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Rutgers Wrestling: Auspicious start...as it should be

The wrestling team is 3-0 after its season opening Rutgers Duals. And no one expected anything less. But buckle your seat belts; the ride is just beginning

By rvc73
Roy DeBoer - used with permission

The Rutgers Duals

Rutgers opened the season with a strong showing, hosting the Rutgers Duals at the College Avenue Gym on Sunday. Strong may be an understatement as the Knights won every bout.  Not just every match, every bout, going 30-0 on the day.  No. 18 Rutgers wrestling opened the 2015-16 season with three shutout wins against Centenary, 46-0, Franklin & Marshall, 47-0, and Binghamton, 38-0.  Centenary is a D3 program as is F & M, though F & M wrestles at the D1 level.

The most significant win of the day for the Scarlet Knights came at 141 pounds between No. 8/8/7/8/6 (Intermat, FloWrestling, The Open Mat, Amateur Wrestling News, WIN Magazine) redshirt sophomore Anthony Ashnault and No. 9/9/9/11/NR Rick Durso (Franklin & Marshall). A battle of All-Americans and a potential NCAA Championships matchup, Ashnault eased his way to a 7-1 decision against Durso. It was the only contest involving two ranked wrestlers.

The Knights had several wrestlers go 3-0 on the afternoon, including redshirt freshman 133-pounder Anthony Giraldo, in his Rutgers debut.  Giraldo ended the day with an 8-4 decision against Binghamton's Jacob Nicholson.  He is listed at No. 19 in the latest FloWrestling Rankings, adding two tech falls to begin his RU career unblemished.

Redshirt sophomore Tyson Dippery scored three decisions at 149 pounds; he was the starter at 141 pounds for Rutgers during the 2013-14 season.

Senior Hayden Hrymack won all three of his matches by bonus points; a 14-0 major decision, a fall - RU's fastest of the day - in 0:56 seconds vs. Charles Kerkenser (Franklin & Marshall), and an 8-0 major,  versus Mark Tracy (Binghamton).

Redshirt senior heavyweight Billy Smith recorded three bonus-point wins in three different forms, scoring a 15-0 tech fall against Centenary's James Valley, a 10-2 major decision against Franklin & Marshall's Antonio Pelusi, and a pin over Connor Calkins (Binghamton) in 2:48. Smith is ranked No. 8/9/11/12/8 at heavyweight.

An important move worked well for the Knights as 2014 All-American Anthony Perrotti was successful and very vomfortable in the bump to 165 pounds by posting pins against Franklin & Marshall and Binghamton. Perrotti (2-0) opened the year ranked 9/13/11/11/12.

As for newcomer Giraldo, he was very pleased to be wearing scarlet.

Video Highlights

Around the Big Ten

Results

Sunday, Nov. 1

  • Ohio State's Nathan Tomasello took the 125 pound title at the at NWCA All-Star Classic, with OSU and Northwestern - Results
  • Maryland went 1-2 at their Terrapon Duals - Results
  • Nebraska had six champions at the Warren Williamson /Daktronics Open - Results
Upcoming

Saturday, Nov. 7
Illinois/Indiana/Michigan State/Ohio State/Purdue at Eastern Michigan Duals, All Day

Sunday, Nov. 8
Maryland/Rutgers at Binghamton Open, All Day
Maryland at Hokie Open, All Day

Big Ten Wrestler of the Week

Nathan Tomasello, Ohio State, 125 pounds - So.

  • Defeated No. 3 Zeke Moisey of West Virginia in the 125-pound weight class at the NWCA All-Star Classic, hosted by Georgia Tech, in a rematch of the 2015 NCAA final

Rankings

Nine Big Ten teams appear in this week's Intermat Tournament rankings.  The grind continues.  RU appears at No. 23 in the tournament ranking.

Intermat Tournament Rankings

Rank
Points Conference
1 Penn State 97.5 Big Ten
2 Oklahoma State 89 Big 12
3 Iowa 75 Big Ten
3 Michigan 75 Big Ten
5 Ohio State 71 Big Ten
6 Cornell 70.5 EIWA
7 Virginia Tech 68 ACC
8 Lehigh 47.5 EIWA
9 North Carolina State 47 ACC
10 North Carolina 46.5 ACC
12 Nebraska 41.5 Big Ten
13 Wisconsin 40 Big Ten
14 Illinois 37 Big Ten
18 Northwestern 26.5 Big Ten
23 Rutgers 21.5 Big Ten
24 Minnesota 20.5 Big Ten

On the individual front, Rutgers continues to have three or four wrestlers, depending on the service in the top 25.

In the stands

The Rutgers Duals were held at the College Avenue Gym.  All Big Ten matches will be at the RAC. Last year, Rutgers came in at No. 6 in D1 attendance, something they would like to exceed this year.  There were 1,238 at the CAG on Sunday; that goes along with the almost 1,000 season tickets already sold for 2015-16.

Rutgers Results and Upcoming Events

Rutgers Duals
11/ 1/15 vs. Centenary College College Ave. Gym W, 46-0
vs. Franklin & Marshall College Ave. Gym W, 47-0
vs. Binghamton College Ave. Gym W, 38-0
11/ 8/15 Binghamton Open Binghamton, N.Y. All Day