Rutgers Wrestling Showcases Squad in Annual Wrestle-Offs
Nov 02 | Wrestling
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (Nov. 2, 2009) – The Rutgers wrestling team competed in front of hundreds of fans Monday night to open the 2009-10 season with its annual Wrestle-Offs in the College Ave. Gym.
The Wrestle-Offs served as the final competition of a week of battles to determine the starting positions for the RU wrestling team.
Third-year head coach Scott Goodale was impressed with his squad’s performance and the strong showing from the RU faithful.
“I was pleased with our guys and it was great to see such a big crowd,” said Goodale. “Believe it or not, our guys had a lot of nerves going into tonight, even though they wrestle each other a lot. They had to go through the dual routine of dealing with the weigh in, the preparation for the match and the crowd. We got exactly what we wanted out of tonight’s event.”
Newcomers junior Bill Ashnault (South Plainfield, N.J.) and redshirt junior Daryl Cocozzo (River Edge, N.J.) eachhad a strong showing in their first competition as Scarlet Knights. The 2008 NCAA Qualifiers each scored dominating victories as Ashnault pinned redshirt freshman Joe Langell (Howell, N.J.) in 2:58 and Cocozzo earned a major decision, 14-4, over freshman Braden Turner (Bath, Pa.).
“Ashnault and Cocozzo wrestled hard and they proved all the good things that were said and written about them were true,” said Goodale. “They have competed at a high level and they know what it takes and they showed that tonight.”
Redshirt senior Lamar Brown (Red Bank, N.J.) and redshirt junior Dominick Russo (Netcong, N.J.), who were both listed in the InterMat Preseason Rankings, each scored convincing victories. Brown picked up a 10-3 decision over freshman Sam Kuntz (Suwanee, Ga.). Russo topped redshirt junior Sean DeDeyn (Bayville, N.J.) bya 6-2 decision.
Also scoring wins were redshirt freshman Jesse Boyden (Kelinworth, N.J.), redshirt junior David Greenwald (Union, N.J.), sophomores Greg Zannetti, (Edison, N.J.) and Trevor Melde (Hewitt, N.J.) and freshman Vincent Dellefave (Toms River, N.J.)
Rutgers will begin the regular season this Sunday at Sacred Heart.
2009-10 Rutgers Wrestle-Offs Results
Nov. 2, 2009
College Ave. Gym
Class Matchup
184: Jesse Boyden, R-Fr. (Kelinworth, N.J.) 9-4 dec. over Mike Cucinotta, Jr. (Gibbstown, N.J.)
197: Lamar Brown, R-Sr. (Red Bank, N.J.) 10-3 dec. over Sam Kuntz, Fr. (Suwanee, Ga.)
133: Bill Ashnault, Jr. (South Plainfield, N.J.) fall Joe Langell, R-Fr. (Howell, N.J.), 2:58
149: David Greenwald, R-Jr. (Union, N.J.) 5-1 dec. over Kellen Bradley, Sr. (Newton, N.J.)
165: Greg Zannetti, So. (Edison, N.J.) 5-3 dec. over Matt Rigoglisio, Sr. (Wayne, N.J.)
141: Trevor Melde, So. (Hewitt, N.J.) 6-2 dec. over Tom Hogan, Fr. (Iselin, N.J.)
157: Daryl Cocozzo, R-Jr. (River Edge, N.J.) 14-4 major dec. over Braden Turner, Fr. (Bath, Pa.)
125: Vincent Dellefave, Fr. (Toms River, N.J.) 5-3 dec. over Michael DeMarco, Jr. (Lyndhurst, N.J.)
285: Dominick Russo, R-Jr. (Netcong, N.J.) 6-2 dec. over Sean DeDeyn, R-Jr. (Bayville, N.J.)
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