Sunday, January 24, 2021 – 12 p.m.
Rider Broncs (1-1, 1-0 MAC) vs. George Mason Patriots (0-0, 0-0 MAC)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ
Live Video – ESPN+
Live Twitter Updates – Twitter.com/RiderWrestling

What You Need To Know
- The Rider University wrestling team host MAC foe George Mason in its home opener Sunday on ESPN+.  
- The Broncs are 1-1, having fallen at Binghamton on Jan. 9, before earning a convincing 30-9 win at Clarion on Jan. 16.
- A year after posting a 30-2 record with just one win by fall, Dellavecchia now had a pair of falls in his first two matches of the year and is 3-0 overall.
- Fellow 2020 NWCA All-American Ethan Laird is also 3-0 on the year, as is freshman 174 lbs. starter Angel Garcia.
- 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. in 2020, 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.
- Rider returns a pair of national qualifiers this season in Dellavecchia and Ethan Laird, both of whom have qualified in each of the last two years. Laird has moved from 197 to the heavyweight class this season. He's ranked as highly as No. 9 by Wrestlestat and also comes in at No. 14 (Intermat, Trackwrestling) and No. 21 (FloWrestling). He finished second at 2020 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).
- The Broncs are ranked 24^th in the national tournament rankings by WrestleStat, as well as 25^th by FloWrestling and Trackwrestling.
- Also ranked individually are George Walton at 184 lbs. and Jonathan Tropea at 125 lbs. Walton comes in at No. 21 (Trackwrestling), No. 24 (FloWrestling) and No. 33 (WrestleStat) after posting 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. Tropea is ranked No. 31 by Trackwrestling. 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.
- The remaining six spot in Rider's projected starting line-up are filled by two transfers, two returners and two true freshmen. Jake Silverstein (Nebraska) wrestles at 165 lbs., while Matt Correnti (Rutgers) slots in at 197 lbs. Correnti is the brother of former Broncs heavyweight Mauro Correnti. Richie Koehler returns to the starting line-up at 133 lbs., while redshirt freshman Wyatt McCarthy and redshirt junior Travis Layton will compete at 149 lbs. True freshman McKenzie Bell and sophomore Bryan Miraglia take over at 141 lbs., while fellow first-year Broncs Angel Garcia and Shane Reitsma compete at 174 lbs.
- Rider has controlled the all-time series with George Mason, 17-1. The lone GMU win came in 2007-08.
- George Mason has not yet competed in 2020-21. The Patriots top returning wrestlers are senior Alex Madrigal at 141 lbs. and junior Kyle Davis at 184 lbs. Madrigal is ranked 23^rd by Wrestlestat, while Davis is 36^th. Neil Schuster (165 lbs.) also finished 6^th at MAC Championships last year. Madrigal posted a 28-15 record last season, while Davis transferred in this season after spending his true freshman year at Buffalo and the last two years at Sacred Heart, where he went 18-7 last year.  
- Rider won the 2020 MAC East Division Championship with a 7-1 record against league foes, including a 6-0 mark against its East Division foes. 
- A Rider wrestler has achieved All-American status on 17 occasions, including 15 different wrestlers. Current assistant coach Ryan Wolfe, along with Chad Walsh, were the last Broncs to earn All-American in 2017.
- Rider earned a statement victory over then-No. 6 Minnesota on Nov. 15, 2019.