Seven Rutgers Wrestlers Ready to Compete at NCAA Championships
Mar 17 | Wrestling
OMAHA, Neb. (March 17, 2010) - The No. 22 Rutgers wrestling team will be well represented at the NCAA Championships this week as seven Scarlet Knights are set to compete at the tournament. The seven RU NCAA participants are the most for RU since it sent eight in 1960.
The 80th NCAA Championships takes place at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb. and is set to begin Thursday at noon ET and run through Saturday.
Redshirt junior heavyweight Dominick Russo (Netcong, N.J.), 125-pound redshirt freshman Joseph Langel (Howell, N.J.) and 157-pound redshirt junior Daryl Cocozzo (River Edge, N.J.) qualified for the tournament at the 106th EIWA Championships last weekend.
133-pound junior Billy Ashnault (South Plainfield, N.J.), 197-pound redshirt senior Lamar Brown (Red Bank, N.J), 141-pound sophomore Trevor Melde (Hewitt, N.J.) and174-pound redshirt sophomore Daniel Rinaldi (Lodi, N.J.) earned at-large bids.
"The preparation is done and all the guys are just anxious to get out there and compete," said third-year Rutgers head coach Scott Goodale. "Our guys have to believe they are in every single match because in this event everybody is 0-0 and there are going to be a lot of upsets. Hopefully we are at best starting tomorrow."
Ashnault. Brown, Cocozzo and Russo are making their second trip to the NCAA Championships, with the other three RU grapplers earning their first trip.
Russo competed last season while Ashnault, Brown and Cocozzo participated in the 2008 tournament, but Ashnault attended Lock Haven and Cocozzo was enrolled at Edinboro University at the time.
Russo earned the 10th-seed and will battle Edinboro's redshirt senior Christopher Birchler in the first round. Russo was the heavyweight runner-up at the EIWA Championships and enters the NCAA's with a 29-6 record and team-best 16 pin fall victories.
At 125, Langel will make his NCAA debut against freshman Cashé Quiroga of Purdue. The RU redshirt freshman posted a team-best 30 victories against only eight losses. Langel earned nine major decisions this season. Langel earned his NCAA bid by placing third at the EIWA Championships.
Cocozzzo's fourth-place EIWA finish booked his ticket to the NCAA Tournament. He will face Indiana's redshirt junior Kurt Kinser in the opening round. The RU newcomer dominated his dual competitors by claiming a 12-1 record with his only dual loss coming against the nation's best 157-pounder, Harvard's J.P. O'Connor. Cocozzo owns a 26-9 overall record this season.
Brown begin his second NCAA appearance against CSU Baker's redshirt junior Riley Orozco in the first round. The fifth-year Scarlet Knight enters the NCAA's with a 25-9 record. He placed fifth-place finish at the EIWA's.
Rinaldi will be making his NCAA debut against sophomore Ryan DesRoches of Cal Poly. Rinaldi notched a 29-10 record this season highlighted by nine major decisions.
Ahnault's second NCAA tournament trip will begin against Liberty's redshirt freshman Joe Pantaleo. Ashnault owns a 23-12 record and is second on the team in pins with 11.
Melde will wrestle junior Germane Lindsey of Ohio University in the opening round. He has notched a 25-10 record on the season and earned five pin falls.
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