Broncs Break Even
Rider splits high-profile dual meets

By Paul Mullin

As the saying goes, you can’t win them all.

The wrestling team split a pair of matches against two nationally ranked teams, first beating No. 21 Lehigh 24-14 on Friday, Nov. 10, and then falling to No. 25 Pittsburgh 21-13 on Tuesdaay, Nov. 14.

The matches certainly looked formidable on the schedule, but according to Head Coach Gary Taylor, that is the point. The tougher the matches are now, the better his wrestlers will be prepared when the conference bouts roll around.

“It’s definitely going to help,” said Taylor. “There are a lot of very tough conference teams.”

The Broncs’ season opening matchup against Lehigh on Nov. 10 was precipitated by a challenge by Lehigh, which said that it would fill up Alumni Gym with its own fans, leaving no room for the Rider faithful.

As it turned out, the stands were packed to capacity with 1,650 in attendance, but Rider fans outnumbered those visiting from Lehigh. According to sophomore Doug Umbehauer (174 pounds), the big turnout helped.

“The crowd factor was huge Friday night,” he said. “When the crowd goes crazy it really pumps us up and we definitely feed off that. We were real happy about the attendance we got and appreciate the support.”

“It helped tremendously,” agreed Taylor. “We had an extra wrestler that night and it was the crowd.”

The match began with Lehigh taking a 3-0 lead when the Mountain Hawks’ Patrick Berger took down Rider freshman Thomas Lorenzo at 125 pounds.

Unfortunately for the Hawks, that would be the only time they would hold the lead all night.

The Broncs came back fast to take the lead 6-3, with freshman Matt Bradley winning in sudden death at 133 pounds and then junior Don Fisch, ranked No. 7 in the nation in his class, rebounded from a 5-0 deficit to win at 141 pounds.

Lehigh would even it up 6-6 with a win at 149 pounds in the next match, but after that the Broncs took control.

Senior Dave Miller gave Rider a 9-6 lead with a win at 157 pounds, but the highlight of the match would come in the next bout, when Rider freshman Rob Morrison pinned Lehigh’s Mike Galant for a 15-6 Bronc advantage. Umbehauer then defeated the eighth-ranked wrestler in the nation at 174 pounds, Dave Helfrich, putting the Broncs up 18-6 and all but ensuring a Rider win.

“I try to approach every match the same,” Umbehauer said. “But when I am going to have a match against a highly ranked wrestler I definitely see the opportunity, make sure I’m ready to go, and try to take advantage of it.”

Lehigh got a bit closer after winning the next bout at 184 pounds, but Rider junior T.J. Morrison – the brother of Rob Morrison – sealed the match for the Broncs by following his brother’s example and getting a pin on Lehigh’s Eddy Silverman, putting the Broncs up for good at 24-9.

“We were definitely inspired,” said T.J. Morrison. “We went in with a real positive attitude and we wanted to see where we stood.”

According to Taylor the Morrison brothers, sons of Rider alumni and 1983 wrestling All-American Tim Morrison, both came up big in the win.

“There’s no question it was huge for Robbie because he beat a very highly recruited kid from Blair Academy,” Taylor said. “It gave the team a spark at an important point in the match.”

And it was quite the momentous occasion, considering that Lehigh has only lost three season openers since Greg Strobel took over as head coach 11 years ago.

“It was obvious that they were coming in expecting to beat us,” said Taylor. “It was a great meet between two very good teams, but we had the edge that night.”

And although the win was certainly inspiring, according to T.J. Morrison the team didn’t dwell on their success.

“You take it in and learn from it,” he said. “You learn that you are that good, but in the end you have to move on.”

The match opened the same way: with the visitor taking a quick 3-0 lead at 125 pounds. Unfortunately, in this case the Broncs never regained their footing.

Following Pittsburgh junior Drew Headlee’s pin of Bradley at 133 pounds, the Panthers were up 9-0. Fisch put Rider on the board in the next bout at 141, and sophomore Mike Kessler followed that up with a convincing 10-3 win at 149 pounds to bring the Broncs within three points.

But that’s as close as they would get the entire match. Pittsburgh’s wrestlers shut down the Broncs in the next three consecutive bouts at 157, 165 and 174 pounds to take a commanding 18-6 lead. Freshman Mike Miller ended the streak when he took down Pittsburgh senior Mike Heist at 184 pounds to inch the Broncs closer with two bouts remaining.

T.J. Morrison would make it closer still following his impressive 10-2 win at 197 pounds, but a defeat at heavyweight in the last bout was the final nail in the coffin for the Broncs, who lost 21-13.

“Pitt has a tough line from top to bottom,” Umbehauer said. “I feel like we came out a little bit flat and lost some close matches. If you come out flat against a good team, then you are not going to do real well.”

“We thought we could come in and win,” said Pittsburgh Head Coach Rande Stottlemeyer, who is in his 27th year of coaching. “We have four guys who can wrestle with most guys in the country. We just wanted to wrestle hard.”

As tough as the loss was to swallow, Taylor admits that the 1-1 split, especially against two ranked teams, has shown him quite a bit about his team.

“It says to me that we are doing the right thing putting our kids against top 25 schools and people,” Taylor said. “And it should help to prepare them for the rest of the season.”

The Broncs head to the University of Pennsylvania this Sunday for the Keystone Classic at 10 a.m., and then take a long road trip on the first of December to the Las Vegas Open in Las Vegas, Nevada.