The Hofstra Pride, Kings of the jungle and the Colonial Athletic Association since 2001, lost to the Rider Broncs Wednesday night, as both teams won five bouts but the Broncs put together a tech fall, a major decision and a victory by injury default for the bonus points.
The victory over Hofstra was the first for Rider in 11 years. "It has been a while," said Rider head coach Gary Taylor. "It was important to get this win. I felt the Hofstra kids wrestled hard and very well. This was a hard-fought battle and a good win."
Rider won 13 conference championships in a 15-year span before Hofstra won the last nine. "What I'm feeling best about is the fact that we're heading back in the right direction to build back up," Taylor said. "We've got some good red-shirts coming in next year and we had another good recruiting year. We're trying to get back up top and start winning this thing on a regular basis. This was a step in that direction."
Rider senior Michael Kessler (Randallstown, MD/Owings Mills) won a major decision in his last dual meet in Alumni Gym to give Rider a 7-6 lead.
"Before the match I was thinking this will be my last dual meet here," Kessler said. "I wanted to go out on a good way and this was a great way to go out. Hofstra has always kind of beat up on us so it was great to get this this year, especially my last year. Now I will always know we finally got the best of them my last year."
"That was a good way for Mike to finish up his career here," Taylor said. "He did a real nice job."
Kessler (20-9 overall, 5-0 CAA), ranked first in the CAA and 27th in the nation in the Coaches' Poll, now has 94 career wins. "I started off kind of slow this year," said Kessler, a three-time National qualifier who dropped down a weight class this year. "I was getting used to the new weight and as the season progressed I felt myself getting better in certain spots. Now I feel I have this weight totally under control. I've been getting better each match. This is the time when I want to peak. Coming up is what really counts, the conference tournament and Nationals."
Wednesday night will go down as a fond memory for Kessler, wiping out his previous fondest memory in Alumni Gym. "Tonight is definitely up there, beating Hofstra in my last match," Kessler said in rating his Alumni Gym experiences. "Before this it was a match I actually lost, and to Hofstra. It was my freshman year and I took a three-time All-American (Jon Masa) into overtime. I was winning and had him on his back, should have pinned him but I didn't get the pin and ended up losing to a pretty good wrestler."
Also for Rider (12-6, 4-1 CAA) sophomore Tyler Smith (Phillipsburg, N.J./Belvidere) was leading 2-0 when he won by injury default to give Rider an 18-16 lead. Smith (21-12, 4-1 CAA) is ranked first in the CAA and 29th in the nation in the Coaches' Poll
In his last home dual meet senior Ed Bordas (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central) won in the final bout for the final score. Bordas (26-7 overall, 5-0 CAA), ranked first in the CAA and 19th in the nation in the NCAA Coaches' Poll, defeated the fourth ranked heavyweight in the conference, Paul Snyder, 3-0.
"Eddie was steady," Taylor said. "The match was on the line so Eddie was not going to do anything real risky. He did what he needed to do for the team to get the win."
Rider freshman Jim Resnick (Media, Pa./Penncrest) won by tech fall to cut the Hofstra lead to 13-12. "Jimmy can be very devastating once he starts scoring," Taylor said.
Rider junior Matt Bradley (Jackson/Jackson Memorial) won at 141 to get Rider on the board.
Rider junior Rob Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) (22-11, 3-2 CAA), ranked third in the CAA and 26th in the nation in the Coaches' Poll, lost 6-5 to the second ranked 165 in the conference, PJ Gillespie, who is ranked 17th in the nation.
Also for Hofstra (5-12-2, 3-3 CAA), 19th ranked Jon Bonilla-Bowman won a major decision to give the Pride a 10-7 lead.
The fourth ranked 133 in the conference, Luke Vaith, upset Rider sophomore Jimmy Kirchner (Somerville) (15-10, 3-2 CAA), ranked second in the CAA and 30th in the nation in the Coaches' Poll.
The last time Rider defeated Hofstra was February 17, 1999. After that dual meet Hofstra went 62-0-1 in conference duals before losing to Old Dominion last year. Rider is now 16-14 against Hofstra since 1980-81. Rider lost 23-12 to Hofstra last year.
Rider travels through New England Saturday, taking on CAA-foe Boston University and Division II American International at BU and CAA-foe Sacred Heart in Connecticut. "We're hoping to finish strong and build for the conference championships," Taylor said. "Every time you wrestle a conference opponent it is critical because it determines seeding," Taylor said, "and seeding certainly puts you in a better position to win."
Rider returns to Alumni Gym to host the CAA Championships March 5-6. "Hopefully my fondest memory of wrestling in Alumni Gym is yet to come, a couple of weeks away," Kessler said.
Hopefully it will be the crowning of a new King.
Results:
125: Jamie Franco-H dec. Ilyass Elmsaouri-R 4-2 0-3
133: Luke Vaith-H dec. Jimmy Kirchner-R 8-2 0-6
141: Matt Bradley-R dec. Tyler Banks-H 5-3 3-6
149: Michael Kessler-R major dec. Jeff Rotella-H 19-5 7-6
157: #19 Jon Bonilla-Bowman-H major dec Zac Cibula-R 24-11 7-10
165: #17 PJ Gillespie-H dec. Rob Morrison-R 6-5 7-13
174: Jim Resnick-R tech fall Jon Rothman-H 16-1 (4:39) 12-13
184: Ben Clymer-H dec. Mike Ward-R 7-2 12-16
197: Tyler Smith-R dec. Anthony Tortora-H injury default 18-16
Hwt: Ed Bordas-R dec. Paul Snyder-H 3-0 21-16
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