Rutgers Takes Sixth at Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Classic
Nov 11 | Wrestling
BROCKPORT, N.Y. - The Rutgers wrestling team opened the 2006-07 campaign with a sixth-place finish at the Brockport/Oklahoma Gold Classic on the SUNY-Brockport campus in Brockport, N.Y. The Scarlet Knights were led by Karim Mahmoud (Wallington, N.J.) who finished third at 197 pounds and Jack Barrett (Metuchen, N.J.) and Mike Whalen (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) who finished fourth at 149 and 174 pounds, respectively.
Oklahoma won the tournament with 143 points, while Kent State and Bloomsburg took second and third with 109.5 and 107.5 points, respectively.
Mahmoud finished third at the 197-pound weight class. Despite a first-round loss to Bloomsburg's P.J. DeStefano, Mahmoud won four-consecutive matches. Following a win by forfeit in the first round of the consolation, Mahmoud defeated Bloomsburg's Brian Willis, 4-1. In the consolation semifinals, he won a 5-4 decision over Army's Daniel Schiering and followed it up with a 9-2 win over Buffalo's Ray Lamb to take third.
Barrett, following a first-round loss to second-seeded Brian Rowan of Army, three matches before falling in the third-place bout. In the first round of consolation, Barrett pinned Brockport's John Perez at the 2:16 mark before defeating Rotelli, 8-1, in a decision. In his next bout, Barret won a 7-4 decision on Army's Christian Snook and then won a 6-3 bout over Army's Rowan. In the third-place bout, Donny Ooton of Brockport defeated Barrett, 14-11.
Whalen took fourth, starting with a 7-3 win over Kent State's Jimmy Reynolds. In the second round, Whalen pinned Army's Ryan Mergen at the 3:48 mark before falling to Oklahoma's Josh Weitzel, 5-0 in the semifinals. In the consolation round, Whalen got an 8-2 decision win over Army's Brent Smith, before falling, 3-1 to Bloomsburg's Andrew Jordan to take fourth.
At 133 pounds, senior Dan Hilt (Manalapan, N.J.) went 3-3 on the day, finishing sixth at the tournament. After a first-round 4-2 decision loss to Bloomsburg's Ricky Donald, Hilt posted a 13-1 major-decision victory over the Huskies' Justin Thomas. After a 5-4 win over Kent State's Clayton Stark, Hilt lost a 3-0 bout to Army's William Simpson. In the fifth-place match, Hilt dropped a tight 5-3 decision to Oklahoma's Nolan Spring.
Kyle Milanese (Delran, N.J.) and Chris Battaglia (Warren, N.J.) both competed at the 141-pound weight class. Milanese fell in a first-round match, 5-1, to Kent State's Drew Lashaway, but rebounded with an 8-6 overtime win over Buffalo's Evan Veney in the first round of consolation matches. In his second backdraw match, Milanese fell, 6-1, to Brown's Steve DeLorenzo. Battaglia, in his first collegiate tournament, lost his first-round match to Oklahoma's Kyle Terry by pin and then was eliminated by Brockport's Deone Williams in an 11-3 major decision.
At 149 pounds, Ryan Rotelli (Lodi, N.J.) went 1-2 in his first collegiate tournament, winning his first match over Buffalo's Mike Shannon in a 5-3 decision. In the second round, Rotelli lost to nationally-ranked Jason McGee of Kent State, before dropping his wrestleback to teammate, Barrett.
The Scarlet Knights' Chris Norrell (Phillipsburg, N.J.) placed sixth in his first collegiate tournament. Norrell moved into the semifinal match after a 4-1 win over Buffalo's Stephen Muldrow, but fell to Bloomsburg's Aric Fuhrman in a major decision. Following a loss to Oklahoma's Chris DeVibiss in the consolation semifinals, Norrell won the fifth-place bout over Army's Dan Geib.
At 165 pounds, Marcello Medini (Colonia, N.J.) finished sixth. After a pin 48 seconds into his first round bout over Jon Drew, Medini defeated teammate Matt Pletcher (Eastampton, N.J.) on another pin, this time at the 1:05 mark. In the consolation semifinals, Medini fell to Buffalo's Mike Ragusa. In the fifth-place bout, Medini fell by pin to take sixth. Pletcher, in his first-round match, was defeated by Kent State's Joe Whelan before falling to Medini in the consolation bracket.
Matt Rigoglioso (Wayne, N.J.) dropped two-straight matches at 174 pounds. Rigoglios dropped a match to Brockport's Eric VanPatten, before dropping a 4-1 decision to Seth Podhortez in the second round of the backdraw.
At 184 pounds, Keith Dobish (Lodi, N.J.) fell to Oklahoma's Josh Hinton, 5-2, before being eliminated by the Sooners' Eugene Young, 4-2, in the consolation round. At 197, Mike Elshamy (Brick, N.J.) fell in two-consecutive matches, first in a tight 3-2 decision Oklahoma's Matt Cole, before a loss to Bloomsburg's DiStefano in the consolation bracket.
In the heavyweight bracket, the Scarlet Knights' Mike D'Amico (Kenilworth, N.J.) finished sixth. Following a 4-1 loss to Buffalo's Jeff Parker, D'Amico defeated Army's Chip Reed, 14-9, to advance to the consolation semifinals. D'Amico fell to Kent State's Willie Leonard and then was defeated by Parker to take sixth.
The Scarlet Knights will next travel to Annapolis, Md. on Saturday, Nov. 18, to compete in the Navy Classic. Competition is slated to begin at 9:00 a.m.
