LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider wrestling team defeated George Mason, 24-12 on Saturday afternoon. Five Broncs were victorious in the victory over the Patriots to give Rider their first MAC win of the season. 

Noah Michaels started things off for the Broncs at 125 lbs, earning his first career victory. Michaels defeated Ben Monn by a 3-0 decision.

After the Broncs secured the first two bouts of the match, the Patriots took 141 lbs after a tightly contested match between Branden Palcko and Dominic Hargrove. Hargrove was able to sneak out with the 9-7 decision despite Palcko's impressive comeback effort late in the match.

No. 14 Sammy Alvarez and Kaden Cassidy delivered a battle at 149 lbs. After two action-packed periods, Alvarez entered the final frame trailing 4-2. With the match on the line, he came up clutch with a takedown to seize a 5-4 lead. In the final seconds, Alvarez sealed the victory in dominant fashion, putting Cassidy on his back for a pin and securing six crucial points for his team.

Colton Washleski met with 2024 NCAA Qualifier and No. 29 DJ McGee at 157 lbs. Washleski gave up the first takedown to be down 3-1 after the opening period. Trailing 4-1 in the final period, Washleski chose bottom to begin the third and quickly earned the reversal to bring the deficit to 4-3. McGee earned another escape, making the score 5-3. Washleski would continue to bring the pressure securing another takedown to take the 6-5 lead. McGee earned a clutch escape to tie the match and bring it to sudden victory. McGee shot first into overtime but Washleski would turn defense into offense to secure the 9-6 overtime victory. 

At 184 lbs No. 15 Isaac Dean took on Malachi DuVall. DuVall struck first early on but Dean would capitilize on solid chain wrestling to get the reversal making it 4-2 after one. An escape and a penalty point was awarded in the second period to tie the match at four. DuVall chose bottom to start the final period and took the 5-4 lead after an escape in what would be the final for the match. 

Quotes and Notes 
"Today was a good team win.  Our guys did what we asked them to do; wrestle hard for 7 minutes and score points. It was a good showing for us in the MAC and important for seeding at the end of the year." — Rider Head Coach John Hangey

Results
Rider 24, George Mason 12
125: Noah Michaels (Rider) over Ben Monn (George Mason) (Dec 3-0)
133: Will Betancourt (Rider) over Geoffrey Whelan (George Mason) (Dec 4-2)
141: Dominic Hargrove (George Mason) over Branden Palcko (Rider) (Dec 9-7)
149: No. 13 Sammy Alvarez (Rider) over Kaden Cassidy (George Mason) (Fall 6:40)
157: Colton Washleski (Rider) over No. 29 DJ Mcgee (George Mason) (SV-1 9-6)
165: No. 33 Enrique Munguia (Rider) over No. 26 Evan Maag (George Mason) (Inj. 6:29)
174: Logan Messer (George Mason) over Michael Wilson (Rider) (MD 11-1)
184: Malachi DuVall (George Mason) over No. 15 Isaac Dean (Rider) (Dec 5-4)
197: Brock Zurawski (Rider) over Tyler Kocak (George Mason) (Dec 6-4)
285: James Blackman (George Mason) over Collin French (Rider) (Dec 12-6)
*George Mason was deducted a team point for loss of mat control*

*All individual rankings are according to FloWrestling*

Up Next
The Broncs return to action on Feb. 2 when they host Campbell in Alumni gym. 
Match is set for 11 a.m.