TRENTON, NJ – Richie Koehler (Middletown, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy), McKenzie Bell (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway), Jesse Dellavecchia (Great River, NY/East Islip [Binghamton]) and Ethan Laird (Waterford, PA/General McLane) each advanced to the finals at their respective weight classes and the Rider University wrestling team currently stands third following Day 1 at MAC Championships, hosted by Rider at CURE Insurance Arena.

Koehler opened the day with an upset of third-seeded Andrew Marten of Central Michigan at 133 lbs., before scoring another decision over sixth-seeded Bryce West of Northern Illinois. He punctuated his run to the finals with a win by fall over Bloomsburg's Cole Rhone. Koehler will face top-seeded Matt Schmitt of Missouri in the finals.

At 141 lbs., Bell earned a major decision in the opening round and a decision in the quarterfinals to set up a meeting with Missouri's top-seeded Allan Hart, who ranked fourth in the most recent NCAA Coaches Rankings. Bell jumped out to a 6-1 lead and defeated Hart, 8-6. He'll face defending MAC Champion Dresden Simon of Central Michigan in tomorrow's finals.

Dellavecchia, the top seed at 157 lbs., earned a pair of victories over Buffalo's Michael Petite and Edinboro's Peter Pappas to advance to the finals for the second-straight year. He won a 10-3 decision over Petite before pinning Pappas at 4:44. He'll face Missouri's Jarrett Jacques in a rematch of last year's finals and a pairing of the last two MAC Champions at 157 lbs.

The second-seeded Laird also won two matches to advance to the heavyweight finals. He defeated Northern Illinois' Max Ihry and Missouri's Zach Elam, both by 3-2 decisions, to advance to his second-straight MAC final after reaching the championship bout at 197 lbs. last year.  
 
Quotes & Notes
"Our kids wrestled well today. We have four kids already qualified for NCAA's with a chance for more tomorrow. There's still a lot of work to be done. The second day of MAC's is the more important day." – Rider Head Coach John Hangey

- Nine Broncs remain in contention heading into Day 2.
- Six Rider wrestlers advanced to the semifinals, with Jonathan Tropea (Harrington Park, NJ/Saint Joseph (Montvale)) and George Walton (Franklin, NJ/Bound Brook) both falling in one-point decisions.
- Koehler, Bell, Dellavecchia and Laird have all earned their spots at the NCAA Championships, to be contested March 18-20 in St. Louis. It marks the first qualifiers for Koehler and Bell and the third each for Dellavecchia and Laird.   
- MAC Championships resume tomorrow at noon with the consolation quarterfinals at noon and the consolation semifinals at 1 p.m. Both round can be seen on BroncVision. The finals will be aired live on ESPN+ beginning at 2:30 p.m.
 
Full Rider Results

125 - Jonathan Tropea
QF – Won Dec. vs. Josh Jones (GMU), 6-2
SF – Lost Dec. vs. Drew Hildebrandt (CMU), 3-2
 
133 - Richie Koehler
1st - Won Dec. vs. Andrew Marten (CMU), 7-1   
QF – Won Dec. vs. Bryce West (NIU), 3-2 
SF – Won by Fall over Cole Rhone (BLOOM), 6:05
 
141 - McKenzie Bell
1st - Won Maj. Dec. vs. Avry Mutschler (KENT), 13-2
QF – Won Dec. vs. Gabe Willochell (EDIN), 10-5
SF – Won Dec. vs. Allan Hart (MIZZ), 8-6
 
149 - Wyatt McCarthy
1st - Lost Dec. vs. Marcus Robinson (CSU), 3-1
Cons. – Won Dec. vs. Ben Freeman (BUFF), 9-4
 
157 - Jesse Dellavecchia
QF – Won Dec. Michael Petite (BUFF), 10-3
SF – Won by Fall over Peter Pappas (EDIN) at 4:44
 
165 - Jake Silverstein
1st - Won Dec. vs. Tanner Updegraff (LH), 4-1
QF – Lost Dec. vs. Alex Cramer (CMU), 4-2
Cons. – Won by Fall over Chase Diehl (SIUE), at 0:49
 
174 - Angel Garcia
1st - Lost by Fall vs. Logan Stanley (OHIO), 5:15
Cons. – Lost Dec. vs. Mason Kauffman (NIU), 2-1
 
184 - George Walton
1st - Won Dec. vs. Mason Kroening (OHIO), 9-3
QF – Won Dec. vs. Ethan Ducca (EDIN), 16-11
SF – Lost Dec. vs. Jeremiah Kent (MIZZ), 6-5
 
197 - Matt Correnti
1st - Won Dec. vs. Gage Braun (NIU), 5-3
QF – Lost Maj. Dec. vs. Greg Bulsak (CLAR), 13-1
Cons. – Won Dec. vs. Samuel Mitchell (BUFF), 6-3
 
285 - Ethan Laird
QF – Won Dec. vs. Max Ihry (NIU), 3-2
SF – Won Dec. vs. Zach Elam (MIZZ), 3-2