Wrestling Slays Princeton
Rider easily defeats Princeton, splits
a doubleheader

By Paul Mullin

A shutout in any sport, under any circumstance, is always a welcome and much celebrated outcome. But when that shutout comes against one of your biggest rivals and an Ivy League school to boot, there just might be a bit more cause for elation.

In a dual meet on Saturday, Feb. 11, Rider University wrestling crushed Princeton 46-0 after falling to 13th ranked Cornell 23-12 earlier in the day.

Despite playing a Cornell team that boasts six wrestlers nationally ranked in the top 14 of their respective weight classes, Rider still won four out of the 10 bouts.

“I was very pleased with this,” said Head Coach Gary Taylor. “Cornell is one of the best teams in the country.”

The split improves the Broncs’ record to 10-6-1 overall, while they remain 5-0-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).

One of the more remarkable wins came when sophomore Zachary Cunliffe defeated Mike Mormile, the 14th ranked wrestler in the nation and a two-time NCAA qualifier.

“Beating the No. 14 kid in the country was a big confidence booster for me,” said Cunliffe. “I am glad to see that the hard work and dedication I am putting into the sport is paying off.”

Against Princeton, Cunliffe won again, joining sophomore Mike Palma, freshman Mike Kessler, and sophomore Doug Umbehauer as the only Rider wrestlers to win in both meets.

“That was definitely expected,” Taylor said. “We even expected a couple more to do it.”
But as challenging as it may seem to wrestle twice in one day, according to Cunliffe it isn’t so hard after all.

“We wrestle in tournaments to start off the season and usually wrestle up to four or five times a day,” he said. “I usually feel better and wrestle better after I get the first match out of the way.”

Today and tomorrow, Rider is away at a pair of dual meets against Boston University and Sacred Heart, respectively. Both teams are members of the Broncs’ division, which will make the matches even tougher and more important.

“They are both formidable opponents,” Taylor said. “If we wrestle with the same intensity we had against Princeton, we should win them both.”