“Today showed the balance of the team,” said head coach Gary Taylor. “The lower weights had been successful and wrestled harder but the Penn wrestlers competed a little smarter so we were down early and needed the upper weights to come back for us. It was a good match for the spectators with two teams going at it hard. We were fortunate to get the win.”
For Rider (5-1) against Penn, red-shirt freshman 157 Chad Walsh (Cherry Hill/Camden Catholic) got the Broncs on the board with a 9-7 victory, his eighth of the season. Trailing 2-0, Walsh used a takedown and a near fall, all in the opening period to lead 4-2. After Penn cut the score to 8-7 on a late takedown, Walsh used over three minutes of riding time for the final score.
Junior Conor Brennan (Brick/Brick Township) won his second match of the season, scoring a 9-3 victory at 165, cutting the Rider deficit to 9-6. Brennan used two first period take downs and a two-point near fall to open up a 6-1 first period lead. Another takedown in the second period made the score 8-1 with escapes by each wrestler accounting for the final score.
Sophomore 174 Ryan Wolfe (New Castle, Del./Caravel Academy) rallied from a 6-2 deficit to win his match 10-7, his seventh victory of the season, tying the dual 9-9. Wolfe used a late escape at the end of the opening period to cut the deficit to three and two takedowns in the second period tied the score at 7-7. Wolfe used a takedown and riding time in the third period for the final score.
“I knew my match would be important,” said Wolfe. “Usually our duals at 125 and 133 are pretty much automatic wins for us so that was a game changer. I was down early and I knew we needed for me to win since the team was down. My opponent ended up getting tired and I was able to get the victory. You have to stay mentally tough.”
“Ryan’s match definitely swung the momentum,” Taylor said. “He is a very gifted wrestler and he has been working his way back from surgery last season. He is figuring a lot of things out timing wise and getting things back together.”
Fifth-year senior 197 Donald McNeil (Plainville, Mass./Wyoming Seminary) picked up his seventh win of the season to tie the dual at 12-12. McNeil opened up the match with a takedown and near fall for a 4-0 lead and an escape and takedown put McNeil ahead 7-1. An escape, takedown and riding time made the final 11-5.
Junior heavyweight Greg Velasco (Union Beach/Keyport) broke a scoreless tie with a second period escape and used 1:54 of riding time for a 2-0 victory, his fifth win of the season.
“I thought Greg wrestled a great match,” Taylor said. “He wrestled a smart match and did exactly what he needed to do. We went over some things as far as what to do and his match was impressive. He controlled it the whole way from beginning to end.”
Red-shirt freshman 125 J.R. Wert (Christiansburg, Va./Christiansburg) won his match by forfeit for the final dual score.
“The team has been doing well,” Wolfe added. “There are no holes in the lineup or weaknesses. If someone is down, we help them up. It’s coming together this year. Usually the lower weights carry us and today, it was the upper weights. We knew we needed to pick it up when the team was down.”
Rider opened Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) action earlier on Sunday with a convincing 38-3 victory over Clarion, winning nine of 10 matches.
Rider travels to Lehigh on December 7.
Results:
133: Richardson (PENN) dec. Deutsch (RID) 3-2 3-0
141: Canfora (PENN) dec. Zeisloft (RID) 6-4 6-0
149: Cobb (PENN) dec. Clagon (RID) 4-2 (ot/sv) 9-0
157: Walsh (RID) dec. Martino (PENN) 9-7 9-3
165: Brennan (RID) dec. Hiles (PENN) 9-3 9-6
174: Wolfe (RID) dec. McDevitt (PENN) 10-7 9-9
184: Thomas (PENN) dec. Morrison (RID) 5-3 (ot/sv) 12-9
197: McNeil (RID) dec. Stack (PENN) 11-5 12-12
Hwt.: Velasco (RID) dec. Garren (PENN) 4-0 15-12
125: Wert (RID) won by forfeit 21-12
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