No. 16 Rutgers Poised and Ready for Midlands Championships
Dec 21 | Wrestling
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (December 21, 2011) - The 16th-ranked Rutgers wrestling team is set to take the mats at the prestigious Midlands Championships from Thursday, Dec. 29 to Saturday, Dec. 30 on the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. RU has bolted out to a 5-1 dual record to start its 2011-12 campaign after recording a school-record 21 dual victories last season.
In his fifth year leading the Scarlet Knights, head coach Scott Goodale noted the team is where he thought it would be in regards to seasonal progression.
"I think we stayed on our plan as far as our training went through September and October," Goodale said. "We didn't try to get out of the gates too fast."
Rutgers began the season at the Brockport/Oklahoma Invitational, notching a third-place finish with 163 points. Mario Mason (Moorestown, N.J.) at 149 pounds and Greg Zannetti (Edison, N.J.) at 174 pounds opened their stellar seasons with individual titles at the tournament. Both redshirt junior wrestlers have pushed out to 9-0 starts. Zannetti's record includes dominating victories over No. 11 Jim Resnick (Rider) by major decision, 11-3, and No. 7 Te Edwards (Old Dominion) by technical fall, 27-12 (5:42).
The Scarlet Knights went 2-1 at the Northeast Duals on Nov. 26, defeating North Carolina (33-9) and Purdue (28-15) before being edged by Central Michigan (16-15). RU then reeled off three-straight dual wins, beating Old Dominion on Dec. 2 (20-13) and Princeton (29-7) and Rider (21-12) on Dec. 10.
"We did a good job from a dual meet standpoint," Goodale said. "We're in good shape. We're healthy. We're as healthy as we can be, and we're preparing during the holiday break here for the Midlands. We're excited for it. We're at where I thought we'd be at."
The RU lineup is also highlighted by 165-pounder Scott Winston (Jackson, N.J) and 197-pounder Daniel Rinaldi (Lodi, N.J.). The two Scarlet Knights have posted 9-1 and 8-1 records, respectively. Winston and Rinaldi join Mason and Zannetti with pristine 6-0 marks in dual action.
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No. 16 RUTGERS (5-1) at the Midlands Championships
The 49th Annual Midlands Championships
Thursday, Dec. 29 - Friday, Dec. 30 • All Day (CST)
Dec. 29: First Session - 9:30 a.m.; Second Session - 7 p.m.
Dec. 30: Third Session - Noon; Final Session - 7:20 p.m.
Evanston, Ill. • Welsh-Ryan Arena
Media: Takedown Radio (Internet radio)
Big Ten Network (Finals tape delay at 10 p.m. EST)
Knight Notes
• The 16th-ranked Rutgers wrestling team is ready to take to Welsh-Ryan Arena at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., for the 49th edition of the Midlands Championships from Thursday, Dec. 29 - Friday, Dec. 30.
• The Scarlet Knights struck down intrastate programs Princeton and Rider in their last action on Dec. 10, beating the Tigers 29-7 and turning away the Broncs 21-12.
• In competition against Rider, Greg Zannetti (Edison, N.J.) scored a major decision over Rider's 11th-ranked Jim Resnick, winning 11-3.
• Two Scarlet Knights wrestlers, Mario Mason (Moorestown, N.J.) and Zannetti, sport identical 9-0 overall records thus far in the 2011-12 season.
• Mason and Zannetti, at 149 pounds and 174 pounds, respectively, hold 6-0 marks in RU's four duals thus far in 2011-12. Teammates Scott Winston (Jackson, N.J.) at 165 pounds and Daniel Rinaldi (Lodi, N.J.) at 197 pounds also sport 6-0 dual records.
• In his fifth season leading the Scarlet Knights, head coach Scott Goodale has compiled a 76-22-1 dual record.
Rutgers and the Midlands Championships
• Rutgers returns to the Midlands Championships after placing four wrestlers in the tournament last season. As a team, the Scarlet Knights finished 12th out of 44 schools, using only eight wrestlers out of a possible 10 scoring competitors.
• Current squad member Matt Fusco (Belleville, N.J.) notched an eighth-place finish in the 125-pound division in last year's tournament. Fusco was edged in his final match of the two-day competition by Cal State Bakersfield's Tyler Iwamura, 4-2 (SV).
