Thursday, January 11th, 2024- 7:00 PM
Rider (2-4, 2-0 MAC) vs Princeton (0-2, 0-0 EIWA)
WATCH- ESPN+ 
LOCATION- Lawrenceville, NJ 

What You Need To Know
Rider University's Wrestling Team returns to action as they host in-state rival Princeton

Last Time Out
- Tyler Klinsky scored a massive upset over #2 Dean Peterson, however, The Rider University Wrestling team fell in their in-state matchup with #14 Rutgers 31-5 on Sunday afternoon. With the loss the Broncs drop to 2-4 and the Scarlet Knights move to 7-1.
- Tyler Klinsky picked up his first top-5 win while also scoring the Broncs' highest-ranked victory since Ethan Laird took down #1 Max Dean of Penn State in last season's home opener. 
-Colton Washleski moved to a team-best 18-5 on the season with a 2-0 weekend.
The Rider University Wrestling team fought back from a 12-0 deficit to score their first home victory of the season, taking down Northern Illinois 19-18 on Friday night. 

Broncs in the Rankings
- Rider ranks three wrestlers in the Intermat national rankings with #24 Quinn Kinner, #31 Colton Washleski, and #33 David Szuba.

Winner Washleski 
- Colton Washleski has been excellent in tournaments as he was crowned 157 lbs champion as Rider University's Wrestling team competed at the A Better Way Athletics Patriot Open hosted by George Mason University earlier this year.
- Washleski has reached the podium in all three tournaments/opens he's competed in this year including most recently placing 6th at the 59th Ken Kraft Midland Open.
- Washleski currently holds a team-best 18-5  record being the first Bronc to reach double-digit wins

Big Kinner
- Quinn Kinner secured his second NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022-23, finishing the year with a 24-9 record in his first season at 149. Kinner was able to battle back through the blood rounds at the MAC Championships, finishing third to secure his spot at NCAAs. 
- Kinner started the year with one of his most impressive performances with Rider after taking down a pair of nationally ranked opponents vs SIUE and Indiana (#21 Caleb Tyus and #6 Graham Rooks) 
- The Ohio State transfer has been a dominant piece for the Broncs since coming over from OSU where he posted a 38-10 record over two seasons at Ohio State, including a redshirt year as a true freshman in 2018-19.
- The Mullica Hill native returns to the Garden State where he was one of the most impressive wrestlers in the state at Kingsway Regional High School where he won two state titles for the Red Dragons. 

Kingsway Connection
- Kinner and Bell return to action on the same mat after being NCAA Qualifiers last season. The pair also return to wrestling together at Kingsway Regional in South Jersey.
- Bell was a three-time New Jersey State Place Winner amassing over 150 wins as a Red Dragon
- Kinner was a two-time NJ state champion finishing his career as one of the most decorated wrestlers in school history.

History vs Princeton
- Rider and Princeton are meeting for the 24th time on Thursday evening.
- Rider leads the all-time series 18-5, Rider took last year's incredibly tight matchup 18-18 by way of Criteria D.
-Last year Rider snapped its three-match losing streak to cross-town rival Princeton as the Broncs took down the Tigers, 19-18, at Jadwin Gym. Rider won based on criteria D, total near fall points, which the Broncs got by way of victories late by McKenzie Bell and  Quinn Kinner.
- At the end of all 10 bouts last year, there was an even tie in matches won 5-5. The next category to win was the most amount of wins by pin, forfeits, defaults, and disqualifications, which there was none of. Total points, criteria C, came out even as well, at 66-66, moving the decision on to criteria D, near-fall points which Rider would be able to take the dual with 18 near-fall points. Kinner accounted for 14 of those in his tech-fall win at 149 to help squeeze the Broncs past Princeton.

About the Tigers
-The Princeton Tigers kicked off their dual schedule with a competitive match against Indiana and only lost by a close margin of 18-15. However, they managed to achieve a split in match victories, securing five wins in competition. In the second dual against No. 14 Rutgers, Princeton fell but saw wins from No. 11 Eligh Rivera, Blaine Bergey, and Matt Cover.
- As of January 2nd, the Tigers have three wrestlers ranked by national media outlets. Luke Stout, the junior and two-time NCAA Qualifier, ranked No. 10 on Intermat and No. 12 on WrestleStat and FloWrestling. The senior, Nate Dugan came in at a ranking of No. 20 on InterMat and No. 25 on FloWrestling and WrestleStat. Eligh Rivera, the freshman, ranked No. 11 on WrestleStat and No. 33 on Intermat, 
- Joe Dubuque enters his first season as head coach of Princeton and was a two-time NCAA champion at Indiana. Over the last several seasons, Dubuque has assisted head coach Chris Ayres in revitalizing Princeton wrestling.
 
Alumni Day
- We will be honoring the 50th anniversary of the 1973-1974 Undefeated team led by first head coach Barry Burtnett. Join us for a pre-match social in the SRC starting at 5:00 pm.
- Members of the team will be honored on the mat during the match.

Projected Matches
Princeton
125- Drew Heethuis 
133- Sean Pierson 
141- Tyler Vazquez or Joe Davi 
149- 11/33 Eligh Rivera 
157- Rocco Camillaci 
165- Blaine Bergey 
174- Mikey Squires 
184- 20/25 Nate Dugan 
197- 10/12 Luke Stout 
HWT- Matt Cover or Sebastian Garibaldi 


Rider
125-Tyler Klinsky 
133-Richie Koehler or D'Amani Almodovar
141-McKenzie Bell or Will Betancourt 
 149-#24 Quinn Kinner 
157-#31 Colton Washleski 
165-Jake Silverstein 
 174-Michael Wilson 
184-Isaac Dean 
197-Azeem Bell 
285-#33 David Szuba