Saturday, January 25, 2020 – 7 p.m.
Senior Night
#25 Rider Broncs (8-2, 4-1 MAC) vs. George Mason Patriots (7-4, 2-3 MAC)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ – Alumni Gymnasium
Tickets – GoBroncsTix.com
Live Video – ESPN+
Live Twitter Updates – Twitter.com/RiderWrestling

What You Need To Know
- The Rider University wrestling team plays host to conference rival George Mason Saturday night on ESPN+.
- Prior to the match, the Broncs will honor their eight-member senior class, comprised of Jim Brady, Anthony Cefolo, Ryan Cloud, Jesse Dellavecchia, Gary Dinmore, Gino Fluri, Peter Lipari and Dean Sherry.  
- The Broncs are currently ranked No. 25 in the nation by the National Wrestling Coaches Association for the second-straight week. Earlier in the season, Rider ranked as highly as No. 20 in the nation.
- FloWrestling has ranked Rider No. 1 in the MAC using individual rankings and a tournament scoring rubric that does not factor in bonus points. Meanwhile, the most recent MAC Coaches Rankings have Rider second.
- Since the calendar turned to January, Rider has won five-straight duals, including wins over Duke, Maryland and then-No. 22 Virginia in winning its first-ever championship at the 40^th Annual Virginia Duals. The Broncs' momentum continued with victories over MAC foes Edinboro and Old Dominion.  
- Jesse Dellavecchia has won his last eight matches and has a team-best 22 wins so far this season. Included in the mark was a 1-0 decision in his most-recent match over Old Dominion's Larry Early, who was ranked No. 12 in the nation, had won eight-straight matches and was the reigning MAC East Division Wrestler of the Week entering the bout.
- Peter Lipari has won his last five matches, including a 5-4 decision over Old Dominion's Sa'Derian Perry, who was ranked No. 1 at 141 lbs. by the MAC's Coaches, both before and after the match. The win avenged a major decision loss in the Journeyman Classic Championship match in November, before Lipari had joined the Broncs.
- Four Rider wrestlers are currently ranked nationally, led by Jesse Dellavecchia (157), whose highest ranking is No. 4 (WrestleStat). Ethan Laird (197) is ranked as highly as No. 8 by FloWrestling, while Sherry (174) takes the No. 17 ranking from TrackWrestling. FloWrestling has Peter Lipari (141) ranked No. 24, while The Open Mat tabs Jonathan Tropea (125) at No. 30.
- Rider has controlled the all-time series with George Mason, 16-1. The lone GMU win came in 2007-08.
- The Patriots are 2-3 in MAC matches, having defeated Edinboro and Clarion, while falling in its last three to Cleveland State, Buffalo and Lock Haven.
- George Mason is led by Colton DiBlasi at 149 lbs. DiBlasi is ranked as highly as No. 14 in the nation by WrestleStat. Alex Madrigal is also ranked as highly as No. 27 by The Open Mat.   
- Peter Lipari, Jesse Dellavecchia and Dean Sherry each went 3-0 at the Virginia Duals, while Jonathan Tropea and Joe Casey posted 2-0 marks. 
- Rider earned a statement victory over then-No. 6 Minnesota on Nov. 15. In the upset victory, Dean Sherry pinned nationally-ranked No. 6 Devin Skatzka. For his performance, Sherry was named MAC East Division Wrestler of the Week.
- The Broncs also had strong tournament showings at the Princeton Open, Keystone Classic and Southern Scuffle. The Broncs placed eight on the podium in Princeton and 12 more at the Keystone Classic, with Jesse Dellavecchia winning the title at both events. George Walton also took the title at 184 at the Keystone Classic. Dellavecchia, Laird and Sherry each reached the podium at the Southern Scuffle, placing second, third and sixth, respectively.  
- Dellavecchia was named Rider Athlete of the Month for November. 
- Rider, along with its six other former Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) teams joined the Mid-American Conference (MAC) for 2019-20, creating a 15-team league that's the second-largest in NCAA Division I wrestling. The Broncs will face tough new competition from the likes of perennially top-ranked Missouri, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Old Dominion, Ohio and Northern Illinois.
- Rider returns four national qualifiers this season in Dean Sherry, who made his second-straight NCAA Championship appearance at 174 last year, along with Anthony Cefolo, Jesse Dellavecchia and Ethan Laird.
- Sherry and Laird both won EWL titles last year, while Cefolo and Dellavecchia finished as runners-up.
- The Broncs were picked fourth in the MAC Preseason Coaches Poll, while five Broncs were ranked in the top six in their weight classes, led by Ethan Laird in the top spot at 197. Dean Sherry was picked second at 174, Jesse Dellavecchia and Anthony Cefolo took third at 157 and 125, respectively, while Chris Wright took sixth at 133. 
- A Rider wrestler has achieved All-American status on 17 occasions, including 15 different wrestlers. Current assistant coaches Chad Walsh and Ryan Wolfe were the last Broncs to earn All-American in 2017.