. The title was Laird's first, while Sherry has now won back-to-back EWL Championships. With their second-place finishes, nationally-ranked No. 14 Jesse Dellavecchia (Great River, NY/East Islip) and Anthony Cefolo (Florham Park, NJ/Hanover Park Regional) have also punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships, March 21-23 in Pittsburgh, PA.

After getting a bye to the semifinals, Laird won a pair of decisions over Bloomsburg's Kyle Murphy (4-0) and George Mason's Eli Spencer (6-2) to claim his spot on the podium.

For the second-straight year, Sherry did his best wrestling at the conference championships. The redshirt junior pinned Cleveland State's Colton Carroll in the quarterfinals, before taking a convincing 9-3 decision over Clarion's Taylor Cahill in the semifinals. Sherry put the exclamation point on the title with a fall at 4:18 against top-seeded Jacob Oliver of Edinboro.

Cefolo and Dellavecchia both fell in the finals. Cefolo got to the finals with a tech fall and a fall in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, before falling in the championship bout to Lock Haven's D.J. Fehlman. Still in need of a win in the true second-place match, Cefolo earned a 7-4 decision over Edinboro's Richie Gomez to earn the NCAA berth. Dellavecchia earned a pair of major decisions to reach the finals, before falling to nationally-ranked No. 5 Chance Marsteller of Lock Haven.

Quotes & Notes
"Overall, I thought our guys wrestled well today. They were very focused and aggressive."

"I'm very happy for Dean, now a two-time EWL Champ and Ethan for winning his first EWL title."

"Also, having Jesse D and Cefolo qualify for the NCAA's is great for them and the program."

"We look forward to getting these four guys ready to compete and represent Rider University at the NCAA's in two weeks." - Rider Head Coach John Hangey

- All 10 Broncs who competed finished in the top four.
- Rider had two EWL Champions, four runners-up, three third-place finishers and one fourth-place finisher.
- In addition to Dellavecchia and Cefolo, Evan Fidelibus (Easton, PA/Easton Area) and Michale Fagg-Daves (Somerset, NJ/Franklin) also finished second.
- Jonathan Tropea (Harrington Park, NJ/Saint Joseph (Montvale)), Travis Layton (Woodstown, NJ/Woodstown) and Gino Fluri (Blairstown, NJ/North Warren Regional) finished third.
- Ryan Cloud (Brookville, OH/Northmont) rounded out the Broncs on the podium in fourth at 285.  

Individual Results
125 – Jonathan Tropea – 3^rd Place
Quarterfinals – Bye
Semifinals – Lost by fall vs. Willy Girard (Bloomsburg), 6:54
Consolation – Major decision over Cameron Lathem (Cleveland State), 12-1
3^rd Place Match – Decision over Talha Farooq (George Mason), 11-5

133 – Anthony Cefolo – 2^nd Place
Quarterfinals – Won by tech fall over Spencer Reed (George Mason), 17-0
Semifinals – WBF over Shawn Orem (Bloomsburg), 1:42
Finals – Lost decision to D.J. Fehlman (Lock Haven), 3-2
2^nd Place Match – Decision over Richie Gomez (Edinboro), 7-4

141 – Travis Layton – 3^rd Place
Quarterfinals – WBF over Aaron Coleman (Bloomsburg), 2:57
Semifinals – Lost decision to Carmine Ciotti (Edinboro), 1-0
Consolation – Decision over Julio Alegria (George Mason), 6-2
3^rd Place Match – Decision over Sam Matzek (Cleveland State), 8-3

149 – Evan Fidelibus – 2^nd Place
Quarterfinals – Bye
Semifinals – Decision over Avery Shay (Clarion), 4-2
Finals – Lost decision to Tejon Anthony (George Mason), 13-6

157 – Gino Fluri – 3^rd Place
Quarterfinals – Decision over Michael Bartolo (Clarion), 4-3
Semifinals – Lost decision to Alex Klucker (Lock Haven), 4-1
Consolation – Decision over Nate Newberry (Bloomsburg), 3-2
3^rd Place – Decision over Michael Bartolo (Clarion), 6-2

165 – Jesse Dellavecchia – 2^nd Place
Quarterfinals – Major decision over Alex Carida (Bloomsburg), 10-0
Semifinals – Major decision over Colston DiBlasi (George Mason), 14-6
Finals – Lost major decision to Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven), 12-3

174 – Dean Sherry – EWL Champion
Quarterfinals – WBF over Colton Carroll (Cleveland State), 2:51
Semifinals – Decision over Taylor Cahill (Clarion), 9-3
Finals – WBF over Jacob Oliver (Edinboro), 4:18

184 – Michale Fagg-Daves – 2^nd Place
Quarterfinals – WBF over Paul Pierce (George Mason), 3:24
Semifinals – Decision over Trevor Allard (Bloomsburg), 6-3
Finals -  Lost decision to Corey Hazel (Lock Haven), 5-1

197 – Ethan Laird – EWL Champion
Quarterfinals - Bye
Semifinals – Decision over Kyle Murphy (Bloomsburg), 4-0
Finals – Decision over Eli Spencer (George Mason), 6-2

285 – Ryan Cloud – 4^th Place
Quarterfinals – Major decision over Jarrett Walters (Bloomsburg), 13-1
Semifinals – Lost by major decision to Matt Voss (George Mason), 14-1
Consolation – Decision over Edgar Ruano (Clarion), 8-3
4th Place – Lost by decision to Jon Spaulding (Edinboro), 7-2

Final Team Scoring
1. Lock Haven – 111.5
2. Rider – 93.5
3. George Mason – 56.5
4. Edinboro - 45.5
5. Bloomsburg – 25.5
6. Clarion – 20
7. Cleveland State – 8