Rider University Athletics

2021-22:
- Finished 3^rd at World Team Trials at 97kg. in May
- Redshirted the season
- Posted an 11-1 record, wrestling unattached at the Illinois Matmen Open, Patriot Open and Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open
- Earned Top 30 wins over Illinois’ #22 Luke Luffman (fall), Navy’s #30 Grady Griess (5-4 dec.) and North Carolina State’s #24 Tyrie Houghton (5-4 dec.)
- Only loss came to Wisconsin’s #15 Trent Hillger by 2-0 decision

2020-21:
- NCAA Qualifier at heavyweight
- Won two matches at NCAA’s, but fell in the blood round to come a match shy of All-American status
- MAC Runner-Up, falling to Central Michigan’s #4 and four-time MAC Champion Matt Stencel in the final
- Earned a 3-2 decision over Missouri’s #14 Zach Elam in the MAC Semifinals
- Posted a 10-3 overall record, including a 5-0 mark in dual matches

2019-20:
- NCAA Qualifier for the second-straight year at 197 lbs.
- Finished second at MAC Championships
- NWCA Scholar All-American
- Posted a 24-7 record, going 10-4 in duals and compiling a 7-1 mark in MAC duals
- Earned three wins over wrestlers ranked in the Top 25 – Jake Jakobsen (Lehigh), Dakota Geer (Oklahoma State) and Michael Beard (Penn State), the latter two coming at the Southern Scuffle
- Placed second at both the Princeton Open and Keystone Classic
- Finished third at the Southern Scuffle
- Won two matches by fall
- Earned a decision in the Broncs’ upset victory over nationally-ranked No. 6 Minnesota (Nov. 15)

2018-19:
- NCAA Qualifier after decisively winning both of his matches as the No. 4 seed at EWL Championships
- Won a team-best three matches at NCAA’s – an SV-1 decision over Chattanooga’s Rod Jones and wrestleback decisions against Drexel’s Stephen Loiseau and Oklahoma’s Jake Woodley
- Went 22-13 overall, including an 8-5 mark in dual matches
- Posted a 4-2 mark in EWL duals
- Won a pair of matches by fall
- Finished fourth at the Keystone Classic

2017-18:
- Went 17-10, including a 6-0 mark in EWL duals as a true freshman
- Finished 2^nd at EWL’s
- Posted a 9-6 mark in dual matches
- Went 3-1 at EWL’s before falling to Clarion’s Dustin Conti in the finals
- Took 2^nd at the Princeton Open and 5^th in the Keystone Classic

Before Rider:
General McLane High School’s all-time career wins leader with 138… A four-time state qualifier and 2017 State Runner-Up… Three-time Academic All-State… Also an All-Region selection in football and baseball.

Personal:
The son of Lisa and Phil Laird… Has two older brothers, Chris and Nate, and a younger brother, Chuck… Both parents attended Edinboro University… A business marketing major.