PISCATAWAY, N.J. – No. 14 Rutgers wrestling (7-1) defeated Rider (2-4), 31-5, on Sunday afternoon in front of 3,348 fans at Jersey Mike's Arena. The win marked the third consecutive time the Scarlet Knights have beaten both the Broncs and Princeton in the same season dating back to the 2021-22 campaign.
 
No. 13 Mitch Moore (141) and No. 27 Jackson Turley (174) picked up falls, Michael Cetta (149) worked a ranked decision over No. 22 Quinn Kinner and No. 7 Yaraslau Slavikouski (HWT) and No. 8 John Poznanski (197) added bonus against their in-state foe.

RU has now won the past 10 meetings with Rider dating back to 2009, as the program has now secured seven dual victories before Big Ten Conference action each of the last three seasons. Rutgers will now head into its conference schedule, which includes matchups with six ranked foes.

"We have a good enough lineup to really wrestle in this conference right now and we have some star power too so that makes it exciting," said head coach Scott Goodale. "These are going to be great dual meets and you know how much I enjoy the dual meets."

How it Happened

• After an upset loss from No. 2 Dean Peterson (125) to open the match, the Scarlet Knights went three-for-three from 133 through 149 pounds. No. 9 Dylan Shawver (133) faced two-time NCAA qualifier Richie Koehler and landed two takedowns to muscle a 10-4 decision.
• Moore followed against Will Betancourt, recording eight near-fall points before working a tilt for the second-period fall. His third pin of the season put Rutgers up 9-3 on Rider through the first three matches of the afternoon.
• Cetta faced No. 22 Richie Koehler in the match of the afternoon. Trailing 6-5 with 20 seconds left, Cetta hit a headlock for the takedown and held on in the closing seconds for an 8-6 decision.
• A loss from No. 33 Andrew Clark (157) before the break made it 11-5 at intermission, as both teams were deducted a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct at the conclusion of 157 pounds.
• Rutgers continued to excel out of the locker room, as Anthony White (165) earned a 4-1 decision before Turley pinned Michael Wilson in the first period. Turley's bonus points put Rutgers up 20-5.
• With the dual all but secured, No. 19 Brian Soldano (184) added a 7-1 decision over Isaac Dean, while back-to-back major decisions from Poznanski and Slavikouski made it a 31-5 final.

No. 14 Rutgers 31, Rider 5
125: Tyler Klinsky (RID) over 2/4 Dean Peterson (RU) by dec., 9-6; RID leads, 3-0
133: 9/20 Dylan Shawver (RU) over Richie Koehler (RID) by dec., 10-4; match tied, 3-3
141: 13/12 Mitch Moore (RU) over Will Betancourt (RID) by fall (4:14); RU leads, 9-3
149: Michael Cetta (RU) over 22/23 Quinn Kinner (RID) by dec., 8-6; RU leads, 12-3
157: 32/30 Colton Washleski (RID) over 33/27 Andrew Clark (RU) over by dec., 4-1; RU leads, 11-5*
165: Anthony White (RU) over Jake Silverstein (RID) by dec.; 4-1; RU leads, 14-5
174: 27/24 Jackson Turley (RU) over Michael Wilson (RID) by fall (1:05); RU leads, 20-5
184: 19/24 Brian Soldano (RU) over Isaac Dean (RID) by dec., 7-1; RU leads, 23-5
197: 8/11 John Poznanski (RU) over Azeem Bell (RID) by MD, 17-5; RU leads, 27-5
HWT: 7/7 Yaraslau Slavikouski (RU) over 29/26 David Szuba (RID) by MD, 11-2; RU wins, 31-5
*both teams deducted one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct after the 157 pound match
 
Up Next
Rutgers begins its Big Ten dual schedule with a home match against No. 22 Indiana on Friday, January 12 before it faces Purdue on Sunday, January 14 in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Post Match Quotes
Head Coach Scott Goodale
On back to back matches: 
"I think we responded great for the most part. That was hard. It was a hard thing to do. We didn't get back until really, really late last night. We got some work in here last night, and then woke up really early. Guys who needed to do more, did more. You always worry about that. It really simulated being at the Midlands, the Big 10 championships or the national tournament because you got those late rounds at night. You need to get your weight off, get a good night's sleep as much as you possibly can and then get back up and do it all over again.I thought we responded well. I thought we wrestled well, we wrestled hard and those guys came at us a little bit so that was good. We had some big wins. They had a couple of big wins. I was happy the way we wrestled last night and the way we responded here today."

On Jackson Turley's health: 
"He didn't wrestle last night because he was nicked up and we weren't sure if he was going to go tonight. Other than that, it's nothing major. He wanted to wrestle. He's getting better. He's had some time to really use the Christmas break to get in better shape. It's always about getting in really really good shape for him because we think he can wrestle with everybody in the country and that's the plan. As you saw tonight, it's super exciting." 

Coach Goodale on Michael Cetta ranked win:
"We talked a little bit about it last night because he started us off last night with a huge win over a highly touted kid. You just see him every single day getting better and better and better and he's doing that. He's buying into that. He does his weight really, really good. He's totally laser focused on everything. He can compete, he can wrestle and scrap. I think you're starting to see that he's getting better. I wish he had Midlands. He got sick out of Midlands the morning of so he  didn't compete. He weighed in and didn't compete, which was probably dumb on our part.  Anyway, he's getting better and better. We're gonna get into the real part of this now. We're going to get into the Big 10 schedule and our opponents are going to be good. But that's a highly ranked kid (Quinn Kinner) right there and that's a huge, huge win for Michael Cetta and we're fired up for him and we need to keep improving. We need to get better and we have to do the same thing night in and night out in the Big Ten this season.

Coach Goodale on how he feels on the upcoming Big Ten Schedule:
"I think we can compete. I'm looking at our schedule and I think we can compete with everybody in that conference. Penn State right now that's way down the line so we're gonna worry about Indiana. We feel like we can compete with them and then we'll fly out to Purdue and we certainly feel like we could compete with them. We have a good enough lineup to really wrestle in this conference right now and we have some star power too so that makes it exciting. These are going to be great dual meets and you know how much I enjoy the dual meets. It's all window dressing unfortunately, it's all window dressing. They're great tests for us. I know how we're measured. I get it and we look forward to it. It's great to get on a roll with these guys and enjoy the competition and hostile environments and bring Big Ten teams in here. It's gonna be a great month of January and February for not only our student athletes, but our fans as well."

174-Pounder Jackson Turley
On his health in comparison to past years: 
"I think I'm better at this point. The last month of training and not competing to hit the weight room, hit the cardio, be able to train at a high pace, and I really think that I'm doing better conditioning, better wrestling, and am a better person than I was back three years ago."

On his pin:
"Yeah, it was a little bit of a race today. I mean, I kind of just go out there super relaxed and try to just push, pull, breath, stay focused, and just feel out the position. I feel like I can wrestle anywhere in any position. So, if I put myself in a spot where I feel like I can score, I'm going to go ahead and do it. He (Michael Wilson) wanted to go upper body with me twice tonight, which I was confused about, as well. Honestly, I did it one time and he did it again. So, I even hesitated because I thought he was going to have something for me."

149-Pounder Michael Cetta
On ranked win at 149:
"I just have to continue wrestling through every position. Non-stop wrestling for seven minutes. Every day in the room we are working hard to out wrestle our opponent and keep a good pace for seven minutes straight."