Named the CAA Rookie of the Week today for the second time, Morris needed a major decision or a fall or Rider (9-7, 3-1 CAA) would have lost the match. "He's the perfect guy to have as your last wrestler because of his composure and he has unbelievable confidence right now."
The victory was the eighth in a row for Morris, who improved to 11-5 on the season, 3-0 in the CAA. "He just continues to keep getting better."
For Rider, sophomore James Brundage (Ossining, N.Y./Ossining) won a major decision at 165 to give Rider a 7-6 lead. "James did what he needed to do," Taylor said. Brundage was supposed to face the top 165 in the CAA, 12th ranked Joe Booth, but Booth was sidelined with an injury. "We had two guys out with injuries and they had one, so it was a bit of a trade off there," Taylor said.
Junior Zac Cibula (Luxemburg, Wis./Luxemburg Casco), the 2011 CAA Championship Most Outstanding Wrestler, won at 149 to tie the score at 3-3.
"Zac looked a lot sharper," Taylor said of Cibula, who has only wrestled twice since December due to injuries. "His timing is coming back and you could see he is more comfortable out there."
Freshman Clint Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) won at 184 to give Rider a 10-9 lead.
"It was an overall good team effort," Taylor said.
Sophomore Chuck Zeisloft (Woodbury Heights, N.J./Gateway) won at 125 to cut the lead to 15-13 but had a team point deducted. "The kid escaped with two seconds left (preventing Zeisloft from getting a major decision) and Chuck decided to scream and the official rightfully took away a team point," Taylor said. "We will be discussing that at great length. The match could have come down to that."
Rider defeated Drexel 19-18 in a non-CAA dual in January at the Virginia Duals. Rider and Drexel have now met 37 times since the series began in 1970-71 with Rider winning 29, including the last six.
The last time Drexel (6-9, 1-4 CAA) defeated Rider was during the 2006-07 season.
The match was delayed over an hour as the teams waited for an official to show up.
Rider hosts Columbia Saturday at 6pm. "Columbia has a pretty good team so we'll work hard and try to get ready for them," Taylor said.
141 Frank Cimato-D dec. Jeremy Minich-R 9-3 0-3
149 Zac Cibula-R dec. Shane Fenningham-D 6-0 3-3
157 Austin Sommer-D dec. Ramon Santiago-R 5-4 3-6
165 James Brundage-R major dec. Brendan Sebera-D 15-5 7-6
174 Alex Rinaldi-D dec. Brandon Lintner-R 5-3 7-9
184 Clint Morrison-R dec. Nick Becattini-D 9-4 10-9
197 Brandon Palik-D dec. Donald McNeil-R 3-2 10-12
285 Kyle Frey-D dec. Evan Craig-R 7-0 10-15
125 Chuck Zeisloft-R Franco Ferraina-D 12-5 12*-15
133 Jimmy Morris-R wbf Josh Yurasits-D 5:48 18-15
*team point deducted for unsportsmanlike conduct
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