LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Rider University Wrestling team is ranked as highly as No. 24 nationally in the tournament rankings released recently by several publications, with four individual wrestlers also ranked in the top 30. Headlining the lists are returning NWCA All-Americans Jesse Dellavecchia (Great River, NY/East Islip [Binghamton]) and Ethan Laird (Waterford, PA/General McLane), who are ranked as highly as No. 3 and 9, respectively.

The Broncs take the No. 24 position in the national tournament rankings released by Wrestlestat and Intermat, while being ranked No. 25 by Trackwrestling and Flowrestling.

Dellavecchia is ranked third by Wrestlestat and fourth by Trackwrestling, Intermat and Flowrestling at 157 lbs. Dellavecchia became Rider's first-ever MAC Champion at 157 lbs., defeating nationally-ranked wrestlers Larry Early (Old Dominion) and Jarrett Jacques (Missouri) to earn the title. As the No. 4 seed at NCAA's, he was honored as an NWCA First Team All-American. He was named Clair Bee Rider Male Athlete of the Year after posting a 30-2 record.

After taking NWCA All-America Honorable Mention recognition as the No. 16 seed at NCAA's at 197 lbs. last season, Laird projects to move up to heavyweight this year and is ranked as highly as No. 9 by Wrestlestat. He also comes in at No. 13 (Intermat), No. 14 (Trackwrestling) and No. 20 (FloWrestling). He finished second at MAC Championships, was named an NWCA Scholar All-American and posted a 24-7 record, going 10-4 in duals and compiling a 7-1 mark in MAC duals. Laird earned three wins over wrestlers ranked in the Top 25 – Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh), Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) and Michael Beard (Penn State).

George Walton (Franklin, NJ/Bound Brook) is ranked No. 24 by TrackWrestling, No. 25 by FloWrestling and No. 26 by Wrestlestat at 184 lbs. Walton posted a 24-10 record last year, including marks of 10-5 in dual matches and 6-2 in MAC duals. He placed fourth at MAC Championships, won the Keystone Classic Championship and finished second at the Princeton Open. He earned a Top 20 win over Brit Wilson of Northern Illinois in the Broncs' first-ever MAC dual victory.

Jonathan Tropea (Harrington Park, NJ/Saint Joseph (Montvale)) rounds out the ranked Rider Wrestlers at No. 26 by Trackwrestling at 125 lbs. He went 20-14 as the Broncs' starter at 125 lbs. last season, including an 8-7 mark in dual matches. He went 4-2 to finish fourth at MAC Championships. He began the Broncs' upset win over No. 6 Minnesota with a decision over Patrick McKee. He also finished third at the Princeton Open and fifth at the Keystone Open.