48th Annual Midlands Championships, Dec. 29-30, 2010 - Rutgers Placewinners/Results
125 - Seventh-place match: Tyler Iwamura (Cal State Bakersfield) dec. Matt Fusco (RU), 4-2 (SV)
141 - No. 9 Trevor Melde (RU), 3-2 overall
157 - Fifth-place match: No. 6 Daryl Cocozzo (RU) dec. David Bonin (UNI), 9-4
157 - Nick Visicaro (RU), 2-2 overall
174 - Seventh-place match: No. 6 Alex Caruso (RU) dec. Pat Wright (Missouri), 3-1
184 - No. 5 Dan Rinaldi (RU), 2-2 overall
197 - Mike Wagner (RU), 1-2 overall
285 - Fifth-place match: John Helgerson (Wartburg) dec. No. 3 D.J. Russo (RU), 6-4
Bold denotes returning Rutgers wrestler
No. denotes tournament seeding
Scouting the Midlands Championships
• The Midlands Championships annually features top wrestling talent from across the nation. Seven teams that placed in the top 10 at the 2010 Midlands Championships return for the 2011 tournament.
• The event, in its 49th season, will host four Intermat top-ranked wrestlers: Montell Marion (Iowa) at 149 pounds, Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford) at 174 pounds, Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) at 184 pounds) and Ryan Flores (American) at heavyweight.
• Rutgers figured heavily into the pre-tournament contenders listing released by the Midlands Championships committee:
• Wt. - Rk., Name, Yr.
149 - 1, Mario Mason, R-Jr.
165 - 3, Scott Winson, R-Jr.
174 - 5, Greg Zannetti, R-Jr.
• Per the Midlands committee, the following Division I teams will compete in this season's tournament (Dec. 20 NWCA/USA Today team rankings): No. 1 Iowa, No. 7 Illinois, T9 Oklahoma, No. 12 Lehigh, No. 13 Maryland, No. 15 Virginia Tech, No. 17 Rutgers, No. 18 Northwestern, No. 19 Central Michigan, No. 24 Edinboro, Penn (RV), Cal Poly (RV), Purdue (RV), American, Iowa State, Stanford, Wisconsin, Bucknell, Cal State Bakersfield, Clarion, Eastern Michigan, Harvard, North Dakota State, Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Princeton, Rider, South Dakota State and Utah Valley.
No. 16 Rutgers Gets Road Wins at Princeton and Rider
• The 16th-ranked Rutgers wrestling team finished off its double-dual day on Dec. 10 in its second location with a 21-12 win over Rider. In earlier action, the Scarlet Knights topped Princeton, 29-7. RU was led by two-win performances by Mike DeMarco (Lyndhurst, N.J.), Maro Mason (Moorestown, N.J,), Scott Winston (Jackson, N.J.), Greg Zannetti (Edison, N.J.), Daniel Seidenberg (Raritan, N.J.) and Daniel Rinaldi (Lodi, N.J.). The Scarlet Knights improved to 5-1 with the wins.
• The victory of the day was brought by No. 14 Zannetti at 174 pounds, who topped Rider's 11th-ranked Jim Resnick by major decision, winning 11-3.
Four RU Wrestlers Ranked by Amateur Wrestling News
• Rutgers wrestling had four individual wrestlers ranked in AWN's Dec. 20 poll, including three in the top 10 of their respective weight classes.
• Wt. - Rk., Name, Yr.
149 - 4, Mario Mason, R-Jr.
165 - 6, Scott Winston, R-Jr.
174 - 8, Greg Zannetti, R-Jr.
197 - 17, Daniel Rinaldi, R-Jr.
Scarlet Knights Ranked 16th in W.I.N. Magazine Poll
• The Scarlet Knights were placed as the 16th-best dual team in the country in W.I.N. Magazine's Dec. 19 rankings. RU had three individuals in the poll.
• Wt. - Rk., Name, Yr.
149 - 3, Mario Mason, R-Jr.
165 - 6, Scott Winston, R-Jr.
174 - 9, Greg Zannetti, R-Jr.
Rutgers Placed at 19th in Intermat Team Ranking
• The Rutgers wrestling team was ranked 19th in Intermat's latest team rankings, while placing three individual wrestlers in the weight-by-weight rankings. The Dec. 20 tournament-strength ranking allotted the Scarlet Knights 25 points to place the squad as the fourth-highest EIWA team.
• Wt. - Rk., Name, Yr.
149 - 3. Mario Mason, R-Jr.
165 - 7. Scott Winston, R-Jo.
174 - 10. Greg Zannetti, R-Jr.
