Seven Rutgers Wrestlers to Participate in NCAA Championships
Mar 10 | Wrestling
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (March 10, 2010) - The No. 22 Rutgers wrestling team's historic season continued Wednesday night when four Scarlet Knights were announced as at-large selections for the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The four wild cards gives Rutgers a total of seven NCAA participants this season, the most for RU since it sent eight in 1960.
The NCAA Championships will take place March 18-20 at the Qwest Center Omaha in Omaha, Neb.
Redshirt junior heavyweight Dominick Russo's (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.
Ashnault. Brown, Cocozzo and Russo are making their second trip to the NCAA Championships, with the other three earning their first appearance. Russo competed last season and Ashnault, Brown and Cocozzo participated in the 2008 tournament, but Ashnault attended Lock Haven and Cocozzo was enrolled at Edinboro Universoty at the time.
At the conference championships last weekend, the Scarlet Knights finished sixth with 87 points and earned eight place winners.
Rutgers head coach Scott Goodale has now led 12 student-athletes to the NCAA Tournament as Matt Pletcher, Russo and Scott Winston (Jackson, N.J.) earned NCAA invites last season and Brownand Steve Adamcsik participated in the 2008 Championships.
"This is another big step for our program," said Goodale. "It's a reward for the season we had and for the really tough schedule we faced. The system is setup to reward you for the competition you faced and your success against them. This is a pretty big accomplish but now we focus on the next step and that is winning matches in Omaha. To continue our vision and progress we have to go out there and win some big matches. That is our focus right now."
Russo is the only Scarlet Knight to be seeded in his bracket as he earned the 10th-seed and will face Edinboro's redshirt senior Christopher Birchler in the first round. Russo placed second at the EIWA Championships and enters the NCAAs with a 29-6 record and 16 pin fall victories.
Langel earned his NCAA bid by placing third at the EIWA Championships. He will square off with freshman Cashé Quiroga of Purdue. The RU redshirt freshman owns a team-best 30 victories this season against only eight losses. Langel has earned nine major decisions this season.
Cocozzzo's fourth-place EIWA finish booked his ticket to the NCAA Tournament. He will face Indiana's redshirt junior Kurt Kinser.
Cocozzo was inserted in the Rutgers dual lineup in January after sitting out the fall due to NCAA transfer guidelines. The RU newcomer dominated the competition by posting a 12-1 record in dual action. Cocozzo owns an overall record of 16-9 this season.
Brown will look to end his Rutgers career on a high note after a disappointing fifth-place finish at the EIWAs. He will battle CSU Baker's redshirt junior Riley Orozco in the first round. The fifth-year Scarlet Knight enters the NCAAs with a 25-9 record, including an 11-3 mark in tournament action.
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 look to bounce back after he was seeded third in the EIWA Championships but finished sixth. Melde is 25-10 on the season and earned five pin falls.
Melde will wrestle junior Germane Lindsey of Ohio University in the opening round. NCAA BRACKET
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