Thursday, February 22th, 2024- 6:00 PM
Rider (7-6, 7-0 MAC) vs #23 Pitt (8-8, 1-3 ACC)
WATCH- ACCNX
LOCATION- Pittsburgh, PA

Friday , February 23rd, 2024- 2:00 PM
Rider (7-6, 7-0 MAC) vs Cleveland St ((7-7, 5-2) MAC)
WATCH- FloWrestling 
LOCATION- Cleveland, OH

What You Need To Know
Rider University's Wrestling Team travels to Pitt and Cleveland State to round out their dual season

Last Time Out
-The Rider University Wrestling team remained the MACs lone unbeaten as they moved to 7-0 in the Mid-American with a 27-9 win over Clarion. With the win, Rider moves to 7-6 overall and remains perfect at 7-0 in the conference while dropping Clarion to 8-9 and 3-3 in the MAC.
-The win gave Rider their 12th straight MAC win dating back to January 26th of 2023.
- Bell scored his second straight major decison win. 
- Washleski won his team best 24th match and his 10th in his last 11 bouts.

Broncs in the Rankings
- Rider ranks three wrestlers in the Intermat national rankings with #30 Quinn Kinner, #28 Colton Washleski, and #32 David Szuba.
- Rider was also ranked #19 as a team in the first NWCA Division I Men's Wrestling Mid-Major Coaches Poll of the season, released last Wednesday.
- Rider remains the lone unbeaten in the Mid-American at 7-0 in Conference.
- Rider will also be looking to clinch their second straight MAC East Divison Dual Title. 

Bonus Point Bonanza 
- Rider tied a season-best with seven bonus point victories vs Bloomsburg as Tyler Klinsky, Richie Koehler, Will Betancourt, Quinn Kinner, Michael Wilson, Azeem Bell, David Szuba all won by pin, tech fall, or major decision vs the Huskies. 
- The Broncs previously set this mark vs Edinboro, 34-6 with three tech falls from Tyler Klinsky, Quinn Kinner, and Colton Washleski. 
- Klinsky currently leads Rider with ten bonus point wins.

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 placing 6th at the 59th Ken Kraft Midland Open.
- Washleski currently holds a team-best 24-6 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 Pitt 
- Rider and Pitt are meeting for the fifth time in program history with both teams holding two victories in the series 
- The meeting in Pittsburgh is the first since the 2004-05 season
About The Panthers
- Last time out A shorthanded Pitt wrestling team fell to Virginia Tech, 26-12, in ACC action on Friday night at the Fitzgerald Field House.
- Pitt's lineup this week consists of six ranked wrestlers, led by No. 10 Reece Heller at 184 pounds, his brother No. 13 Holden Heller at 165 and the surging No. 14 Cole Matthews at 141.
-Also ranked for the Panthers, No. 23 Vinnie Santaniello at 133 pounds, No. 18 Luca Augustine at 174 and No. 15 Mac Stout at 197 look to finish the regular season strong this weekend to boost their chances of earning a trip to nationals next month.
- Pitt will host Virginia to end their dual season after facing Rider

History vs CSU
- Rider and Cleveland St are meeting for the ninth time in program history with Rider leading the all-time series 6-3
- Last year the Rider University wrestling team won a share of the MAC East Division Dual Season Championship after taking down Cleveland State as a part of their tri-meet vs the Vikings and the Drexel Dragons. Rider defeated Cleveland State, 25-9, before taking down Drexel, 26-12. With the wins, Rider ends its dual season as the winner of five straight and finished with a record of 9-5 and 6-1 in the MAC.  

About The Vikings 
-Last week sophomore Nick Molchak was named East Division MAC Wrestler of the Week. This is the third weekly honor and the second straight for the Vikings. In addition, this is the first of Molchak's career.
- Cleveland State (7-7, 5-2) won their fourth straight match last Saturday afternoon after defeating Bloomsburg (4-15, 0-8), 40-5.

Projected Matches
Rider
125-Tyler Klinsky
 133-Richie Koehler or Nieko Malone 
141-McKenzie Bell or Will Betancourt
 149- #32 Quinn Kinner
 157-#28 Colton Washleski
 165-Jake Silverstein 
174-Michael Wilson 
184-Isaac Dean or Brock Zurawski 
197-Azeem Bell
 285-#33 David Szuba

#23 Pitt
125   Colton Camacho          . 7-11  
133    # 23 Vinnie Santaniello     13-12
141    # 14 Cole Matthews                13-9   
149    Finn Solomon         13-9  
157    Jared Keslar            12-13 
165    #13 Holden Heller    10-5   
174    #18 Luca Augustine 11-4   
OR      Grant MacKay         17-8   
184    #10 Reece Heller    15-5  
197    #15 Mac Stout        16-5   
285    Geoff Magin           0-4    

CSU
125: Ben Aranda (9-10) or Ruben Pina-Lorenzana 
133: Nick Molchak (12-11) or Landen Duncan (4-3)
141: Dylan Layton (15-7) or Michael Markulin (6-9)
149: Douglas Terry (11-9) or Ethan Mitchell (11-13)
157: Marcus Robinson (3-0) or Shane Heil (10-13)
165: Tate Geiser (17-13) or Daniel Patten (7-9)
174: DeAndre Nassar (8-9) or Ronald Dimmerling (3-12)
184: Joey Lyons (3-17)
197: No. 33 Ben Smith (17-5)
285: No. 20 Daniel Bucknavich (19-2) or Mason Cover (7-9)